In these uncertain financial times, it has become second nature for us to look for a home remedy, or a more cost effective solution or a DIY fix of our everyday problems. Social media channels and search engines have a whole host of examples of what to do when things go wrong. In many cases the “how-to” guide offers the perfect solution, however, when it comes to your valuable personal data it should be avoided at all costs!
Experts at data recovery
Hard disk drives are delicate pieces of equipment and when they stop working, they need to be handled with care, in the appropriate conditions, by skilled personnel with specialist knowledge. Unfortunately, we have seen far too many cases and spoken to a lot of people who have attempted fixing the problems themselves and come unstuck, leaving their data at best vulnerable and at worst beyond any hope of recovery altogether. A prime example is the customer who phones us to say that “I've looked on the web, watched a video showing how it's done, taken the lid off the hard drive just to have a quick look and found that the little arm inside was stuck”. Unfortunately, by exposing the platter surfaces to an un-sterile environment he had introduced contamination in to the drive (hairs/dust). He also physically moved the arm back to where he thought it should be, physically scoring the platter surfaces themselves and in the process, caused irreparable damage. We had to tell this particular customer that his hard disk drive was too far damaged and his data was unrecoverable. Its not a conversation we relish, especially if by taking it to an expert in data recovery, he may well have had a far more positive outcome.
DIY data recovery - is it a good idea?
It should be worth bearing in mind that if your drive fails and you only have one copy of your precious photographs, documents and any other personal or business information, then do-it-yourself attempts to get your hard drive working again are very risky and not recommended. If your data is important to you then we would recommend that you seek the assistance of a professional data recovery company, who will work with your drive under the required conditions and will have the expertise needed for the best possible outcome. Working with a specialist data recovery company can cost less than you think - we even offer the option to settle by interest free instalments at EADR, which means you can spread the costs. We are also happy to provide some guide price ranges for you before you send it in - transparency and honesty all part of the EADR way of working. Please feel free to use the contact form to request a call back or speak to us directly on 01953 667977.