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data recovery experts
I guess these are the key folks to have on board. I'd have thought that over ten years of moisture and temperature extremes would make it completely inoperable, but they must have faith that there is a chance, and with what's at stake, it's worth it.
I wonder why the council are sticking so firmly to their guns. I suppose one aspect is that it opens the doors to people making similar requests to explore the dump for treasure.
J0nathan-
I'd have thought that over ten years of moisture and temperature extremes would make it completely inoperable
The actual drive platters are remarkably resilient, and they are in a very well sealed box.
If you did find the drive and plugged it in to a computer there would be almost a 0% chance that it would work.
But you wouldn't be doing that, as you say it'd go straight to a hard drive recovery company that has the ability (and a clean room) to transfer the platters to a housing that hasn't been in a dump for 10+ years and there's a >99.99% chance that the data would be recoverable.
That's assuming it wasn't mechanically mangled by one of the claws of the bin lorry when it was compacting things as it rumbled down the road.
I'm still pulling data off drives that have been stuck in a damp dusty loft for years along with being bounced around in various house moves. Many are completely hosed but I'm getting data off drives that are coming up 30 years old.
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I read an article on it a couple of days ago and it reckoned the council were saying that it would cause significant environmental damage to dig up the tip.
Also anything that goes into the tip belongs to them so he doesn't own it any more. I expect that might be one of the key issues that the court hearing is expected to rule on.
Greenbank
frank9755
He's got a whole host of experts working for free in exchange for a chunk of BTC if he ever recovers it. Lawyers, data recovery experts, he even hired the ex Head of Waste Management at the council, to pinpoint the location in the tip it was most likely to be.
I think he mentioned that he thinks about that drive every single day of his life, so he may as well spend that time trying to get it back.