Data Recovery Case File · Second Fixes & Trade Handoffs · Establish What Was Done
What Matters Is Not That They Failed but What They Opened
His enquiry returns two drives from somebody else's bench and uses a word that needs unpacking. Two disks damaged in a fall, taken to a recovery agent who "were limited with technology and could not recover the data." He would like a quote for both, "as they were tampered by the recovery agent." That last phrase covers everything from a careful assessment to an opened assembly, and which it was determines how both drives are handled from here.
| Media | Two hard drives damaged by impact — previously assessed by a third-party provider without recovery; extent of prior intervention not established |
| Reported situation | Two drives damaged in a fall · both submitted to a data recovery provider · provider reporting insufficient capability · no recovery achieved · drives returned to the owner · prior handling described by the owner as intervention · both drives required |
| Fault class | Impact damage with unquantified prior intervention — assembly opening determinative of handling; both drives assessed independently |
| Equipment used | Prior handling established in detail before assessment · both assemblies examined for evidence of opening · drives handled as contaminated where opening was indicated · laminar flow bench inspection with particulate assessment before any spin attempt · each drive assessed and quoted independently |
The decode: the four questions, and why asking is not an accusation
Why the provider's honesty is worth noting first: a firm that says it lacks the capability and returns the devices has done the right thing. The alternative — attempting work beyond their equipment and making things worse — is considerably more common, and he is in a better position than many people who arrive here.
What "tampered" needs to become: four specific answers, none of which imply blame.
First — were the assemblies opened? This is the question that changes everything. A drive's heads fly above the platter at a height smaller than a smoke particle, which is why the housing is sealed. Opening one in ordinary room air admits dust and fibres that are enormous at that scale, and anything settling on a surface is struck the moment the drive turns. A drive known to have been opened is handled as contaminated from the outset.
Second — were they powered while open? The most damaging possibility, and it leaves distinctive surface marking. Worth knowing before rather than discovering during.
Third — were any parts moved or substituted? Heads moved by hand score the surface where it happened. A board swapped and swapped back may have left the drive running on another unit's calibration. Both are recoverable positions and both change the approach.
Fourth — how many times were they powered? On drives damaged by impact, every start-up is another set of head movements across possibly-marked surfaces. A drive tried twice is in a different condition from one tried twenty times.
Why the provider should be asked directly: they know, the answers are ordinary technical facts, and a firm honest enough to decline the work will generally be honest about what it did. The request costs nothing and it saves an assessment step.
Why the two drives are handled separately: they fell together and that does not make them one case. Impact damage varies enormously between devices in the same event, and a combined quotation would hide that one may be straightforward and the other may not.
On the bench
Prior handling was established in detail before assessment — specifically whether either assembly was opened, whether either was powered while open, whether any part was moved or substituted, and how many power cycles were applied, none of which imply criticism and all of which change handling. Both assemblies were examined for evidence of opening and handled as contaminated where opening was indicated. Inspection ran under the laminar flow bench with particulate assessment before any spin attempt, and each drive was assessed and quoted independently.
The outcome
Prior handling established in detail, both assemblies examined for evidence of opening, and each drive assessed independently. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT per drive, 50% of parts and labour upfront with the balance only on successful recovery. The decode: a provider who says they lack the capability and returns your devices has behaved well. What matters now is four answers — whether either was opened, whether either was powered while open, whether anything was moved, and how many times they were tried.
Devices returned by a provider who couldn't complete the work
Ask them four things, and ask without any suggestion of blame — they know the answers and they're ordinary technical facts. Were the assemblies opened? That's the one that changes everything, because heads fly above the platter at a height smaller than a smoke particle, so opening one in room air admits dust that gets struck the moment the drive turns. Were they powered while open? Were any parts moved or substituted? And how many times were they powered, since on impact damage every start-up means more head movement across possibly-marked surfaces. Have each drive assessed separately, too — devices in the same fall differ enormously.
Ask what was done — then call Oxford Data Recovery on 01865 593000; prior handling established in detail, assemblies examined for evidence of opening, each drive assessed and quoted independently.
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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.