Internal hard disk data recovery
When can data be recovered from internal hard drives?
Hard drive problems are often complex. Unreadable sectors can damage partition tables or whole partitions; a power surge can damage the electronics; firmware errors can make large areas unreadable; and defective read/write heads can damage the platter surface. Even so, recovery remains possible as long as the data has not been destroyed or completely overwritten.
Warning signs are a drive that is not recognised, a system that freezes, unusual noises, or folders that take a very long time to open.
Our engineers have been working with hard drive problems since 2003. We can usually help with faulty electronics, defective read/write heads, motor faults, bad sectors, deleted or formatted data, lost partitions after reinstalling the operating system, malware and many other problems – regardless of drive type, interface or manufacturer.
How hard drive data recovery works
Even if a drive is badly damaged, for example after a head crash, do not give up on your data straight away. In our laboratory the drive is temporarily brought into a state that allows its data to be copied to another medium. Depending on the problem, this includes:
- replacing defective read/write heads or moving the platters into a working drive at our class 100 clean room workbench,
- correcting firmware errors through special service interfaces,
- reading the data through these interfaces,
- repairing or replacing the electronics, including transferring the drive-specific ROM,
- fixing other mechanical faults.
Data recovery process
Be vigilant and do not attempt to salvage the data on the device yourself. This can make recovery impossible.
Which internal drives can we recover?
SATA, SAS, IDE (PATA), SCSI, ZIF, LIF and microSATA – from WD (Western Digital), Seagate, Toshiba, HGST/Hitachi, Samsung, Fujitsu and others.
Drives with unreadable sectors are imaged with special hardware and software. Attempts with standard software often make the situation worse in such cases.
For logical problems such as formatting, accidental deletion or malware, we search for intact file system structures, file headers and metadata. Where possible, the original folder structure and file names are restored. If the file table has been overwritten, individual files are recovered by their headers – in that case original names and folders are lost.
Data recovery from storage media from all manufacturers
All orders are processed exclusively in our Berlin laboratory. The data recovery from mechanically defective hard drives takes place within a dust-free environment of our clean room workbench of clean room class 100.
Frequently asked questions about internal hard drive data recovery
In most cases, yes. The chances depend on the damage and are lower after a severe head crash.
The best method is regular backups to an external drive. Cloud services are another option, but keep in mind that your data is then stored on someone else’s servers.
Depending on the type of damage, different hardware and software tools are used. First a complete image of the drive is created; the files are then recovered from this copy.
Not in principle. Laptop drives are recovered the same way as desktop drives. Many modern laptops, however, use soldered SSDs, which require different methods.
The diagnosis is free of charge. A standard recovery costs 357–535.50 euros, a special recovery (for example mechanical damage that needs spare parts) 476–897 euros plus any spare parts. If no data can be recovered, you pay nothing for the recovery. Details: Prices.