Data Recovery
Hard drive crashes can come suddenly and without warning. You may turn on your computer one day and receive an "Operating System not found", "Inaccessible Boot Disk", grey screen, or flashing question mark. Hard drives typically last 3 to 5 years before failing but can fail as soon as 6 months to 1 year depending on operating conditions or physical trauma. Even if your computer is still under warranty the manufacturer will not assist you in recovering your data, they will simply send you a new hard drive. Data recovery labs charge steep fees typically ranging from $500 to $3000 and upwards. For many individual users and small businesses, spending thousands of dollars on data recovery is simply not an option. Whether your PC or Mac notebook, desktop, or external hard drive has crashed, there's a good chance your data can be recovered utilizing sophisticated software and hardware based imaging techniques we have developed. Over our 18+ years in business we have successfully recovered data from thousands of drives, including Quickbooks accounting files, thesis papers, large digital music and video libraries, priceless family photos, and terabytes worth of video content for media production companies.
We can also recover data from RAID and NAS volumes, certain types of physically damaged flash drives, as well as some liquid damaged drives. Not sure what happened or when it happened? Just tell us everything you know and we'll give you our honest opinion as to whether the data can be recovered.
Our pricing structure for data recovery is simple: $180 per drive if we can recover some or all of the data and no charge if we aren’t able to recover any data. Certain types of recoveries may require additional parts such as replacement PCBs at a nominal additional cost.
Recovery software hasn’t helped?
Tell us what happened before the files disappeared, the exact errors you’re seeing, and which recovery or repair tools you’ve already tried. A drive that disappears, stalls while copying, or reports health errors needs a different assessment from files that were simply deleted.
If the files matter and the drive may be failing, recovery comes before lengthy tests or file-system repair attempts. The examples below show drive-health warnings, Mac Fusion Drive errors, and damaged connectors we assess.
BitLocker Recovery Assistance
We also help recover files from BitLocker-encrypted drives, including locating recovery keys after BIOS or motherboard problems.
Mac Fusion Drive Data Recovery
We also handle data recovery from Macs with Fusion Drives. If your Mac won't start and Disk Utility is reporting errors, tell us what happened before the problem started and what you've already tried. We can assess the drive and explain the recovery options.
Drive Diagnostics
Long pauses when opening files, errors when copying them, or a drive that keeps disappearing can point to a failing hard drive or SSD. We can check the drive's health and investigate whether the problem is with the drive itself, its connection, or something else in the computer.
Most hard drives and SSDs have a built-in monitoring system called S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology). It keeps track of things like read errors, unreliable storage areas (bad sectors), operating temperature, and wear on an SSD's memory. What gets reported varies by model. We look at the individual readings and error history, rather than relying only on an overall "Good" or "Passed" label.
The SSD shown here is reporting a failed health check. These warnings can help identify a drive that's wearing out, but a drive can still fail without a S.M.A.R.T. warning. If there's important data on a drive that's showing signs of failure, recovering the files comes before lengthy tests or attempts to repair the file system.
Damaged Drive Connectors
Some recovery work involves physical damage to a connector. These photos show damaged hard-drive connectors and an occasional USB flash-drive wiring repair. The USB method shown here applies to certain drive designs; it doesn't apply to modern monolithic flash drives.