Helensburgh, the town that raised John Logie Baird, can fairly claim an interest in both signalling and screen images, as well as what happens to them when either fails. From Helensburgh, a dead hard disk is 45 minutes by car or a single first-class postal package away from a free, honest diagnosis.
By car either take the A814 to Dumbarton then the A82 into Glasgow (about 45 mins to Charing Cross) with reasonable views. Or from Helensburgh Central you can get a train directly into Charing Cross & Queen Street stations, an easy carry for a padded drive. Given the distance, plenty of people here simply post their drives. They insure them, track them, turn them off, and the drives are on the bench the next morning regardless of the weather at sea.
The jobs of Helensburgh are primarily "coastal-professional": home office computers (Macs) and laptops from the commuter crowd, sailing season photography, family archives stored in their sea front flats, and occasionally small business NAS devices. The distance doesn't alter the terms: free diagnostic, fixed written price, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
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.
Only when the trip is going to be worthwhile anyway. The bench will treat a hand delivered item the same as an item that has been posted, and the post is gentler with fragile items than the bends of the A814 are. Our honest advice for Helensburgh: get a quote, pack it properly, post it insured, and spend the saved hours by the water.
This is genuinely good. Generally when a Mac dies, the storage inside it is still alive, whatever generation of storage it uses: a removable drive or an SSD with a Fusion partner. Apple Silicon soldered computers are work we don't perform, and that is stated right up front in the assessment. Stop attempting to have your Mac start back up, remove the drive, or both drives of a Fusion pair (your local shop can do this for you within minutes), then send them; the free assessment will tell you what type of work each drive is.
Before you either post or drop off your device, we need to give you a price for our service. Please contact us by phone or complete our quote request form. Next, switch the device off, wrap it up well and then select how you wish to send it to us: either visit us at Tay House, 300 Bath Street (Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm; no appointment required) or via insured tracked post from Helensburgh. Regardless of which method you use your device will be inspected/assessed free of charge and a full written quotation given prior to making any decision.
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.