Screens, motherboards, power circuits and Windows installations can all fail without touching your drive, so it’s often possible to recover the information stored on a failed computer if you can remove the drive from the machine. When the drive has a removable housing, this is usually easy; we then connect it to other (usually external) hardware and the condition of the rest of the machine does not matter. If you cannot get a laptop to boot up, most likely recovering your data is a low-cost procedure rather than one involving major expense.
If your laptop fails to turn on because its motherboard, screen, power circuitry or Windows installation is failing, those are completely unrelated issues to your data. As long as your drive can be removed from the laptop and connected to separate hardware, this means that a machine that won’t start is probably just an inconvenient experience instead of losing everything.
These two events may appear indistinguishable in terms of how they are experienced from the outside.
This is typically one of the first things you need to determine, because it will tell you what you can do before any fault is diagnosed.
Most laptops and every desktop still use a removable drive: either 2.5-inch SATA or an M.2 SSD that unscrews. The drives come out & are imaged on separate hardware regardless of what the machine is doing which means if your laptop dies, it’s usually going to be a straightforward job.
Many Ultrabooks now include their storage as part of the motherboard. If the board is still functioning, we can often recover your data from it; however, when the motherboard fails entirely, you may not be able to access your data at all. Additionally, many newer computers are equipped with hardware-based encryption tied to the motherboard itself, and if that board fails there is no route to the data whatsoever. Please provide us with the brand name and model of your computer so that we can identify what type of machine you have before you send anything.
What you look at isn’t as important as what drive you have inside.
Brands include Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, Samsung and MSI along with all of the others, including those that don’t exist anymore.
Desktop tower and small form factor computers, plus those with multiple hard drives or pre-configured RAID on the motherboard.
If your hard drive is difficult to access, a local computer store can pull it out in minutes; we do not take entire computers.
Older computers using IDE or PATA drives; older SCSI systems; or systems so old that the OS is itself part of the problem.
We assess honestly: we will tell you before you send whether or not we can take on the job.
We price based on the drive, not the entire system around it.
For a basic single laptop or desktop hard drive recovery, prices start at £300 +VAT which will be confirmed upon completion of our free 48-hour diagnostic. In most cases you only pay if we recover your data; however there is a 50% upfront deposit when we undertake donor-part work, with the balance due only on success.
Send your drive separately where you can. It is cheaper than sending the entire unit; there are fewer opportunities for loss or damage; and any local computer repair centre should be able to pull the hard drive from your old laptop in a matter of minutes. If you do not want to ship the drive separately, simply send your old laptop to us and we will extract the drive. Complete stories: a vintage Compaq IDE drive, Dell SSD Recovery: Files Gone, and TRIM Running and a dead laptop with a perfectly good drive.
Send the drive in for a free diagnostic with a brief note on the machine and fault; one of our engineers will evaluate it to determine what is wrong, then provide you with an exact quote in writing prior to beginning any work.
Please obtain a quote from us (via telephone or through the quote form) before posting or dropping off your device. The process of recovering your information begins with your drive. Remove the hard drive/SSD from your laptop/desktop and send that separately. We cannot accept whole devices. Ensure your drive is securely packed, and include all your contact information. Once we have completed your free diagnostic, we will verify your exact quote in writing prior to starting any work.
Posting it? We would suggest using a tracked and insured delivery method. Want to drop it off? That’s okay too. Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5:30pm is good; no appointment necessary: simply prepare the item as described above.
Want a custom price before ordering? Describe the problem with your machine and what happened on our form and one of our engineers will review it and send back a price quote for you based on that information.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01865 593000.
Technical questions that people ask most often regarding laptop/PC data recovery.
Generally yes, and often easy. Issues with a screen, motherboard or power circuit are unrelated to the hard drive; therefore, if it can be removed it may then be connected to separate reading equipment. Most of the time when a laptop fails, this is an inconvenience (not a total loss).
Wherever possible, just the hard drive (cheaper to send by post & faster for us to begin working). Any local computer shop should be able to remove the hard drive in a few minutes, and many shops do this while you wait.
It then will depend upon the motherboard. If the motherboard still works, then we can often extract data from it. If the motherboard does not function, and in particular where some sort of encryption is tied to that motherboard, then there may be no method by which to do this. Please provide us with the model of your computer so that we can tell you before you send anything.
Very likely not. A corrupted Windows installation is an entirely logical issue. Your operating system doesn’t function properly; however, the files are available to read via another machine. The hard drive is accessible as long as there is another machine available to access the file(s) on it.
Turn it off and don’t turn it back on. If it clicks after being dropped, your head assembly has been damaged. Each time you power up your laptop and try to use it (after dropping it), you’re causing the damage to spread. This is probably the most time-sensitive fault of a laptop.
From £300 + VAT per drive (fixed in a written quote after a complimentary 48-hour diagnostic). In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Any physical work carried out on a drive requires a 50% deposit payment with the remainder being payable on successful recovery of your data.
Free diagnostic and flat rate of £300 + VAT per machine for all makes of Windows laptops & desktop PCs, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Start your recovery today.