Always back up your files.

The punch line: Does anyone know an affordable data-recovery service in or near NYC That works with WD "My Passport" external hard drives?

The set-up: I was working on  a project on Cyberlink PowerDirector13 Windows 7, basically putting aside all other concerns, and after completing a scene and rendering it, I opened a new project to work on the next scene.

While I was working on it I noticed the program wasn't running at peak efficiency. I thought if I moved some files to my external hard drive, that would clear up space and the program would run more smoothly. After copying a bunch of files onto the ext HD and deleting them from my computer and emptying the recycle bin, I noticed that I wasn't able to access the files on my ext HD.

I restarted my computer and when it opened up, I found that I still could not access the files on my ext HD/ The browser window shows that it's there, but clicking on it gives me the "blue circle of delay" which never leaves. The indicator light on the ext HD blinks nonstop, which I am told means that it is booting up and when its ready will stay steady, but it never stays steady for even as long as a minute.

I am now using Recuva to recover as many of the files that I transferred over to the ext HD as I can, including the rendered version of the scene I completed, I have been able to recover a lot of the files, I moved and deleted, but not that one yet.

I went to Staples to see if it was the cable (again) and after trial and error with several cables and other devices, we determined it was not the cable. I called WD, the makers of this 2-terrabyte "My Passport" drive, and after following all of their diagnostic instructions, we have determined that it must be a problem with the drive.

The drive seems to run smoothly, but if you wait long enough, you can hear and feel the faintest "click."

The costs of data recovery that people are telling me would set back many things, and this delay is endangering the timely completion of this project. If these files are truly lost and gone, I can contact the videographers for the footage that they shot but the footage that I shot with my camera would be gone forever. That could be up to 15% of what I had intended to use in the video.

I can still make a very good video with the footage that I could get back from other sources, but there is so much other footage from so many other things that I have shot that was waiting for the opportunity to be backed up, to lose all 1.25 terrabytes now would be a very drastic tragedy. This would include  my footage from the USA Knights' campaigns in Poland (the first time), France, and Spain, and interviews with my (I promised not to tell anyone how old she is) mom about her life and adventures that I intended to post n YouTube (I believe her insights growing up in the pre-Civil Rights south would be especially topical now).