Data restore services - worth it ?

["noughtomate" <balraj_jassal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

My 500GB external Lacie d2 drive has died on me (triple interface=20
connectivity)

I had a back up of the data which is also corrupt, so restoring is=20
not an option to me.

Basically, the drive refuses to power up. I'm still within my=20
Warranty period and have received a replacement external power=20
supply, but this has had no effect. This leads me to beleive there's=20
a fault with the actual enclosure.

To me this implies that there's a fault with the disks or the=20
controller within the enclosure.=20

I have 3 options to restore my data :=20
a) Physically open the enclosure myself (which invalidates the=20
warranty) and manually try to mount the disks in a seperate=20
enclosure myself
b) Use Lacie's approved professinal data restoration companies.=20
I've had quotes ranging between =A3495 to =A3995!
c) Seek a non Lacie approved professional restoration company,=20
which is cheaper (which invalidates the warranty)

I wouldn't mind opening the disk enclosure up myself, however I=20
think the 500GB logical drive is made up of 2 x 250GB physical=20
drives, so the data is likely to be striped across both. This would=20
mean that restoring the data myself would not be straight forward.

I had thought about buying a cheaper version of the Enclosure and=20
moving the disks from the faulty one to the new one, but according=20
to the restoration company, there are firmware issues that I need to=20
take into account. I'm not sure if they're feeding me BS.

I own another 500GB Lacie disk which I bought more recently, but=20
it's enclosure size is smaller which leads me to beleive it contains=20
one physical disk rather than the two on my faulty drive.

Could anyone advise what the best possible option is ?
If it costs money for a professional service- fine, but I'd like to=20
hear your opinions of such services.=20

I have possibly lost 3000+ photos of my son from new born to 2 years=20
of age!

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks