Been there, done that. When my drive went belly-up, I felt like I’d lost a limb. Look, @techchizkid’s advice is solid, but let me throw in a couple more options to mull over.
First things first, if you haven’t already, do NOT keep trying to access the drive. Every failed attempt might lower your chances of a full recovery. Move with caution here.
You might want to give DriveSavers a whirl. These guys have been in the game for a good while and have a stellar reputation. They’ve got this free evaluation thing going on, which helps you get a sense of the damage before they ask you to fork over any dough. They’re hardcore about security, so you won’t be biting your nails worrying about some lab tech scrolling through your private photos.
But hey, if you’re feeling even ballsier, consider DataTech Lab. They often fly under the radar but are super hands-on. They’re known for dealing with worst-case scenarios. They’ve got this data extraction technique that feels proprietary, but whatever it is, it works wonders.
One thing you might not have thought about—have you considered the condition of your space? If the environment where the crash happened is particularly dusty or filled with static electricity, it might make things worse. Ideally, you want your hard drive looked at in a controlled environment, like those fancy clean rooms @techchizkid mentioned.
Putting more techy stuff aside for a sec, CZ Technologies out of Manhattan also deserves a nod. They’re not some faceless corp—they’re a bit smaller and might give you more personalized service. They don’t wave a magic wand, but they’ve got grit and solid customer interactions.
Okay, now about that DIY route—totally viable if the corruption is software-related and not mechanical. I usually do a one-two punch with Recuva and PhotoRec. Recuva’s straightforward, user-friendly, but PhotoRec digs deeper although it’s more spartan in terms of UI. They might not be as polished as Disk Drill (which you can check more about here: Disk Drill Data Recovery Software), but they get the job done for basic recoveries.
If you do get lucky and bail out your precious data, please, for all that’s good and holy, set up a backup system immediately. Get an external SSD for redundancy and look into cloud storage solutions like Google Drive or Dropbox. Automate that backup process—weekly, daily, hourly—so you can sleep easy.
Oh, and about Disk Drill’s free version being kinda limited: truth. It’s a bummer, but the cost of the pro version stings wayyyyy less than the thought of losing valuable data forever. Heck, consider it like an insurance policy you opted out of, but now reluctantly agree you probably should have signed up for.
So many choices, man, but all roads lead to data recovery. You’ll get those files back. It’s rough now but you’re on the right track.