Data Recovery Digest

Newegg is a popular retailer of computer hardware (although it has since branched out into other produce) and was founded in 2001. One of the products you can buy on their site is hard drives. It’s a component that everyone needs in their computer, since without it you’re not going to be able to store any data.
When buying a hard drive from Newegg you get the option of buying a “data recovery service” alongside it, provided from a company called DriveSavers. This service is charged at $29.95 for one year, $39.95 for two years or $49.95 for three years.
This plan entitles the purchaser to a single data recovery attempt within the active period (however many years you’ve paid for). Of course, when it comes to data recovery nothing is guaranteed. It won’t always be possible to get your data back and this plan is provided on a “best effort basis”. This means that DriveSavers don’t guarantee that they’re going to get your data back. Handily, if the data is unrecoverable, Newegg will refund you the cost of the plan.
The plan is single use, which means that you can only have one data recovery attempt for the cost. It will expire after that, or after the time period purchased if never used.
Some ‘hidden’ costs to be aware of are that the customer has to pay the shipping charges for sending the drive to DriveSavers. They’ll cover getting it back, but it’s out of your pocket to get it there. Additionally, if the data recovered is more than 20GB in size then you’ll need to buy a new hard drive. If it’s less than that then they’ll send the data back on a DVD free of charge.
The small print states that DriveSavers is not liable for any damages to the drive, including damage during shipping. That’s a legal clause to be expected, but it’s still worth bearing in mind that you don’t have a right to claim if they mess things up.
Now, is the recovery service plan worth the cost? Ultimately, it probably depends on how the data is damaged. If the drive is physically damaged, like an electronic failure, then it’s highly cost effective if the recovery is successful, since recovering from a physically damaged drive is hard and needs professional help. If, however, the damage is logical (like through the OS or a virus), then it’s not really worth it. You can just download a data recovery program for free, like R-Studio, which allows you to run a test to see how much data can be recovered, before paying for the recovery.
Hard drive damage is going to be more likely the more intensively its used and the longer you have it. It’s not that likely (although entirely possible) that your drive will naturally corrode your data after just one year of usage. Bear in mind that some hard drive companies do offer free year-long warranties with the purchase of their drives anyway. Simply ensure you have a strong backup plan in place and you won’t have to cover the cost of a replacement drive.