The typical response to a water damaged hard drive, based upon instinct, is wrong. A flooded hard drive has a temporarily suspended issue. That issue will become a permanently established issue when it dries out. At this point the minerals left behind are deposited at locations where read/write heads must pass and they start the process of causing damage due to corrosion. Each drying method (the radiator, the airing cupboard, and the rice bag) will convert what was an accidental situation which could be recovered back to a situation where you have permanent damage to your media. The rule to save your flooded hard drive can fit on a single label: keep it wet, keep it sealed, keep it cold-ish.
You should never apply power to a water damaged hard drive. This includes testing it and even just powering it on for one second. If you apply electrical current through a wet circuit board, you will kill it instantly. Never attempt to dry a water damaged hard drive. Never wash it. Never open the housing to inspect it. Seal the hard drive in a zip lock bag with a damp (clean water) cloth inside to prevent anything from drying during shipping. It's also important to keep the hard drive cool and to ship it quickly to the bench: days matter in terms of corrosion, but hours do not make a difference. There are many different scenarios that would require the same procedure. These include burst pipes, floods in areas such as Clydeside, and accidents caused by a washing machine.
Once the hard drive reaches the bench, it will be thoroughly cleaned and stabilised. All contaminants will be removed from the media surface. The electronics will either be treated or replaced. Once these steps have been completed, the hard drive will be imaged once, gently (like any other mechanical device).
The fire will melt the outer casing of your hard drive and char the printed circuit board (PCB) inside it, but these absorb the fire, so fire-damaged drives survive more often than their appearance suggests. However, the real enemies are soot and extinguisher residue, which are both conductive and corrosive. As long as this debris is cleaned off properly and no electrical voltage is applied to the drive until then, there is still a good chance that your data may be recovered from the magnetic disks. In fact, the reason why the disks frequently remain readable is that they are made of materials such as glass and metal, which are rated far beyond the temperatures in many parts of a room during a house fire.
Ship your fire damaged drives to us in the same condition as you found them. If your external casing, plastic enclosure or caddy has melted or warped, do not remove this material. Do not test the ones that look okay either, as looking okay means nothing after a fire. We cannot inspect what appears to be undamaged on the outside without opening up the unit first.
Jobs involving flood or fire typically involve an insurance claim. For this reason, we include documentation regarding the condition of the drive at the time it was sent to us. Photos taken prior to and after the clean-up of the affected units will also be included along with a detailed, itemised account of recovering the lost data for the loss adjuster. Documentation of both the recovered data and the loss incurred is completed using the same exact procedures.
If one single drive is affected it costs a fixed £300 + VAT regardless of the type or extent of failure. The rare chip-level exception is quoted in writing first. We offer a free diagnostic before any work begins and quote all costs in writing before proceeding. Most jobs will cost nothing if your files don't come back. There are no hourly rates, evaluation fees, or percentages of file value charged.
It's not too late, but time really matters now. Contamination due to drying and possible corrosion makes the cleaning phase more difficult than if done sooner. However, we believe that the chances of successfully restoring your data are still very good. They just continue to decrease every week. Please refrain from power-testing it. Seal it as is, get a quote and send it to us today rather than waiting until you finish dealing with your insurance.
Don't. Drive breathers let water into the system even though the case may seem to ignore it, and one power-up through a wet board or dirty platters can ruin what would have been a normal data recovery. "Fine" after being submerged cannot be verified from the outside. The check on the bench settles this for you safely and is also free.
Yes, melted externals are a well-known category and the exterior damage in most cases does little or no harm to the data on the internal hard drives. We remove the drives from their enclosures carefully, remove soot & debris and make an exact copy (image) of everything that was stored. Send us the drives just as they were taken from the site, with no modifications made.
Yes, reports include photographs as evidence of the condition on arrival, items recovered/restored/data retrieved and how they were processed. This is itemised for the claim and presented in such detail that it allows insurers' adjusters to understand exactly what has been done with your item. Adjusters see our reports routinely. Furthermore if your insurer requires specific language or wishes to discuss the report further then again this is part of our service, rather than an additional charge.
Before you drop your device off or post it, please get a quote from us by phone or using the form first. Then there are two honest routes for dropping off and delivery. No vans. Hand in the device at Tay House, 300 Bath Street (right at Charing Cross, two minutes off the M8) Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm, without need of an appointment. Or wrap the device well and send by insured, tracked post from anywhere in the UK. All work is done in-house by our own engineers. We have documentation of the complete chain of custody and your data never leaves the UK.
Every single time, a drive kept wet and sealed does better than one that has been dried and tested. Our water and fire damage recovery for Glasgow will have your drive stabilised on the bench, imaged once and documented as evidence for the insurance company. Get a quote, then decide on either a Charing Cross drop-off point or sealed insured post.