For nearly twenty years, Data Savers LLC has provided hard drive data recovery services to our community of Atlanta, Georgia. We know that experiencing data loss is hard.
Data Savers LLC Makes Hard Drive Data Recovery Easy
Hard drive data recovery often requires an engineer capable of performing complex procedures with precision. Some mistakes are trivial, other errors can result in data being irreparably damaged. After honing our craft for almost two decades, Data Savers’ engineers are your best chance for successful hard drive data recovery.
We wanted to create a business that positively contributes to our local community, while also providing our employees with a comfortable living. With this mission in mind, Data Savers LLC opened our data recovery laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia. Our experienced data recovery engineers provide a number of hard drive data recovery services including: (HDD) hard disk drive and (SSD) solid state drive recovery for both internal and external hard drives. If you aren’t familiar with all this data storage lingo, an alternative phrasing could be: Data Savers LLC can restore data that was lost from a laptop, desktop, or two-in-one computer.
What is Hard Drive Data Recovery?
At the most basic level, hard drive data recovery is a very simple business. Clients give Data Savers LLC hard drives that have failed, and Data Savers LLC (almost always) gives our clients back the data they may have felt was gone forever. For example, we have had a number of cases where hard drive failure resulted in the loss of precious photos of deceased loved ones. It is truly a privilege to recover data like this for our clients.
Hard Drive Data Recovery at Data Savers
Data Savers LLC provides an exceptional hard drive data recovery service. We do this through a combination of specialized hardware, custom data recovery software, and significant experience working with precision machinery. A myriad of common scenarios can result in hard drive data loss. It’s easy to assume you don’t have any issues when you knock an external hard drive off of a table or your residence receives a power surge. While these events can happen without data loss, those examples in particular are two of the most likely reasons for a hard drive to end up in the Data Savers LLC lab.
Canadian social scientist, author, and public speaker Malcolm Gladwell, proposed that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to cross the metaphorical threshold from enthusiast to expert. By this measure, every Data Savers LLC engineer is a Gladwell-certified data recovery expert.
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What Causes Hard Drives to Fail?
Hard drives can fail for a number of reasons. There are certainly fringe cases (like when one of our clients managed to drop their desktop computer in a lake), but the hard drive data recovery experts at Data Savers LLC have identified some of the most common scenarios that have caused hard drive data loss.
This may seem like common sense, but being conscious of some of the more common causes for hard drive failure is one of the best ways to prepare as an individual or organization for unforeseen data loss. The next section will explore hard drive data loss risk factors in greater detail.
Worn Out Internal Components
One of the most common causes of hard drive data loss stems from a mechanical failure due to a hard drive having reached it’s natural shelf life. Even if you are a paragon of hard drive safety, and the device has never left your desk, hard drives don’t last forever.
The Data Savers LLC team feels you can never be too careful, and this is just one example of why it’s always a good idea to have a backup backup. Personally speaking, I have a backup of my backup backup, and I’m still concerned that all my data could be lost if I were to encounter a perfect storm of data loss.
Hard Drive Head Stack Issues
Dropping an external hard disk drive (HDD) or a laptop that contains an internal hard disk drive can render the device useless (without assistance from a professional data recovery laboratory).
This is because dropping a hard drive can lead to a head crash, a destructive phenomenon where the read-write heads at the of the head stack (the pointy pieces of metal visible in the top right corner of the image for this section) cause serious damage to hard drive platters.
While head crashes are almost certainly going to result in some irrecoverable data, this figure is often in the neighborhood of 0.1 to 1% (i.e. 99.9% to 99% successful recovery). It’s worthy of note that this figure holds true of drives shipped to Data Savers LLC immediately, with minimal attempts to power-on the device either by the devices owner or by an inexpert data recovery operation.
Power Surges
Another common cause of major computer problems is power surges. Lightning strikes, tripped circuit breakers, short circuits, and power outages can all lead to a voltage spike that can be fatal to electronics.
Reach out to the data recovery professionals at Data Savers LLC if your hard drive is unresponsive after a suspected power surge. There is not much that can be done by regular consumers in scenarios like this. Attempting to open the device is never advisable (unless you happen to be operating a class 100 ISO-5 cleanroom in your home or office). If the files you lost are truly important, don’t hesitate to reach out to the professionals at Data Savers LLC.
Types of Hard Drives
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
Hard disk drives were first introduced by IBM in 1956. While the idea behind hard disk drives was revolutionary, the original implementation(s) were far from perfect. It wasn’t until the 1990s that hard disk drives started displacing floppy disks as the preferred data storage medium.
Solid State Drive (SSD)
In 1980, Toshiba invented the world’s first flash based solid state drive. The advantages of flash memory were apparent immediately, but unfortunately the significantly higher cost of producing SSD technology made widespread production and distribution unfeasible for decades.
Over the last 30 years, SSD manufacturers dramatically reduced the cost of producing flash based solid state memory. As SSDs were already a superior technology, the informed consumer now has an easy decision the next time they pick out a hard drive for their desktop or laptop.
The Cost of Solid State Drives
As a general rule, solid state drives are superior to hard disk drives. SSDs are faster, more durable, and only marginally more expensive than HDDs. That said, the cost of producing flash-based solid state drives was historically a significant impedance to their adoption.
In 1991, one gigabyte of solid-state flash memory cost $50,000 USD. In 2020, one gigabyte of solid-state flash memory cost $0.10 USD.
The speed of technological progress is staggering. The cost of solid state drives decreased by ~500,000%.
Hard Drive Data Recovery Conclusion
Data Savers LLC is proud to provide expert data recovery services for our friends, neighbors, and clients in Atlanta, Georgia. While we are based out of Atlanta and take pride in serving our community, we also serve clients from around the United States via our mail-in data recovery service. Submit our request an estimate form online, pop your storage device in a (padded / impact resistant) cardboard box, and drop it off at your local UPS office; working with one of the leading data recovery labs in the United States is as easy as that.
The Data Savers LLC team is always happy to discuss data recovery techniques, common forms of data loss, and best practices for protecting your data in the future. Data Savers LLC will proudly continue restoring treasured memories for our clients in Atlanta for years to come.
Hard Drive Data Recovery FAQ
Hard drive data recovery is the most popular service Data Savers LLC offers. Our engineers have nearly 20 years of experience conducting hard drive data recovery from hard disk drives (HDD) and solid state drives (SSD). This experience makes the Data Savers LLC team your best option for hard drive data recovery in Atlanta and beyond! The following section will address some common questions we have received over the years.
What is Hard Drive Data Recovery?
Data Recovery is the process of salvaging data from a damaged hard drive or other storage device. Although we often read more than 99% of a failed drive, the range is from 0 – 100%, depending upon the degree of damage. Each case is different. However, our specialized recovery equipment and experienced technicians enable us to get the best possible recovery for you.
How Can I Speak to Someone?
You can call us at (770) 939-9363 / (866) 693-2824. Our front office is open from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM on Monday through Friday.
How Do I Send in a Hard Drive for Evaluation?
Visit the Request an Estimate page to complete our online registration. You will receive your service ticket number in a confirmation email. If requested, you will also be sent a UPS Ground shipping label. Pack your drive in a sturdy box with plenty of cushioning material to protect it from further damage. Laptop shippers must make sure that the packaging adequately protects the computer on all sides, especially at the corners, to limit the chances of shipping damage. If you are supplying a target drive for return of data, it must be sent with this shipment.
If you live near our Atlanta data recovery lab, you are welcome to deliver your hard drive in person. In many cases, we are able to provide a quote while you wait.
What Kind of Turnaround Time Can I Expect for Hard Drive Data Recovery?
Approximately 30% of our recoveries are complete within 36 hours. The turnaround time depends upon the service required and the condition of the drive. Straightforward data recoveries range from 3-5 days (often less!) and more complicated data recoveries typically range from 4-10 days. Larger data sets and heavily damaged drives simply take longer to recover.
If needed, we do offer optional priority (“rush”) and weekend service for an additional charge. Contact us for details.
What About the Security of My Data?
Data security is the foundation of our business. We work with government agencies, professionals, and private individuals. Everyone’s data is important and securely protected during our process. We do keep a copy of your data for ten days to ensure that you receive everything successfully. After you confirm receipt of data, your copy is securely erased. While adequately covered in our registration documents, Data Savers LLC, does offer an additional executable Non-Disclosure Agreement upon request.
How Will you Return my Recovered Data to Me?
We will transfer your recovered data to a new external drive. You have the option of providing one or purchasing one from us. If you purchase a drive from us, you may select the drive during your online registration. If you are providing a drive, please send it with your failed drive. If it is not included we will assume you wish to purchase a hard drive from us.
Please note that your provided drive must be completely empty, less than 2 years old and large enough to hold the entire recovered data set. We accept USB3 external drives as well as SATA drives. Network Attached Storage devices are not suitable targets. A target drive is for recovered file storage and will not be a bootable drive.
What Can I Do With the Recovered Data?
Once you receive your recovered data you can transfer/import documents, photographs, and other files to a working computer system. We do recommend the re-installation of software programs to ensure that they are fully operational.
What if You Cannot Recover my Data?
Data recovery is a salvage process. Once your drive is stabilized our recovery equipment allows us to get the best possible read on a drive. In most cases, we are able to read 99+% of the drive.
If we are unable to stabilize your drive to read files, there is no charge. Data Savers LLC stands by our risk-free data recovery guarantee.