We Are Experts in Data Recovery From Hard Drives (HDDs)
We can recover data from any make or model of hard drive. If your drive is inside a laptop, desktop or RAID, we'll let you know if it can be removed first or if you need to send us the whole system to us.
Examples of media and hard drives we recover data from every day:
Support types
PATA (IDE, EIDE) | SATA | SCSI |
SAS | Fiber Channel | USB |
Firewire | eSATA |
Can't see your hard drive listed? Don't worry; Ontrack can recover from any type or brand of hard drive.
Common Issues with Hard Drives
Mechanical Issues
How to identify physical damage to a hard drive?
There are warning signs that can help you identify physical damage, these may include:
- Computer failing to start up or not operating correctly.
- A strange, clicking or grinding noise when the drive is being accessed. A common pattern is click-pause-click-pause-click, followed by the drive stopping and the sound of it spinning again.
- The hard drive is not powering.
What to do next?
If you suspect your media has suffered physical damage, turn it off immediately to avoid further damage to the platters which could result in irreversible data loss.
Our advice is to never open the drives (or indeed any media) prior to sending it to us. Unfortunately, with physical data losses there is no option for a DIY – a sterile environment and professional help are necessary to try to get your data safely back to you.
Water Damaged Device:
Here is our first aid manual for water damaged media:
- Water damaged devices should not be connected to power under any circumstances. Plugging in a water damaged device can cause significant additional electronic failures and may make a drive complete unrecoverable.
- Do not use DIY recovery software. Recovery software should only be used on fully-functional media.
- Do not attempt to dry or clean the media, or put it in rice. With water damaged device corrosion is the biggest risk and drying out devices in rice or similar can speed up this process.
- Pat the device dry with a clean towel but don't worry about slight moisture. Wrap the device in cling wrap or place it inside a zip lock bag before sending it in.
- Time is critical for water damaged devices. Contact us as soon as possible for the best chance of recovering the data.
Fire Damaged Media:
Safety First
Take care in handling any object which has been involved in a fire. Either wear protective gloves or use a dry cloth or towel to handle the device.
Avoid Further Contamination
Do not try to open or clean the storage medium. Opening the device would likely further expose the internals to external contaminants. Burnt devices are often covered in soot. Using water or a cleaning product on the outside of damaged device may cause further damage to the electronics.
Packaging
Burnt devices are often very dirty and sometimes wet from firefighting efforts. Without cleaning, place the device ‘as is’ into a sealable bag (preferred) - or simply wrap tightly with what is available, and place into a shipping box with adequate padding.
We've seen it all.
Ontrack succeeds where others have failed in rescuing mission-critical data. We understand the urgent need to recover important documents, photos and files.
Any hard drive.
We can recover data from any make, model, brand or operating system. Laptop, desktop or RAID server - we'll determine the best course of action for your hard drive recovery.
Any situation.
We can recover from all types of data loss, including deletion, reformatting, electronics failure, physical damage, water or fire damage, malware, corruption and much more.
Any time.
We offer a range of service levels to help you recover lost data 24/7/365. Upon receipt of your device, we will complete an evaluation and provide an estimate within one business day.
Multiple Service Levels to Accommodate Any Timeline
We understand the urgent need to recover data and offer the flexibility to meet your unique needs.
Standard
10 business daysPriority
Average of 3 business daysEmergency
Average of 12-24 hoursFrom everyday to once-in-a-lifetime data loss scenarios – we’ve recovered data from the most extreme situations and complex environments.
600K
Recoveries and counting
50K+
Recoveries each year
35
Years of experience
The data recovery process
From initial consultation to ongoing support, more businesses and clients choose Ontrack when experiencing a data loss situation.
Many of the world's leading hardware and software vendors partner with Ontrack as the global leader in data recovery.
We use the independent rating service, Trustpilot, to collect and evaluate feedback. See what others are saying about Ontrack.
Start your data recovery now with a free consultation.
Contact our team of experts. Ontrack accommodates everyone – from the largest government or enterprise organization to an individual who may have lost their digital photos and everyone in between.