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Q & A

Q0: Why can you charge much less for dead drive and other companies charge a fortune?

A0:   We are good at it. If you are good at doing something, will you need a lot of time and energy?
         We are developing and adopting the most advanced technologies. If you have good tools, will you make your job done much easier, better, and faster?
         We have a lot of clients worldwide. If you get quantity, will you need to charge a fortune to survive?
         There are no middlemen. Our engineers will finish your data recovery in our own lab.
This efficiency translates into high-quality service at comparatively low fees for customers.
 

Q1: What is data recovery?

A1: Data Recovery is a broad term that relates to the many ways to extract data from a damaged or inaccessible magnetic & optical  medium. Technology varies greatly. Sometime it may take a lot of time.

Q2: If I used delete / erase / remove commands or empty the Recycle Bin, can you recover?

A2: Yes.

Q3: If I have formatted the hard drive or CDRW, can you recover?

A3: Yes.

Q4: If I have removed the partition, can you recover?

A4: Yes.

Q5: If I have physically damaged the hard drive or media, can you recover?

A5: Yes.

Q6: If I have overwritten the data, can you recover?

A6: Yes or no. It depends on each situation.

Q7: If my hard drive is making noises and/or I smell burning, can you recover?

A7: Yes, please shut your computer down immediately and send in your Hard Drive.

Q8: I turn on my computer and all I see on the screen is " Boot failure please insert boot disk ", can you recover?

A8: Yes.

Q9: I turn on my computer and all I see on the screen is " Hard Disk Controller Failure " and the system stops, can you recover?

A9: Yes.

Q10: My computer system stopped responding (mouse doesn't move, keyboard does not work) while I was in a very important document / file. After the computer was restarted, the document / file is now missing as I did not save it. Can this file be recovered? 

A10: Yes. Possibly if you never turn it on again.  

Q11: I dropped my Hard Disk or Laptop and now I can not access my data. Can the data be recovered?

A11: Yes, possibly.  When a hard disk is dropped, the Read/Write heads slap ( scratch, indent ) the platters inside the disk. Platters move from the original positions causing mis-alignment, the electronics may be damaged, etc. This kind of damage may cause permanent damage to the drive in question and may be extremely difficult to recover. The cost for this type of recovery service can be high and may take time.

Q12: A virus has infected my hard disk/floppy and now I cannot access my drive, floppy or file. Can my data be recovered?

A12: YES.  Majorities of viruses are just here to annoy us and don't cause damage to the important data areas.  Even some virus's are not virus's, but are Trojan's they are simple commands hidden in files that may delete your files from your drive, damage your partition, FAT, Boot areas, destroy your computers CMOS rendering your computer useless.

Q13: After an electrical storm my hard disk no longer is detected. Can the data be recovered?

A13: Yes. The drive/device in question has probably received an electrical charge that has caused damage to the drive/device's electronics' and is in need of repair. Sometimes the drive/device maybe functioning when the surge occurred, this can and may write signals to the media of the drive and erase important alignment info (Servo's).

Q14: What is Clean-Room Technology?

A14: Most data recovery companies at least have a class 100 or better clean room to perform even the most basic recovery procedures.  Any physically damaged hard disk, for instance, must be recovered in a clean room. Without a cleanroom, contaminants can settle on the platters.    After a hard disk platter has become contaminated, the heads can catch on these particles, more or less sanding the platter surface. This can result in data loss.

Q15: What is the Electronics Technology?

A15: Other ways  to recover data include the use of sophisticated equipment combined with the knowledge and expertise of an Electronics Engineer.  Even in extreme cases, data can be retrieved with the necessary electronics  equipment.   This equipment is usually developed by the data recovery lab using it, and is always a well kept secret.  

Q16: What is the Programming Knowledge?

A16: Another essential area of data recovery is knowing how files and directories are stored logically, rather than just physically.  In at least 40% of all cases, some sort of logical data damage is involved in the recovery process.  A Data Recovery Engineer must know how to reassemble and reconstruct files, directories, and entire disks.

Q17: What is the Magnetic Media Microscopy (MMM)?

A17: Magnetic Media Microscopy (MMM) is used in cases where data has been overwritten.  MMM is a lengthy process that involves examining each bit of data at a magnetic level to determine that bit's previous state.  Recovering just a floppy disk using this technology can take days or weeks.   MMM is rarely used because of the cost factor. 

Q18: How do I package the Devices?

A18: Please secure the drive in an anti-static bag and enclosed in a drive-shipping container. If a shipping container is not available, please use a box size of not less than 5" x 8" x 10" and be sure that the drive has at least 5" of bubble-wrap insulation on each side. Please do not use packing peanuts. If shipping more than one hard drive, please wrap each drive individually with at least 5" of bubble insulation.

Q19: How long will it take to recover?

A19: It really depends on the situations of your devices and how many rush jobs we are receiving each day. 

Basically we have three kind of services: 

  • Standard service takes about 4 to 7 business days; 
  • Rush service takes about 2 to 4 business days, which costs 50% more.
  • SuperRush service takes about 1 to 2 days, which costs 100% more.

Q20: How can I help to speed up my data recovery?

A20: There are a few things you can help:

  • Choose the Rush service;
  • Make the prepayment as we always recover the prepayment jobs first;
  • Supply a identical hard drive;
  • Tell us as much details about your drive as possible, specially those questions in the service order form, such as free space, partition info, where your important files locate...
  • No phone calls and less emails to ask about the recovering status, let our engineers concentrate on your job instead of spending time and energy to answer your questions. We will contact you by email if we need any help from you.
  • Provide us the right email address.

Q21: How much will it cost?

A21: For most situations, the cost is about £250. For more information, please check section RATES.

Q22: How will I get my recovered data back?

A22: prefer to send a backup hard drive with your faulty device(s).

  • Ship a backup hard drive with faulty device(s), £0.
  • Ship a backup hard drive after finishing data recovery, £10.
  • Buy a backup hard drive from us, £20+marketing price.
  • Email back ( less than 5MB ): £0.
  • CD: £10 each.
  • Tape: £25 each with your backup tape.
  • DVD: £25 each.
  • ftp download: £50 setup fee (non-refundable), £5/GB.

Q23: Can you recover my data remotely?

A23: Sorry, no. As we believe that most of time it makes the data recovery worse, even unrecoverable, specially your drive is developing some physical problems.

Q24: Will you evaluate my drive free first?

A24: Sorry, no.
We believe that you do not need this procedure as our price is very low, also you should know the cost  from the 2 web pages (service order form and rates) before sending your drive to us.

If you really want our engineers to evaluate your drive first, there is $100 extra.

Data Recovery BC is not  responsible for any damages caused
during shipment and recovery procedure.

 
 
 
 

 

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