Ontrack Extends $500,000 Data Recovery Service Donation to Help Those Impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

Minneapolis, Minn. – September 13, 2017 – Less than two weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated eastern Texas, Hurricane Irma paved a wide path of destruction in the Caribbean, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. Last week, Ontrack, part of the KLDiscovery Group, deployed a team of data recovery experts to Houston to help residents and businesses recover critical data from damaged media. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Ontrack is now adding emergency drop off locations in Florida and will be donating data recovery services to those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Expert data recovery specialists will be available at specific locations in Houston and Florida and offering in-person consultations and evaluations of damaged media. Residents in any of the affected areas who cannot travel to a drop off location can call 800-872-2599 to arrange for free shipping of their media. Individuals will receive free data recovery service. Businesses impacted by flooding, loss of power or other damage due to the hurricanes will receive a deeply-discounted flat fee for recovery of any single desktop, laptop or hard drive/SSD.

"Individuals and businesses in the paths of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma have lost so much and need help to start rebuilding,” said Chris Weiler, President and CEO of KLDiscovery. “With data recovery labs across the United States, we are in a unique position to help families throughout the areas impacted recover cherished photographs and important personal data and help businesses of all sizes recover vital information. Our hearts go out to those affected and we want to do everything we can to reduce the amount of loss suffered as a result of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.”

For drop-off locations and more information on this offer, view online at or contact Ontrack at 800-872-2599.

Ontrack advises the following safe-handling steps for storage systems which have lost data due to a power outage:

1. Stop using the system immediately. Power down the system to avoid overwriting data.
2. Restore any backups to a different volume; this ensures that all important files are good on the backup before possibly overwriting data on the active volume.
3. If there is a RAID problem, test the backup by restoring it to a different location or image each drive from the RAID before attempting a rebuild.
4. Do not use file recovery software unless you have a validated backup and know your drives are not physically damaged. Using file recovery software on a faulty hard drive may destroy what was otherwise recoverable data.
5. Do not create any new files on the disk needing recovery or continue to run virtual machines until the important data is recovered.
6. Call a professional data recovery service for further assistance.

TIPS: Ontrack recommends that people fearing loss of their vital information consider the following before assuming that the damage is permanent:

• Never assume that data is unrecoverable, no matter what it has been through
• Never attempt to plug in or turn on water-damaged devices
• Do not shake, disassemble or attempt to clean any hard drive or server that has been damaged; improper handling can make recovery operations more difficult which can lead to valuable information being lost
• Never attempt to dry water-damaged media by opening it or exposing it to heat, such as from a hairdryer
• Do not attempt to operate visibly damaged devices
• Do not attempt to freeze-dry media
• Do not use common software utility programs on broken or water-damaged devices
• For mission critical situations, contact a data recovery professional before any attempts are made to reconfigure, reinstall or reformat

In the case of a power outage:

1. Stop using the media immediately. Shut the system down to avoid overwriting the data.
2. Restore any backups to a different volume; this ensures that all important files are good on the backup before possibly overwriting data on the active volume.
3. If there is a RAID problem, test the backup by restoring it to a different location or image each drive from the RAID before attempting a rebuild.
4. Do not use file recovery software unless you have a validated backup and know your drives are not physically damaged. Using file recovery software on a faulty hard drive may destroy what was otherwise recoverable data.
5. Do not create any new files on the disk needing recovery or continue to run virtual machines until the important data is recovered.
6. Call a professional data recovery service for further assistance.

About Ontrack, LLC
Ontrack provides technology-enabled services and software to help law firms, corporations, government agencies and consumers solve complex data challenges. Part of the KLDiscovery brand, Ontrack provides ediscovery services and market leading data recovery for any type of media – hard drives, SSD, server, RAID, virtual, cloud, mobile, tape, NAS/SAN/DAS, laptop, desktop computers and Apple devices. Additionally, through proprietary technologies and expert services around the globe, Ontrack helps clients with email extraction, tape management and data destruction. For more information about Ontrack offerings, please visit www.ontrack.com. Or follow @OntrackUS on Twitter.