Can a damaged hard drive be recovered?
When a hard drive or other storage media is damaged and cannot be accessed by the computer, data recovery is needed if you do not have a data backup. The drive will need to be replaced, but in many cases data recovery experts will be able to recover your valuable data.
Can you recover data from a hard drive that won’t spin?
When the drive doesn’t spin and there is mechanical failure then the drive will need to be taken apart to recover data, however we strongly advise not to do this yourself, as you are unlikely to be able to fix the problem, and opening a drive will greatly reduce the recovery success rate and increase the time taken for the data recovery process.
How much does HDD recovery cost?
This depends on the condition of the failed device. Sometimes the drive may just have suffered logical failures or deleted files so costs will be relatively low and can be carried out using data recovery software, but in many cases there is mechanical or electronics failure and there is then more work involved.
Data recovery service pricing varies, but generally the costs for data recovery services range from £90 to £450, depending on the severity of the failure.
Is data recovery worth the money?
It depends on how valuable the data is to you. If the failed hard disk contains just programs and files which can just be downloaded again from a cloud service such as OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, or restored from backup, then it’s inconvenient for you to reinstall those bits of software, but will be cheaper than data recovery services.
However, if the failed hard drive contains irreplaceable photos or other critical data in the form of business files such as customer records then it’s difficult to put a price on the value of PC data recovery. Be wary of companies offering a cheap hard drive recovery service; some may not use any of the advanced techniques used by the experts and could potentially reduce the likelihood of a successful recovery, even if they are unable to perform a successful file recovery and you opt to take the drive to another company.
How can I recover data from a damaged hard drive?
Assuming that the drive still spins and is recognised by your operating system then you may be able to recover your data using free software such as ddrescue or testdisk, or proprietary tools. However, as mentioned previously, unless you are experienced in data recovery it is possible to cause more damage and reduce the success rates if you then choose to pass the work on to data recovery specialists.
Do data recovery companies look at your files?
Generally speaking, the data restorer will see the file names and will be able to produce a file listing from the data recovered from the hard drive. This is done as part of free diagnosis to produce a list of recoverable files so you can determine if it is worth going ahead with the recovery process, but a reputable company will only open a random selection of your files to check their integrity.
How can I recover my data for free?
Using the free software mentioned previously, it is possible to recover lost data free of charge – if you know what you are doing. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we strongly advise against doing this, as is is extremely easy to cause more problems and data loss. A data recovery specialist has years (and often decades) of experience in – as the title suggests – recovering data from failed hard drives so unless you have a backup, or it wouldn’t be a disaster to not get your data back then it is best to leave the job to the experts.
How do I choose a data recovery company?
A good data recovery company will provide an assessment free of charge, explain the date recovery process and your options, and provide a fixed price quote for the recovery work to get your data back. They will also work with a wide range of storage media and devices such as mobile phones, hard drives, raid arrays, USB memory sticks, memory cards and other media.
Can you help?
Of course! If you have a failed hard disk or just need to recover deleted files please get in touch and we will discuss your options for data recovery with you.
