Data Recovery Case File · Portable Drives · Establish What Was Done

A Partial Recovery Exists and It Belongs to Her

Her enquiry arrives from partway around the world. Travelling when a portable drive stopped working: "I took it to an independent business abroad and he has said the disc is damaged and that he has recovered" some of it. There is already output somewhere, and it is hers — which makes it the first thing to secure, ahead of any question about what happens to the drive next.

The decode: three questions, in order of urgency

First — where is what he recovered? Partial output already exists, and it is the only material currently in hand. It should be collected before she leaves the country, on a device she keeps, rather than left with a provider she may not be able to contact again. That is the most time-sensitive thing in the whole situation and it has nothing to do with the drive.

Second — was the assembly opened? The question that changes everything about what follows. A drive's heads fly above the platter at a height smaller than a smoke particle, which is why the housing is sealed — and a drive opened in ordinary room air is contaminated from that moment, with anything settling on a surface waiting to be struck when it turns.

Why asking is not an accusation: opening a drive is a legitimate step for somebody with the right facilities, and it may have been done properly. The point is to know, because a drive known to have been opened is handled as contaminated from the outset rather than discovered to be so afterwards.

Third — what does "damaged" mean here? It is a category rather than a finding. Ask which component: heads, motor, board, surfaces. Each is a different job with different prospects, and somebody who achieved a partial recovery has almost certainly formed a specific view.

Why partial recovery is itself informative: it means the drive read for a period. Whatever is wrong permitted some access, which places it well above the family of faults where nothing responds at all — and it means the remaining material is behind a fault that was surmountable at least once.

What travelling adds practically: the drive has to come home, and a device with mechanical damage travels badly. It should be immobilised in rigid packaging and carried rather than posted, in hand luggage, not surrendered to a hold or an international courier if that can be avoided.

What must not happen meanwhile: no further connection attempts. A drive that gave up part of its contents once is a drive with a limited number of further attempts, and they should be spent under controlled conditions rather than in a hotel room.

On the bench

The prior provider's methods and output retention were established before any assessment — partial recovery already achieved constituting the only material in hand, and evidence that the drive read for a period. The assembly was examined for evidence of opening and the drive handled as contaminated where opening was indicated, ambient exposure admitting particulate that is struck on rotation. Inspection ran under the laminar flow bench with particulate assessment before any spin attempt.

The outcome

The partial output secured first, prior handling established, and the drive treated as contaminated where opening was indicated. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT, 50% of parts and labour upfront with the balance only on successful recovery. The decode: collect what he already recovered before you leave — that material exists, it is yours, and it is the only thing currently in hand. Then ask whether the drive was opened, and which component he found at fault.

Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.