Computer repair - Nashville area

[Reservoir Dog]

A couple of weeks ago, like a doofus, I dropped my laptop while it was running.  It slipped out of my hands and fell about 4ft onto the hardwood floor.  It really messed it up, and it would no longer boot up.  I took it to a local shop, and they said that the motherboard was damaged and needs to be replaced, and the main C drive was fried, and they could not recover any data from it.  They were unable to locate the correct replacement motherboard for the laptop. The laptop had two hard drives (C & D) drives, and I believe the back-up files are on the D drive (which was not damaged), so I am hoping that my files and pictures can be recovered once the rest of it is fixed.

 

The laptop was a couple years old, so I might just get a new one, but my main concern is trying to recover my files and pictures.  I would like to take it to another shop for a second opinion, and see if the would have any luck repairing it and recovering my data.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a good shop in the Nashville area?

 

 

[RC3]

Not worth it honestly. Its a LOT harder to find and replace laptop parts than a desktop. You can get a great laptop for under $500 now days. So I would suggest looking for a new one. 

[Sam1]

I would be willing to help you out on checking the hard drive to save your stuff, but not going to get involved in the other work.  Would do that at no cost since it's not much effort.  Can't guarantee anything though without getting my hands on the drive first and checking it out.  At least that wouldn't cost you anything, as compared to a store that may charge you $150 just to try.

[Reservoir Dog]

I would be willing to help you out on checking the hard drive to save your stuff, but not going to get involved in the other work.  Would do that at no cost since it's not much effort.  Can't guarantee anything though without getting my hands on the drive first and checking it out.  At least that wouldn't cost you anything, as compared to a store that may charge you $150 just to try.

 

Thank you!  I will send you a PM.

[KahrMan]

Member Dunndw has a computer business in Mt. Juliet. Danny is a good guy. Send him a pm

[Reservoir Dog]

Member Dunndw has a computer business in Mt. Juliet. Danny is a good guy. Send him a pm

 

Thanks!

[analog_kidd]

For about $20, you can find a USB drive enclosure. With it, you can take the drive out of your laptop, plug it into the enclosure, and then plug it into a USB port on another computer. If it works, you can copy the files to the other PC or burn them to a DVD. Honestly, there isn't a lot that can me done to fix a broken hard drive, unless you are willing to send it off to a recovery place along with a very big check. and if it works, keep the drive in the enclosure and use it for backups.

 

It seems unusual to have two hard drives in a laptop. If I had to guess, I'd say that the hard drive was partitioned into two drive letters. I do this on my computers. I use the C:\ partition for the O/S and programs, and the D:\ partition for data. It makes it easy to reload the O/S. I just wipe the C:\ and reinstall, and all my data stays intact.

 

As said above, I wouldn't have the laptop repaired. You are going to spend a lot of money on it, and could have just spent the same amount on a new one..

[Reservoir Dog]

It seems unusual to have two hard drives in a laptop. If I had to guess, I'd say that the hard drive was partitioned into two drive letters.

 

No, it has two seperate 500GB hard drives.  They told me at the computer shop that the D drive was almost full, so I am hoping that the C drive was backed up to it.  Not being a computer guy, I don't know if the backups are straight copies of my files, or if they are in some file format that Windows uses to restore the data.  I might use your idea and see what type of data is on the D drive. The lady at the computer shop installed a new C drive and reinstalled windows, but the computer is not showing that there is even a D drive connected.  Not sure if that is because of the damaged motherboard.

 

After thinking about it this weekend, I have decided to just get a new laptop, and not repair the old one.  The task at hand is to see if I can recover my files and pics.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Reservoir Dog