A lot of European forensic & data recovery specialists often use cheap sales gimmicks by claiming that they have acquired or developed machines which are capable of reading hard disk drive platters inside damaged SATA RAID servers and conventional hard disk platters without needing to change the heads. The sad truth is, that many reputed companies are also jumping onto this bandwagon and claiming they can do the same thing. So, is this true? Have we really managed to recover data from damaged HDD's without changing the heads?

Well, I'm not very convinced, and here's why. The US Federal Agency, the Pentagon, has put up a live advertisement seeking clarifications on such "machines or technologies" on their website. This advertisement has been up since the 9/11 incident over five years ago. So, how many responses do you think they got?!? Well, a month back, the Pentagon has finally decided to pull the plug on the ad due to the fact that there has not been a single reply for over five years!! Beginning to see the light? I thought so.

So, where do we go from here? In the meantime, true advanced technological developments are being accomplished by the newly established and upcoming hardware industry in India and the Far-East, specifically China. This technology is extremely intricate and requires molecular technologies in addition to advanced materialogy science.

A magnetic disk/platter is made of a circular aluminum disk, which is quite similar in shape to a normal CD or DVD, and has a chrome oxide surface coating with the sole exception of the read/write arm-head parking zone. In fact, the high precision required between disk surfaces and the heads causes them to "stick" to each other due to forces of molecular attraction. In order to prevent this effect, manufacturers often use special laser serrations in the zone of contact between the heads and the platters.

Due to their coating of chrome oxide base (which is a magnetically active substance) or cobalt layer applied using vacuum deposition, these disks demonstrate specific magnetic properties. Such coating is characterized by a robust and firm hardness and a greater wear resistance.

While tall tales and sales myths are circulating among RAID Data Recovery sales representatives in the USA & Western Europe, advanced data recovery technologies have predominantly been emerging from the Far-East, the former Eastern Block countries & India.

Meanwhile, it is expected that there will be an even bigger boom in the new hardware industry constantly developing in mainland China. This is due to a recent announcement that core investment in the hardware manufacturing industry will be tripled.

With Asia showing such strength in developing advanced data recovery technologies, it is but a matter of time when a collective, comprehensive solution data recovery solution emerges. Watch out - companies of the west - you are about to face some stiff competition. Time to change those flawed policies - people!