Hard Drive and SSD Data Recovery

Drive failures often happen without warning and, for organisations without backups, mean direct business loss.

The wrong intervention can turn recoverable data into permanently lost data. Repeatedly powering up a mechanically failing drive can make the damage worse, so the first attempt needs to be the right one.

As soon as you notice data loss, stop using the device. Every further use increases the chance that deleted data is overwritten.

Do not try off-the-shelf recovery software, do not open the device yourself and do not hand it to a repair shop before speaking to us.

If the drive is clicking or grinding, power it down immediately and do not switch it on again.

• Assessment of the drive's physical and logical condition
• Examination of the file system and partition structure
• Recovery of deleted documents, photos and videos
• Data retrieval from formatted drives or drives with a damaged partition table
• Appropriate lab intervention for physically failed drives
• Reconstruction of RAID arrays and data retrieval
• Assessment of TRIM effects on SSDs
• Integrity checks and delivery of recovered data

Wherever possible we first image the drive and carry out all recovery work on that image. Physically failed drives are handled in a controlled environment. On SSDs, TRIM allows the drive itself to clear deleted blocks, so recovery prospects are generally lower than on HDDs.

1. Intake and custody: we confirm the requester's legal authority, sign a non-disclosure agreement and receive the material with a signed evidence handover record. The chain of custody is documented from this point on.
2. Preliminary review: the type of failure (logical or physical) is identified and the likelihood of recovery and estimated time are shared.
3. Imaging and recovery: the drive is imaged and its hash value recorded; recovery is performed on the image and recovered files undergo integrity checks.
4. Reporting and return: findings are reported together with the scope and limitations of the work. The material is returned against a signed record and working copies are either not retained at all or kept for 3 or 6 months, as the client prefers, and then securely destroyed.

Duration varies from case to case depending on the type of device or material, the data volume and the scope of the examination. We share an estimated timeframe after the initial assessment.

Organisations and individuals that have lost data, and owners of servers and workstations without backups.