Deleted isn’t
the same as gone.
When you delete a file, almost nothing actually happens. The computer just marks that space as free and moves on, and the data sits there untouched until something else needs the room. That’s why the most useful thing you can do right now is stop using the drive.
no fee.
If I can’t recover anything useful, you don’t pay, not even for the evaluation. The only thing you’d ever cover is return shipping if your drive needs to come back.
I’d rather turn down a job than get paid for a bad result. And anyone legit in data recovery works this way anyway.
cost
under 500 GB
typical job
my copies
I do logical recovery,
not surgery.
There are two kinds of data recovery. One is software work on a drive that still runs. The other means opening the drive up in a cleanroom and swapping parts. I do the first kind, and if you need the second, I’ll send you to someone who does it instead of pretending.
- Files deleted by accident, including emptied trash
- Drives and cards that were formatted or reinitialized
- Corrupted partition tables and file systems
- SD and CF cards a camera says are unreadable
- External drives that mount but show nothing
- Phone and camera media pulled out mid-write
- Salvaging what is readable off a failing-but-spinning drive
- Drives that click, grind, or do not spin up at all
- Anything needing a cleanroom or platter transplant
- Chip-off and board-level NAND work
- Fire, crush and serious water damage
- Encrypted volumes without the password or key
- RAID and server arrays, which need a specialist
- Any device that is not yours to access
If the drive is making a noise it didn’t used to make, turn it off now. Clicking or grinding means physical damage. Every minute it stays powered makes it worse, and makes the cleanroom job more expensive later. Don’t run recovery software on it, don’t put it in the freezer, and don’t leave it plugged in. Unplug it, message me, and I’ll point you to the right lab.
Flat rates,
quoted before I start.
The price depends on the size of the drive, not how many files come back or how badly you need them. You get a fixed price after the free evaluation, and it doesn’t change after that.
Memory cards, USB sticks, phone storage and smaller drives.
- Free evaluation and file listing
- Full logical recovery attempt
- Recovered files sorted and named
- Delivered by download or on your drive
Typical laptop, desktop and external backup drives.
- Everything in Standard
- Sector-level imaging before any recovery
- Deep scan for renamed and orphaned files
- Priority in the queue
Big external drives, media libraries and NAS members.
- Everything in Large
- Multi-pass imaging on unstable drives
- File-system rebuild where possible
- Return drive included if needed
Rush handling · add $100
Your job goes to the front of the line and I start on it the day it arrives. Worth it for a wedding shoot or a work deadline. Probably not for vacation pics from 2011.
Single-file rescue · $49
You need one specific thing back, like a thesis, a contract or one video. Flat fee, and it only applies when that one file is all you’re after.
For comparison: labs usually charge $300–$900 for the same logical work, often with an evaluation fee on top. I’m cheaper because it’s one person with good tools and no storefront. I also turn down anything that needs a cleanroom instead of marking up a referral.
You don’t pay until
you’ve seen the list.
Tell me what happened
What the device is, what it’s doing and what you need off it. You don’t need a card or an account.
Free evaluation
I image the drive and scan it. You get a list of what can actually be recovered, plus a fixed price. Still free at this point.
You decide
Seeing your own filenames in that list is how you know it’s real. If it’s not worth the price to you, walk away and owe nothing.
Recovery and handover
Files delivered by encrypted download or on a drive. Your original media comes back untouched. I wipe my copies after 30 days.
I never work on your original. Everything happens on a sector-by-sector copy, so your drive comes back exactly the way it arrived. If a drive is dying, copying it first is also the only way to keep the recovery itself from killing what’s left.
What’s it
doing?
Describe it however you can. “It says it needs to be formatted and I clicked no” is a perfect description, and it tells me a lot.
Two things really help: what you were doing when it went wrong, and whether anything’s been saved to the drive since. If you already ran recovery software on it, tell me. It changes how I approach it, and I’m not going to judge you for it.
Unplug the drive or card and leave it alone. Anything that gets written to it could land right on top of what you want back. It’s the most useful thing you can do, and it’s free.