Advice to help you make practical decisions about what to do (and what to avoid) when you see signs of storage failure on each device. This advice is based upon our experience with in-house drive recovery for over two decades and most times it’s the first decision you make that determines if your data will be recovered.
Most data loss occurs after a drive fails as opposed to during the failure itself. All of these recommendations relate to everything below.
The same five steps work with all devices to help ensure you’re able to get back your data and have the best chance at total recovery. Go through each step before doing anything else.
Any time a photo is taken, a document is saved or an application launches, they are overwriting information that may still be recoverable. Put the device down immediately.
If the device is making noise (clicking, beeping), failing to spin or generally failing in some way, pull the plug immediately. The amount of times you power on a failing hard drive increases the chances that you’ll make things worse.
When working with a physically failing device, “recovery” or “fix” software will run the drive until it fails further and then pound the weak spots. This usually ends up losing the data completely.
No freezer trick. No disassembling the case. No swapping out boards. All of these methods do damage. Most of this damage is irreparable.
The best way to get started with our services is to get a quote from us, then either drop your device off at our office, or post it to us using fully-insured shipping. Before we start charging you for any chargeable work, we will let you know exactly what can be recovered from your device and the cost of recovering it.
In order to determine which type of device you are dealing with, choose the device you are experiencing problems with from the list below; this will provide you with information regarding typical warning signs, dos and don’ts, as well as an overview of how recovery works for that type of media.
The two most common types of failure experienced by spinning hard drives are quite unique. A logical failure (deletion, formatting, corruption) may render your data unusable but the drive will continue to function as intended; typically these are less risky to attempt recovery on. Hard drive physical failures (failed head, seized motor, etc.) require extensive bench work to resolve and in many cases, an incorrect initial approach can result in the drive being permanently damaged. Identifying whether you’re experiencing a logical or physical failure is about half the battle.
All hard disk drive recovery is performed in-house through the use of matching donor heads and components. Our engineers also image weak drives sector-by-sector and perform extensive repairs on damaged file systems so that the maximum amount of recoverable data may be returned to you.
More on hard drive recovery →Unlike mechanical hard disk drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD) do not have moving components and therefore will not “click”, “grind” nor create noise while operating. Instead, they tend to die unexpectedly and silently. The controller, firmware or simply ‘sudden death’ are all common causes for SSD failure. There are two distinct aspects that separate HDDs from SSDs and each has implications: TRIM, which deletes files within minutes of deletion; and how flash memory gradually loses its charge over time if it remains powered off.
We read the NAND directly in technical-mode and rebuild the translator tables in addition to working at the controller-level to bring data back from deceased SSDs.
More on SSD & NVMe recovery →An external drive (just a regular hard drive or SSD in a case) will fail as usual, and then have two additional failure mechanisms, i.e. the USB-to-SATA bridge board which connects the drive to your computer, and the hardware encryption that some cases add to protect your data. It’s this very hardware encryption that means most of the time pulling the drive out from the enclosure and connecting it directly to another device results in no readable data.
We work around failed bridge boards, we have methods to decrypt volumes that were encrypted by a bridge board, and we fix head and motor issues on dropped units, all done in-house.
More on external drive recovery →A USB stick is essentially flash memory with a little microcontroller (chip). The good news about these devices is that if they stop working normally, the flash memory itself is still intact and usable, and typically the problem lies with either the microcontroller or a broken connector. On the other hand, since data is encrypted at the microcontroller level before being written to flash, decrypting it can be very difficult, if not impossible, using software tools designed for repair; it requires specialised tools and expertise.
We are able to read your USB stick’s memory chip directly; this includes what some refer to as “chip-off” (removing the memory chip), reading through an internal test pad on a single piece of memory (monolithic) and rebuilding your files based upon your raw flash.
More on USB stick recovery →Corruption occurs primarily when memory cards are either removed from the camera (or it loses power) mid-write, or improperly formatted within the camera. In both cases, photo and/or video content will nearly always remain intact; however, the critical component that has been lost is the directory index that identifies where those images and videos reside. The goal of recovering these deleted items is to prevent new information from being written onto the card until all recoverable content is extracted from the memory card.
We create a complete image of the entire media card and identify and extract your pictures and videos using their respective file signature(s), then rebuild your directory structure for each media type including SD, microSD, CF and XQD.
More on memory card recovery →Recovering data from modern Macs presents two challenges. First there is the issue of APFS (Apple File System) being put into an unusable state due to a software update failing. Second, there is the T2 (or Apple-silicon security chip), which encrypts the hard drive(s). On newer models these are soldered onto the logic board; this means your data isn’t readable unless the board is active and you have the correct encryption keys.
If you have an Apple computer equipped with either removable storage or Fusion Drive, we will rebuild damaged APFS container structures and unlock FileVault encryptions using your encryption key. There is one exception: if your storage is permanently attached to your logic board, like those computers utilising T2 or Apple-silicon technology, we cannot perform service on that item.
More on Mac & MacBook recovery →When a Windows laptop or PC will not start, typically all of your information remains intact (the big issue now is whether the hard drive is failing or if there was an issue with the operating system). Both require a totally different approach in repair, and treatment of a failed hard drive as a software issue is how recoverable data gets lost.
We can also provide recovery services for hard disk drives (mechanical failures) and solid-state disks (SSDs) which have died, regardless of manufacturer (e.g. Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.).
More on laptop & PC recovery →RAID systems and NAS units provide redundancy, the ability to survive one disk failure; however, neither provides a backup. The problem begins when another disk fails or when a rebuild happens on a disk that has already weakened. One of the most damaging things you can do is allow the RAID to be rebuilt or reinitialised onto a failed disk, which may over-write the exact data you are attempting to save.
We image each of the disks read-only, rebuild the virtual stripe, parity and order of the disks, and after that, fix the file system on top; we do this regardless of who made the unit.
More on RAID recovery →The least expensive recovery is one you don’t ever have to make. Some good habits will protect your data long before something fails.
There should be three copies of everything you cannot afford to lose; two types of media; and at least one copy offsite or stored in “the cloud.” One single drive is never a “backup.”
If you have never restored a “backup”, it was only hopeful thinking. Every once in a while, go through a directory and find an actual working file that you can use to restore it.
An odd noise from your computer, frequent freeze-ups, files that won’t open or SMART warnings may be signs that you need to back up your hard drive now and replace it because the drive will probably fail soon.
If you have an SSD in your computer, when you accidentally erase something, don’t delay; most of the time, deleted files are gone after just a few minutes due to TRIM. Also, don’t keep the last copy of a file powered off for months at a time because they can lose their charge over time.
Drops, heat, liquids and static can destroy your data. Keep your drive safe from these threats by keeping it padded, cool, and dry; turning off your drive before transporting it; and grounding yourself before touching bare metal PCBs.
Surge protectors will guard against spikes and sudden cuts to your power supply that will both create file system problems, and burn out your circuit board. For desktop computers and NAS (Network-Attached Storage) units we recommend an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).
There are many “easy” solutions on the web designed to solve problems quickly but end up causing the most trouble. We’ve seen these fixes cause the most damage to our customers’ hard drives.
All recovery projects start off with a free written diagnosis. In this way we inform you as to how much of your data may be recovered and at what cost prior to doing any work that would incur a bill. Also, in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.