A dead motherboard doesn't mean lost data — we removed the healthy drive and imaged it externally.
A Newcastle customer's laptop simply wouldn't turn on — no lights, no fan, nothing — and like most people in that spot they assumed their files had gone with it. It's one of the most common things we hear, and one of the most reassuring to be able to answer, because a laptop that won't power on very often has nothing at all wrong with its storage. The fault sits on the motherboard, and the drive inside is perfectly healthy; the data isn't lost, it's just trapped behind a machine that won't boot.
We took the storage drive out of the laptop and connected it to our own equipment through a hardware write-blocker, which lets us read a drive with no possibility of writing to it. It read normally and showed a healthy, intact file system — confirming the problem was entirely the laptop's electronics, not the data.
With a healthy drive the work is straightforward, but still done properly: we took a full image of it on the PC3000, working against that copy rather than the original at every stage. That way the data was safe regardless of what became of the laptop, and we had a complete, verifiable copy to work from. Where a laptop uses soldered or encrypted storage we adapt the approach, but here the drive was a standard removable one and came across cleanly.
We checked the file system on the image and confirmed the documents, photos and email opened correctly, then wrote it all to fresh media ready for their next machine.
Every file was returned within three working days — no parts, no repair, just the data safely lifted off a dead machine. The reassurance worth repeating: a laptop that won't switch on is very often a motherboard problem, and the files on its drive are usually entirely recoverable.
PC3000 — imaging and recovery carried out in-house. Every job is imaged before any recovery work begins, and the original media is never written to.
Send us your device for a free diagnostic, and tell us a little about what happened — an engineer will review it and confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
Usually, yes. A dead laptop is often a motherboard fault sitting over a perfectly healthy drive — we take the drive out and image it on the PC3000, or recover a failed drive in our clean-air environment.
From £300 plus VAT, with no fix, no fee on most jobs and a fixed written quote before any work.
Yes, bring the laptop so we can remove and test the drive.
Start with an instant online quote, or call and talk it through with us first. You'll have a clear, fixed price before any work begins.