Science Translations can determine if a non-responsive drive can simply be copied in-house, or if it needs data recovery.
In general, data loss caused by software, is recoverable in-house. Data loss caused by a failed drive is not. Sometimes it’s not obvious which has happened. Call Science Translations at 410-871-2877 in Maryland if you need help identifying the problem or removing the drive from the computer.
Examples and exceptions:
- Windows 10 has been stopping after a patch installation with a message, “Choose your keyboard language…” That’s a software issue, and while it usually requires a fresh installation of Windows, the drive is good and the data is still there, and it can be fixed in-house.
- “We refreshed Windows, and our files are gone!” This one depends on which options were chosen. Call Science Translations for help identifying whether files were saved as backup profiles, which can be fixed with a remote login, or if the drive was formatted, and needs data recovery.
- Windows is warning about imminent drive failure and SMART errors. SMART is Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, which detects drive errors, and warns when the errors appear to be serious. Like any ‘threshold’ warning, it’s only an approximation of condition. If the errors started today, replacing the drive immediately may be all that’s needed. Postpone, and the drive will need data recovery.
- External drives are frequently the combination of an energy-saving ‘green’ drive with a cheap adapter board and the cheapest-possible AC adapter. We can open the housing, test the parts separately, and either replace the housing, or determine if the drive should be sent out for data recovery.
- The computer has a click-whir sound inside. That’s a hard drive seek error, which is the storage equivalent of a tone arm skipping over tracks on a record player. Here’s a video of what’s happening inside that drive.
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There is a DriveSavers discount on data recovery for Science Translations’ customers.