how to extract video and audio meta data?

Maxtor harddrive crashed - Can I extract data?

• I have a Maxtor harddrive that crashed over a year ago (it was about 15 months old when it crashed). Is there a way to cheaply extract the data? Can I simply switch out the harddrive disk with another harddrive disk? Is there a cheap service that can extract the data? I have TONS of pictures, video, and music on that harddrive that I really need to gain access to. Please help!

• Answer:

  Drives can crash in different ways. If the problem is the main motor, extraordinary methods and expense would be involved in rebuilding the unit. Very few places could even try that and results are very uncertain. If the Magnetic signals are corrupted, as in a power failure during a recording activity, then chances are better that most, possibly all, of the data could be recovered with special software even though the normal functions and pointers have been destroyed on the disk. Check the yellow pages for a good service that specializes in this and get a few quotes. For those who like to experiment, there are recovery programs downloadable from the internet, but few work very well and they are often too complicated for the novice.