WD10SMZM Western Digital Data Recovery Project

WD10SMZM-59WKCS0 Recovery

This 1TB Western Digital external drive came in with a WD10SMZM model hard drive inside. It had already gone to Geek Squad as well as another computer repair shop. Geek Squad was not able to get any of the data off the drive, and the computer repair shop recommended us after they were also unsuccessful in getting back any data. These newer Western Digital external drives have a USB port built onto the PCB. This can cause some complications, so the first step was to swap out this PCB with an unlocked PCB. I did not have this particular model PCB in stock, so I had to wait for the part to arrive from China. Once the PCB arrives I swapped it out and started the process of testing the WD10SMZM drive. I did find some issues with firmware which I was able to clear, then continued with testing the hard drive’s heads. All heads tested good, so I continued with getting the drive ready for a full clone. Setting the firmware on the drive … Read more

WD2500BEKT Western Digital Scorpio Black Drive Recovered

WD2500BEKT Data Recovery 1

This Scorpio Black Western Digital drive was not showing up for the customer when they tried to access the important photos and work documents that were stored on it. They had initially brought the drive into their local computer repair shop, but the shop told them the drive was not recoverable without advanced lab recovery. The shop they brought it into used to send people to one of the big data recovery companies. The big recovery company had an average quote of about $1500. When they decided to give us a try and start sending customers to us instead, they were pleased to find that their clients said yes to the recovery 10x more often, and our average recovery quote is closer to $400. Not only do they end up earning more commission over the year from sending their clients to us (smaller commissions per client, but more clients say yes, so they end up way ahead), but their customers are pleased that they got a referral that saved them a ton of money and … Read more

My Passport For Mac Recovered – Literally $2100 in Savings!

My Passport For Mac Drive

This Western Digital My Passport external hard drive came to me from a client that had tried another data recovery company first. He had sent it out to one of the big data recovery companies and received a quote of $2500 for the recovery. These multi-thousand dollar quotes are not unusual in the recovery industry, I hear from clients all the time about these high quotes. While the family photos on the drive were worth that much to them, they decided to see if they could find a better price for the recovery as $2500 was not in the budget. They had found us after calling their local computer repair shop to see if they could recommend anybody else besides the big recovery company they had already tried. The shop told them about us, so they got the drive back from the big recovery company and gave us a call to discuss their hard drive issue. They reported that the drive had just stopped working and was no longer showing up on their computer. They … Read more

Just Stopped Working ST8000DM004 Data Recovery

8TB ST8000DM004 Data Recovery

I remember the good old days when a “big” hard drive had about 120GB of capacity. Now when I get a big drive in, I am looking at somewhere from 2TB to 12TB of capacity. This particular ST8000DM004 data recovery was for an 8TB drive that had been inside an external enclosure. ST8000DM004 Just Stopped Working The Seagate hard drive was in use by a videographer based out of Wichita. They work on marketing and shoot HD video that is then stored on this 8TB ST8000DM004 hard drive. Unfortunately, the hard drive just stopped working one day, and they were not able to access any of their files. The drive had been working great prior to the issue, then suddenly would not be recognized by the computer. They weren’t even able to get the computer to recognize it enough to run software-based recovery methods on it. Due to the 8TB capacity, this ST8000DM004 data recovery would fall under our Standard+ recovery rate. While this rate is a little more than our Standard recovery rate, it … Read more

Professional Seagate Data Recovery

1127 ST2000DM001 Tax File Recovery

This last Tax season was a busy time here at Yellow Brick Data Recovery. A lot of people try to get old receipts and other tax related documents off of drives they have been stored in and find there is an issue with the drive. We get drives from all over the country during this time via our mail-in service. Seagate Data Recovery A call came in from a client in Colorado who explained their external Seagate hard drive had stopped working suddenly and they needed a Seagate data recovery service so they could access their important files in time for tax season. It was reported that the drive would spin up as it should, but would not be recognized by the computer at all. The client had even tried removing the ST2000DM001 hard drive from inside the Seagate external enclosure and plugging it directly into a computer. They thought maybe the drive wasn’t receiving enough power or there was some other issue with the hard drive enclosure. Unfortunately, the drive continued to not show … Read more

Laptop Hard Drive Crash Recovery From Hitachi Drive

1118 HTS54757A9E384 Crashed Drive

This hard drive crash recovery came to us from a computer repair shop whose client had brought in a laptop that stopped working. The Hitachi HTS547575A9E384 laptop drive was found to be the issue with the computer so the repair shop attempted to recover the data with their recovery software. When they were unsuccessful in recovering the data, the repair shop recommended the client contact us for an affordable data recovery service. We are proud to be able to help computer repair shops recover their client’s important data. We work with quite a few shops across the country that either refer their clients to us through our referral program, or they send their client’s drives to us for our white label data recovery service. I worked in a computer repair shop years ago, so I understand the needs you have as a computer shop owner. Hard Drive Crash Recovery We are used to seeing drives with photos and documents as the most important data, but this hard drive had race tunes for a race car! … Read more

ST2000DM008 Data Recovery – Unique Case Study

1120 ST2000DM008 stopped working

This ST2000DM008 data recovery was for a Seagate BarraCuda drive that just stopped working randomly for the client. They took their computer to a shop local to them when the drive stopped working and were told that the data was not accessible and would need professional data recovery in order to get the important data off of it. Recovering Seagate Drive with Firmware Issue This client needed their photos and documents off the failed Seagate hard drive, so they called us to see if we could help. Thankfully we were able to offer an affordable recovery option that was successful in recovering their important files! If you have an st2000dm008 not showing up, we can help you get your data back. Diagnosing the hard drive for recovery Once the ST2000DM008 data recovery drive arrived I started with a visual inspection and found that everything looked great. The drive sounded perfect when powered on with no odd seeking sounds. Connecting the ST2000DM008 hard drive to the PC-3000 showed the drive was not getting ready. When a … Read more

Seagate Rosewood ST2000LM007 Recovery

Seagate Mobile 2TB Rosewood that is not showing up on computer

This Seagate Rosewood series drive was mailed to us by a customer that reported the drive was not showing up on their computer when they plugged it in. The Rosewood series drives are very popular and are found in the popular Seagate external drives. The most common models we see are the ST2000LM007 like this drive and the ST1000LM035. If you need affordable data recovery for your Rosewood drive, we can help! Seagate Rosewood Recovery Once the drive arrived, I started with an inspection of the ST2000LM007 2TB mobile HDD and everything looked good physically with the drive. When I plugged the drive into my PC-3000 recovery rig I heard it spin up and everything sounded good as well. I moved on to checking the firmware as this particular Rosewood series of Seagate drives seem to be prone to firmware issues. Patch and Unlock This is a Seagate Rosewood drive, so it is necessary to patch and unlock the terminal before having access to the firmware of the drive. When these drives first came out, … Read more

Hard drive not showing up Windows 10

Desktop Seagate drive that is not showing up when plugged in

This 1TB Hard drive not showing up Windows 10 was a Seagate Desktop HDD with the model number ST1000DM003. It was reported that it had just stopped working randomly with the symptoms of not showing up in Windows 10 when plugged into the computer. The client initially went to a computer repair shop and had the drive diagnosed as failed. When a drive is not showing up in Windows 10, it can be a lot of different things causing the issue. It could be an issue with the drive, with the cables connecting the drive to the computer, the drive itself, or a combination of problems. If there are no odd sounds coming from the drive that is not showing up, it would be a good idea to try plugging the drive into another computer. If the second computer doesn’t see the drive, then you know the drive itself is the issue. Seagate Not Showing Up Recovery In this case, the customer’s local computer repair shop tested the drive by plugging it into a computer … Read more

Unresponsive Samsung SSD Data Recovery Service

Samsung 850 PRO not being recognized by computer

I received this unresponsive Samsung 850 Pro as a mail-in for our SSD data recovery service. The client mailed the 512GB solid state drive in from Michigan to my lab here in Kansas. They needed the data from the hard drive, but it was not mounting on their computer at all. In fact, the computer would not recognize the SSD when connected. The client had already tried connecting the drive to other computers and had troubleshot the issue until they were certain the drive itself was the issue. The customer had discussed their Samsung 850 Pro with other recovery companies before deciding on us to attempt the recovery. They liked our affordable flat rate recovery service as well as the fact I was able to discuss what the issue might be for this particular Samsung SSD data recovery. Firmware Samsung SSD Data Recovery The problem with this drive ended up being a firmware-based issue. These Samsung 850 PRO drives have a common firmware issue that you can address using the PC-3000 by ACE Laboratories. Thanks … Read more