<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>Thankyou to those
that responded to my questions about recovering lost data - your sympathies and
helpful suggestions were very reassuring after the rather traumatic experience
of losing so much work! It seems that everyone has unfortunately been down this
road before, indeed for some it’s a dead certainty it will happen sooner or
later! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>Everyone has
different preferences for data back up depending on their situation (moving
about a lot or staying mostly in the one spot being the most obvious
consideration for data storage devices), and as Lauren and James commented, one
should consider a back up strategy not just for digital recordings but notebooks
and any other important material data.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>For future
reference and for anyone who is interested, I have attempted to summarise some
of the recommendations for data recovery and back up under four main headings here:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style>1. Recommended ‘Do It Yourself’ data
recovery options</span></b><span style> (I didn’t
try this in the end because I wasn’t confident enough that I knew enough about what
I was doing not to accidently write something to the drive and thereby make it
harder to retrieve the hidden data):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Recuva:
‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222">I have used Recuva to recover lost data
in the past with great success. It is shareware (I think) so you should be able
to just download it and install it. As long as the data clusters stored in the
hard drive are not overwritten with new data they should be recoverable.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222">SystemRescueCd: ‘You can try a
boot cd such as SystemRescueCd</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.sysresccd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0057cf">http://www.sysresccd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222">which includes DDREscue</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/manual/ddrescue_manual.html"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0057cf">http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/manual/ddrescue_manual.html</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222">which tries reading from broken
media. It really depends on what got broken in the drive, but I have not used
it myself in a long time. It's worth a shot, but obviously a data recovery
center will do better, at a much higher price.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span style>2. Recommended Data Recovery specialists</span></b><span style> <b style>in Australia</b>
(usually involves posting your drive or bringing it in for specialists to work
on it in their labs):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>Sydney:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.xyber.com.au/"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0057cf">http://www.xyber.com.au/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"> (two people recommended this company, so I ended up sending it there via
registered post). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt">‘<span style="color:#1a1a1a">They have an
Oz-wide phone number charged at a local call rate.’</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#222222">‘I went to the [xyber] with my
bung hard drive. They charged me $64 for a diagnosis - no chance to recover. My
hard drive turned into bare plates and dust at the bottom. No more charge. If
they were to go ahead, I think it would have cost $700 or so, which is not that
bad. I can definitely suggest these people.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222">Brisbane:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.cbldatarecovery.com.au/contactus.html"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0057cf">http://www.cbldatarecovery.com.au/contactus.html</span></a></span><u style><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#0057cf"></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.payam.com.au/"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0057cf">http://www.payam.com.au</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"> (also came with two recommendations)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222"><b>3. External hard drives:</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222">(These were some of the drives that came
recommended, however it seems there can never be a guarantee that, like my hard
drive, they won’t fail at any moment, so backing up regularly is the key):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#222222"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.buffalotech.com/products/portable-hard-drives/ministation/ministation-extreme"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://www.buffalotech.com/products/portable-hard-drives/ministation/ministation-extreme</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">‘When it comes to hardware the
external drive that I use now is from Buffalo. It is a US Military spec.
shock resistant unit amongst other things, of course not to say that it is
bullet proof (I am not expecting you to have to deal with bullets anyway), but
never less is far better than the home designed go-flex WD and similar seagate
products which are not that crash hot bumping them around.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">Rugged equipment: </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10591"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10591</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">‘I would go for LaCie equipment,
since you can pay extra to get the platinum care warranty extension</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10591"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10591</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">which includes *FREE* data
recovery in case of disastrous hardware failure, for a reasonable price. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">I currently use 2 LaCie Rikiki USB
3.0 1 TB drive, for reasons of speed, weight, and convenience, which are
constantly in sync (if one fails, the other holds the same data). I keep them
in LaCie Tank covers</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.lacie.com/uk/company/news/news.htm?id=10578"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://www.lacie.com/uk/company/news/news.htm?id=10578</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">which I prefer over a drive which
is rugged by itself. But LaCie also offers the LaCie Rugged series</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10564"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10564</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">with the mini having a reduced MIL
specification.’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">If you are concerned more about
dust & water than shock, you could go for any Pelican case fitting your equipment</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="http://pelican.com/"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0c39c9">http://pelican.com/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#1a1a1a">4. Formatting
and connecting external hard drives:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">‘I've used GoFlex drives for the
past couple years without incident, even with traveling back and forth to India
and trips home to the US, but I keep them formatted as HFS+ (Mac OS Extended -
Journaled) to minimize any issues. I've experienced occasional issues with
FAT32 and EXFAT formatted drives and Mac OS (especially if I unplug before the
drive has dismounted), and most older computers don't support EXFAT, so I avoid
that route. I also invested in NTFS disk mounter software so I can read/write
to NTFS drives without a problem (I use Tuxera NTFS).’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1a1a1a">‘One other difference may be that
I have a FireWire 800 adapter that I use with the drives, which speeds up
information transfer and I think also helps keep them running more stably. If
you have access to a firewire adaptor, and a computer to connect it to, it's a
$20 investment that might allow the computer to read the drive, and save you
the hassle of data recovery.’</span></p>
<div><br></div>-- <br>Reuben Brown<br><br>PhD Candidate<br>The University of Sydney<br>