Ohh no...:(

[greatshot]

Ok,

Here’s what happened, about a week ago my computer broke down and all my pictures were on it and I (stupidly) did not have them backed up. So I took it into best buy (where i bought it) and they said they would have to send it off to Sony to get it fixed. So I asked if they could recover the photos and they said yes and did it last weekend, so they call me and tell me the external hard drive is ready with all my pictures on it to pick up, so I go get it and get home plug it into my computer and have about 6500 out of 7000 picturesfile:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif. So I immediately got on the phone and they said they would take a look at it and call me back yesterday. I have still not heard from them.

Do you think they will be able to recover my pictures? What d o I do?

Thanks,

Greatshot

[doctorgonzo]

It really depends on how your computer "broke". In general, unless the hard drive was physically destroyed, the data can be recovered. However, it very quickly becomes very expensive, in the hundreds to thousands of dollars range.

If you can get the old hard drive back (and I would do that ASAP, no way would I trust Best Buy or Sony with anything electronic), take it to a data recovery place. They'll tell you what they could do with it and how much it would cost.

[Tixeon]

If the old hard drive still runs (physically) you might be able to install it in another machine (or external drive cage) & just simply copy them to DVD or CD's.

[PiRho]

If the old hard drive still runs (physically) you might be able to install it in another machine (or external drive cage) & just simply copy them to DVD or CD's.

^this is what I would do.


I have done it several times, for my own HD's and friends. I too would never trust my data to any of the clowns at 'best buy' 'sony' or any other big box store! :eek:

sorry about your possible loss though! it is scary going through the data recovery process!

[greatshot]

Ok, I will try doing what you said. Thanks for all the advice!

Greatshot

[tempest68]

Ok,

Here’s what happened, about a week ago my computer broke down and all my pictures were on it and I (stupidly) did not have them backed up. So I took it into best buy (where i bought it) and they said they would have to send it off to Sony to get it fixed. So I asked if they could recover the photos and they said yes and did it last weekend, so they call me and tell me the external hard drive is ready with all my pictures on it to pick up, so I go get it and get home plug it into my computer and have about 6500 out of 7000 picturesfile:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif. So I immediately got on the phone and they said they would take a look at it and call me back yesterday. I have still not heard from them.

Do you think they will be able to recover my pictures? What d o I do?

Thanks,

Greatshot

This advice does not help with your current problem. But going forward, be sure to have multiple backups. Here is what I do:

Immediately backup my RAW files to a second, external drive as soon as the files come off the camera.
I keep my photos stored within subfolders by year, and then month. At the end of each month, I make two copies of the RAW files on DVDs. First DVD set stays home, and the 2nd DVD is put in the safe deposit box at the bank (yearly fees on the box are dirt cheap, IMHO). This way, I should never loose more than the current months photos if my house were to burn down:( Now if a tornado were to strike my house and the bank (which is only a half mile away), then I'm SOL:cry:.

[OdiN1701]

They are probably gone. Knowing BB they just say whatever to get you to leave it there.

They likely send it back for repair to a place that doesn't care. If the HD is going out, they toss a new one in and toss away your old one.

Or they may just format and reload an image - wiping out everything you had on there.

I wouldn't trust them, but hope somehow you get them back.