Greenock was at one time an important ship building port and later built computers for the world in its IBM years. For this reason the whole coast seems to understand that all things including hardware have a lifespan. When your drive reaches the end of its life, you can get to us in approximately forty minutes from Greenock and the diagnosis will be provided at no charge.
When you leave Greenock, the A8 turns into the M8 and takes approximately 40 minutes to get you into Charing Cross. If you are taking the Inverclyde train line from Greenock (West & Central) then it will also take you into Glasgow Central station with no need for a change of trains and the drive on your lap. If you would rather not travel at all, there is always the option to use insured, tracked post. An Inverclyde parcel sent via post today will be sitting on the bench in Glasgow tomorrow morning.
The sea brings its own special mix to us. In addition to all the maritime and logistical information we see from the working waterfront, we have machines from the town's heritage electronic manufacturing companies. We also have family photograph archives that contain images of families who worked at the shipyards across a hundred years. The rest are your typical clicking external drives. Each job will be given yard discipline: measured, imaged, fixed on the copy.
No matter what device arrives, the prices do not change based upon your postcode. There is always a free diagnostic first. The fixed price of the recovery will be agreed to in writing prior to any work. The price is £250 + VAT for cards and sticks. Single drives cost £300 + VAT. RAID systems, NAS devices, and server hardware cost from £500 + VAT. In addition, in most cases you only pay if we have recovered your lost data. All data recovery jobs are completed in-house by our own employees (engineers), and your data never leaves the UK.
Yes, often, because the chances are that the powered-down drive in two inches of padding will be subjected to less shock inside a postal bag than when travelling in a car down the A8. Either way is safe as long as you do it correctly. The damage is not due to either mileage or post; it's simply the power-on/off cycle. Off = safe. Well-packed = safe. Choose either.
Call us prior to pulling or rebuilding any of the members: 0141 404 0294. A safe shutdown-and-photograph routine will be provided within five minutes. All member disks (including any designated as "failed") should be sent to us in numbered bays or bags. Prices for multi-disk services are based upon a quote-to-the-job pricing model, starting from £500 + VAT.
Please use our contact number or quotation form to obtain a price before posting or dropping off your device. Then power down your device, carefully wrap it so that nothing can be damaged during transportation, and then decide how you wish to transport your device to Glasgow: either by dropping it off at the counter at Tay House, 300 Bath Street (Monday to Friday 9am–5:30pm; no appointment needed) or by using an insured tracked postal service from Greenock. Either way, we will diagnose it free of charge and send you a written estimate prior to making any decisions.
In every instance, all data recovery services, both diagnosis and imaging/data recovery, are performed at our Glasgow laboratory regardless of which city/region the client resides in.
Do not use your drive again. Each additional time you use your drive increases the risk that the remaining recoverable data may be overwritten. A faulty drive's head(s) are also at greater risk of coming into contact with its platter(s). If the system remains active, turn it off safely and then leave it turned off.
Do not run any data recovery software on the original hard disk. Most consumer data recovery programs create their own file indexes on the hard disk being scanned. While this typically does not harm a functioning hard disk containing deleted files, once the hard disk contains bad sector(s) or is mechanically failed, it will limit what was possible through data recovery efforts.
Do not open your drive. Even a small amount of dust entering a drive can damage the surface of the drive after only a few revolutions. If it has already been opened, tell us: it changes our approach, not our willingness to help.
Remove the drive where you can. Please send just the hard drive or SSD. We are not able to accept full computers (laptops/desktops). All computer shops can remove the internal drive from a system within minutes. External drives are the exception and need to be sent complete. Please include the external case/enclosure when sending the drive. This is because many external enclosures contain the bridge board which contains the encryption key. If the drive is sent without the case, then the drive will appear blank/unformatted.
Our diagnostic is free and is a real diagnostic. Our process involves putting your drive on the bench, not through a script, and identifying the type of fault. At this time, we determine if the media on your drive is stable enough to be imaged, and what information may actually be recovered before we discuss cost.
You get a fixed price in writing before work begins. Not a price range or estimate that changes once the job has started. Once you see the fixed price, you decide based upon the price you see. In most cases, no payment is due if we cannot recover your data.
We image first then repair from that copy. Your original drive is read only once using the least invasive method possible with the equipment. Every single repair operation is performed on the image of your original drive. Using this method ensures that your original drive is never damaged further than necessary.
Every step of recovery is done in-house. Your drive will never leave our facility while being worked on. Your data will always remain within the United Kingdom. Once your recovery is complete, you will receive a list of files found on your drive so that you may review them prior to receiving your completed recovery. 30 days after you acknowledge receipt of your completed recovery, all copies of your data stored on our servers will be deleted securely.