arrived in Baton Rouge on September 11th. After sitting for
two weeks in motel in another state, it's great to be back
working with my Channel 4 pals.
In
the motel lobbies, corridors, and breakfast bars I have recently
called "home," I ran across dozens of folks from the WWL-TV
viewing area concerned about computers left behind in flooded
homes and businesses.
In
some cases, they were worried about wedding pictures or images
of their grandchild's birthday party.
Others,
however, were concerned about employee records, tax data, or
other files they need to get their businesses back up and running.
Data Recovery
Ironically,
I had been working on a data recovery segment for several months.
Eric
Paulsen's home computer suffered a massive hard drive crash
in March, and in researching options to recover his data, I
stumbled upon a company called DtiData in Clearwater,
Florida, and was introduced to Dave Mohyla, a knowledgeable,
plain-talking data recovery specialist.
When
the Eyewitness Morning News called me Wednesday about
doing "Digital Gumbo" this week, I immediately knew what my
topic would be.
Minutes
later, I was on the phone with Dave Mohyla, once again picking
his brain.
Digital
Gumbo (DG): Dave, we haven't talked in a while, but
I don't have to tell you there are a lot of flooded computers
in the New Orleans area. Is the data stored on those hard
drives lost for good?
Dave
Mohyla (DM): First, let me say that I wish
we were talking again under different circumstances. All
of us here in the Tampa area have the victims of Hurricane
Katrina in our thoughts. Hurricanes threaten this area too.
DG: I
know that, and I also remember your telling me about how
your company did data recovery for hundreds of hard drives
damaged when Hurricane Ivan devastated the island of Grand
Cayman last year. What can you tell the victims of Hurricane
Katrina about the prospects of recovering data from a hard
drive that has been underwater?
DM: When
dealing with a flood-damaged hard drive, the first
thing to keep in mind is: don't assume your data is lost.
A large percentage of flood- and storm- damaged hard drive
data can be recovered if proper steps are taken during and
prior to recovery.
DG: What
are some of those steps?
DM: Hard
drives are sealed with rubber gaskets, and the top of the
hard drive is secured by screws, tightened with a certain
amount of torque. Hard drives, however, are not hermetically
sealed -- not completely. There are taped seals on
both sides of the hard drive and some space, albeit small,
where water can enter if the drive is submerged. Positive
pressure created by the velocity of the platters spinning
creates a very sterile environment for the hard drive to
operate. Unfortunately, when the drive is not spinning, the
positive pressure isn't available to counteract the pressure
of the water. The seals can't repel the water and the contaminants,
so a hard disk submerged for a prolonged period of time will
usually have water inside the drive housing.
DG: But
if I understand you correctly, the fact that there's water
inside the housing doesn't necessarily mean the data is unrecoverable.
How is that possible?DM: The
key is proper handling. First, do not attempt to power up
visibly-damaged PC. Even if the computer case appears not
to have been flooded, you should examine the inside of the
case carefully before you apply power. Powering on a PC that
has been been touched by flood waters is not only dangerous,
it may also destroy the data. If the data on the hard disk
is valuable, you are taking a tremendous risk if you power
up the PC to see if it will boot.DG: Okay,
let's assume I know my PC was underwater, and there's water
in the hard drive housing. If I try to remove the drive,
won't the water inside be splashing all over the place? DM: Yes,
but it would be far worse if you shake the drive or try to
disassemble a drive that's been damaged. Do not attempt to
clean or dry water-logged hard drives. Do not try to dry
out the media and then apply power. Hard drive heads fly
just microns above the media on a pocket of air generated
by the velocity of the platters spinning at high velocity.
Any internal disturbance of this process can make the media
unrecoverable.DG: So
putting a hard drive under a 1000W blow dryer or out in the
sun for a couple of hours isn't recommended?DM: Definitely
not. Drying a hard drive could cause contaminates to further
adhere to the platters. I don't want to sound like I'm trying
to drum up business, but you really should consult a data
recovery specialist for instructions how to properly ship
a hard drive with wet or damp media. Most will tell you that
it should be placed in a container that will keep the drive
damp but protect the shipping material from getting wet.
That's important, because wet cardboard cartons can break
apart during shipping and cause more damage to the drive. DG: Data
recovery isn't cheap. Is there any kind of software you can
run in lieu of sending a flooded computer's hard disk to
a data recovery specialist?DM: Definitely
not. Don't try to use data recovery software on media that
has been involved with flood or storm damage. Software programs
are for use on hard drives or other media in good working
order. Again, I don't want to sound like a commercial, but
DtiData has a lot of experience with this type of recovery.
We are registered with FEMA and work with insurance companies
all the time. We will also give victims of Hurricane Katrina
a discount. Furthermore, if you've have something like 100
water-damaged drives, we can come to your location, with
the proper materials to transport the drives, and pick them
up. At DtiData, many of our clients come to us as the result
of some kind of tragedy -- fire, flood, or storm. We can't
recover their data for free, but we try to work with people
as much as we can.
See
the full article here.
Here is a letter to Jerry from one of our customers:
Hi Jerry
My husband and I were wiped out by Katrina; home, jobs, car and all in Gulfport, MS. We have relocated to my sister’s in Brownwood, TX with our three dogs and literally the cloths on our backs. But at least we are alive. Everything we have known all our lives has been obliterated. I am a N.O. native who moved to the Gulf Coast in 1979. Nothing, not even Camille, prepared us for Katrina.
I am writing because I was searching the internet for “flooded hard drive recovery” when I came upon your article about Dti Data and Dave Mohyla. It was exactly what I was looking for, informative and to the point. I contacted Dti by the email link and Dave literally called us right back. He was so generous. He offered to recover the data on our two hard drives for ½ price, which was about ½ of approximately $2,500.00. We knew this was a great price but in our present circumstances it was still too much. Prior to August 29th and 8 feet of water in our home/office we would have thought nothing of it. My husband thanked Dave but told him we just couldn’t afford that at this time. What did Dave do? He didn’t hang up or get exasperated. Dave said “send the drives to him and he would recover the data for free and we could pay him when we were in a better situation”. What an angel from God. These drives contained all of my husband’s business files and our family photos. This data recovery will allow him to get back to work. It will also give us family photos of which we currently have done. Thankfully, our son was able to retrieve the computers from my husband’s office even though they were water logged and covered in mud. He removed the hard drives and mailed them to us.
Please read the attached letter. I thought you would like to see the fruit of your article and what a great guy Dave Mohyla and Dti Data Recovery is. It is ordinary people offering a helping hand that has made this situation bearable. I have always been on the giving side, never dreaming I would be in this situation. I managed a large upscale strip shopping center in Biloxi which was severely damaged. What did my boss do – he immediately terminated me. What did this stranger (Dave) do- he offered us a hand up. What a difference people can be. A situation like this shows people’s true colors.
Now if you could just get State Farm to get an adjustor to see us all would be better.
Thank you
Kathy Higgins
Gulfport, MS.