Data recovery
Rescuing files from disks, SSDs, memory cards and USB drives after deletion, formatting or a system failure.
The first rule is to stop using the device. Every further write reduces the chance of getting deleted files back, and installing recovery software onto the same disk is the most common way to ruin the job before it starts.
A common case: a card that no longer opens its photos
After a trip, the card from a camera or a drone suddenly asks to be formatted. Or someone in a hurry formatted an external disk thinking it was empty. In both cases the files are mostly still physically on the medium: what was erased is the table saying where they are, not the data itself.
So do not format the card, do not run the repair tool Windows offers, and do not put it back in the camera. Just take it out and bring it in.
How we work
First we make a sector by sector copy of the medium (an image) with write protection in place, and every search after that runs on the copy. With a disk that has bad sectors the copy is made in several passes: everything that reads cleanly comes first, and only then does the software go back to the difficult areas, so a weakened head is not worn out on spots that will give nothing anyway.
- we read the SMART values, especially reallocated and pending sectors
- we image the medium onto a healthy disk
- we rebuild partitions and the file system (NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, ext4, HFS+)
- where no structure is left, we search for files by signature (JPEG, RAW, MP4, PDF, DOCX)
What we can and cannot do
We do logical recovery: deleted and formatted data, damaged partitions, systems that will not boot, and disks that still spin and read, even if slowly. A physically damaged disk is a different job. A disk that clicks, does not spin up or was dropped while running has to be opened in a cleanroom and have its heads replaced, and that is work for a specialised lab. When that is the case we say so straight away and do nothing that would make a later recovery harder.
SSDs add one more limit. With TRIM enabled, which it is on modern systems, the controller really does wipe the cells shortly after a delete. A deleted file on an SSD is therefore often unrecoverable anywhere, while an SSD that has simply stopped booting usually still has its data in place.
Common questions
How much does recovery cost?
It depends on the medium and on whether it is a deletion or a failure. After an inspection you get a quote, and before you pay, a list of the files that were found.
Can I try a recovery program myself?
For a deleted file on a healthy disk, yes, but install the program on a different disk and save what it finds to a third medium. If the disk clicks, slows down or keeps disappearing from the system, do not, because every attempt uses up what is left of it.
What if nothing is found?
We tell you plainly and explain why, for example TRIM on an SSD or a mechanical fault. For a physically damaged disk we recommend taking it to a lab with a cleanroom, and we do nothing that would make their job harder.