Find a professional data recovery technician near you

DIY-ing your data recovery is risky. Accidental overwrites, formatting and further damage to the device makes data recovery especially difficult. (And possibly more expensive.) The first step: get your device in the hands of an IT expert. Here are some of the devices and common problems your data recovery expert can help with:

Hard disk drives (HDD)

Hard drives are prone to physical damage and system errors. Whether it’s an external hard drive or the one inside your computer, the internal moving parts mean over time they wear out and degrade in performance. Hearing clicking or whirring noises? There could be physical damage, so your data recovery expert will use a precision screwdriver to repair the motor and hard drive heads. Seeing error messages or experiencing power problems? A system fault or virus may need fixing. Your techie might first try installing recovery software onto your computer. Or they could remove the actual hard drive from the case or computer and use a SAS/SATA to USB adapter to access and recover your files that way.

USB memory sticks

When your flash drive stops working or isn’t recognised by your computer (even when you’ve given it a wiggle) the problem could be faulty connectors, a bad computer USB port or something more serious like a virus. To recover your files, your data recovery technician will first test the memory stick by plugging it into a different computer or USB port. If this doesn’t work, they may use small screwdrivers and pliers to straighten out the connectors. If the damage isn’t physical, checks are made to identify a reason for corruption. This often involves recovery software, which can also help with deleted file recovery if anything has gone walkabout.

Solid-state drives (SSD)

SSD file recovery isn’t easy, because it relies on electrical components to save and retrieve data. When these go bad, it’s very difficult to recover files. But not impossible. Your data recovery expert will ensure a technology called TRIM isn’t enabled. To do this, they will use special recovery software and commands for SSD devices. If they can’t recover your files this way, your drive is sent to a forensic data recovery lab for further investigation, restoration, and data extraction. Be aware, though - this can be expensive.

Phone and smart devices

Need to retrieve messages, photos, numbers, and videos from your phone’s internal memory? Depending on the type of damage your phone has suffered, they may be salvageable. If your phone still switches on, your IT expert will first try downloading specific apps for data recovery. If this isn’t an option, they’ll plug your phone or device into a computer via USB for further debugging and file extraction.