Your drive died. Don't panic — bring it in.
Failed hard drive, dead SSD, corrupt RAID, water-damaged laptop, phone that stopped booting. We do the evaluation for free and tell you honestly whether we can save what's on it.
How data recovery actually works.
Not every drive can be saved — but a lot more can be than people expect. Bring us the drive (or the laptop it's in), and we'll do an evaluation for free. Within a day or two we'll tell you what happened, what the chances are, and what a recovery would cost.
Most jobs we handle in-house — logical failures (deleted files, corrupted partitions, failing but still-spinning drives, dead OS installs) get done right here in Sydney, often same-week. If your drive needs a cleanroom (physical damage, head crash, PCB failure), we send it to a partner lab we've used for years — you get their price up front before it ships.
Standard rule: no data, no charge for the recovery.You pay the diagnostic (waived if we proceed) and the recovery only if we actually pull your files off. If nothing's recoverable, you're out the cost of a coffee.
If it stores data, we've probably pulled files off it.
Traditional hard drives
Solid-state drives (SSD)
RAID arrays
USB sticks + memory cards
Water / fire damage
Ransomware & encryption
If your drive just died, do these three things.
- 1Stop using it.Every read/write attempt after failure can make recovery harder — especially on drives with mechanical issues. Power it down and leave it alone.
- 2Don't run recovery software from the internet.Free tools can overwrite exactly what you're trying to save. If you must try DIY, at minimum image the drive first (we can do this step alone if you want).
- 3Get it evaluated soon.Failing drives usually keep failing — the sooner it's on our bench, the better the odds. But there's no urgency panic; the drive won't get worse sitting in a drawer.
- The drive itself, or the laptop/desktop it lives in.
- What happened, if you know (dropped it, power cut, "it just stopped booting").
- What files matter most — photos, financial records, work docs.
- How urgent it is (deadline, court case, business shutdown).
Not sure what any of this means? Just bring the drive. We'll take it from there.
Data recovery FAQ
How long does data recovery take?+
Standard logical recoveries (deleted files, corrupt filesystem, failing but still-spinning drive) usually take 3-5 business days from drop-off. Faster if the drive cooperates. Cleanroom cases sent to a partner lab typically take 2-3 weeks depending on parts availability. We give you a realistic estimate after the free evaluation, not a guess up front.
What if you can't recover my data?+
On standard in-house jobs, no data means no charge for the recovery — you only pay the diagnostic (waived if we proceed) and any parts we had to source. On cleanroom cases sent to a partner lab, the lab quotes their own pricing before starting; that quote is either accept-and-pay or decline-and-drive-away, no obligation.
My drive is making a clicking noise. Should I keep trying to power it on?+
No — power it down and leave it alone. Clicking usually means the read head is either not parking properly or physically damaged. Every additional spin-up risks scoring the platters and turning a recoverable drive into an unrecoverable one. Bring it to us before doing anything else.
Can you recover data from an SSD or NVMe drive?+
Yes, though SSDs are trickier than spinning drives. Logical failures (partition damage, deleted files, corrupted filesystem) are usually recoverable. Controller failures and firmware corruption are harder but often possible. Physically damaged SSDs (dropped, snapped, water) sometimes need specialized chip-off recovery — we'll assess and refer if needed.
What about RAID arrays?+
We handle RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 reconstruction — including failed rebuilds and multi-drive failures. The critical first step is not attempting to rebuild the array yourself or letting the controller auto-rebuild after a second failure. Power down the whole array, bring all the drives in, and we'll image each one before touching the reconstruction.
Do I need to bring the whole computer, or just the drive?+
Either works. If you're comfortable pulling the drive out, save time and bring just the drive. If not, drop off the whole tower or laptop — we'll extract the drive here. For laptops we generally prefer the whole unit so we can also check whether the drive is actually the problem versus a symptom of something else (power supply, motherboard).
Is my data confidential?+
Yes. Anything we recover is treated as your private data — accessed only for the recovery, stored on isolated equipment during the job, and returned to you (or wiped from our systems) once you've confirmed you have the files. We work with insurance, legal, and medical practices in Cape Breton; discretion is baked into how we operate.
What about ransomware — can you decrypt files?+
Depends on the variant. If it's a known ransomware family with a public decryptor, we'll try that. If not, decryption without paying is essentially impossible — the practical path is restore-from-backup (which is where our managed IT clients are in a much better position). We can help you assess options and the reality of paying vs not paying, but we can't guarantee decryption on unknown variants.
Free evaluation, no obligation.
Drop it off in Sydney or call us to arrange pickup. We'll tell you honestly what your chances are before you commit to anything.