Frequently asked questions

What is Data Recovery?

Data recovery is the process of recovering inaccessible data (files) from a storage medium. Data may be inaccessible for a variety of reasons, where the most common include:

• Damaged platter surface or damaged reading heads for classical magnetic drives. This defect may be caused by a manufacturing defect, improper handling of the drive, falling, etc.
• Damaged electronics of classical magnetic drives. This could be a manufacturing defect, physical damage, electric shock, and more.
• With SSDs, USB flash drives, SD cards and other kinds of storage media of this type, we often encounter faulty controller or firmware. This applies mainly to the electronics and control software of the medium and in some cases it is a complex way of data recovery.
• Damaged file system. This is a software defect that can occur on all types of storage media and all operating systems. It can be caused by operating system failure, computer virus, hardware failure outside the storage medium itself, human factor.
• Erased data or formatted drive (media) is another common cause of user data unavailability. This might not be a serious problem if the user no longer worked with the data medium after deleting the data or formatting the drive partition (media). Also in this kind of cases there may be other complications (encrypted data, type of formatting used by the user...)

How much will I pay if I order data recovery from Exalab data recovery?

We consider each case individually. The price depends on the type of damage caused to the data medium or the file system. Another aspect affecting the price is the order priority. If the customer rushes to rescue the data, the price will be higher due to the priority work on the order. Diagnostics of the data medium is always free and you only pay for the recovery if the data recovery process is successful.

You can find approximate prices in our data recovery pricelist.

How do I know if this is a data medium defect and therefore a loss of data?

If your hard disk, SSD, flash drive, SD card, RAID or other data storage behaves abnormally, it is always important to pay attention to its state and to not delay the solution. Sometimes this may be a warning signal against an absolute failure of the media.

The most common symptoms are:

• The operating system is not booting up, the computer is reporting a failure of hard drive.
• The computer spontaneously restarts during the operating system startup.
• Self-crashing applications, applications / operating system freezes.
• Slow access to data.
• Hard drive is making unusual noises (clicking ...).
• Computer, mobile phone, tablet, camera ... behave normally, but can not retrieve files that were stored on the device.
• Data is unavailable after a fall or collision of the media (in case of mechanical damage, we strongly recommend that you do not try to switch on the media again, it may result in fatal data loss).
• The device reports that it is necessary to format the data medium - eg SD card in a mobile phone or camera.

If you're not sure what's happening with your device or you want to order a free diagnosis of storage media please contact us.

What do you recommend if data is unavailable?

If the data is unavailable for no apparent cause, it is most important to stop working with the device/media and turn it off. If the data medium is functional but you cannot find the data on it, you can lose important data by storing and reading other data or just working with the operating system because it will be overwritten. If the data medium is mechanically damaged, further use can destroy the non-recoverable data.

If any of the symptoms listed above appear, or the device/data medium behaves in an unusual way, it is necessary to stop working with the data medium and not attempt to “recover the data medium somehow”. You can damage further or even fatally damage the data medium in lay attempts, and data recovery may no longer be possible.

Take advantage of our free diagnostics, where our data recovery specialists will tell you the exact cause of the problem and other options.

How long does it take to recover data?

The length of the data recovery process itself depends on many factors. Of course, we work on all orders without unnecessary delays, and express orders start in hours. In 90% of cases, the time of data recovery is 2-5 working days starting from the client's approval.

Factors affecting the length of the data recovery process:

• Type of storage media damage (software, hardware - mechanical damage)
• Extent of damage
• Storage media capacity
• Used file System
• Used user data encryption
• User errors after a storage media failed
• Required spare parts (we have an extensive stock of spare parts, but sometimes there are no spare parts or identical parts are needed according to the damage).

We'll give you more accurate information about the estimated lead time after performing a free diagnosis.

Do I have to personally bring the data medium?

You don't have to. Contact us and we will be happy to arrange the transport of the data medium to our laboratory.

What does the data recovery process consist in? How is my data and data media handled?

1. After diagnosing the data medium and approving the order by the customer, our technician takes over the medium to determine the most appropriate data recovery procedure.
2. This is followed by data recovery at the software level (deleted data, work with data media firmware ...), hardware level (damaged read heads or surface, destroyed electronics of the drive ...), or a combination of both. A binary copy of the data medium is created on our data repositories.
3. We copy the user data from the binary copy of the data medium, or the entire partition to the media that will be passed to the client. When sending recovered data using an online method, the data is encrypted. We do likewise in other cases if the client so wishes.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to save data. In this case, of course, we do not charge the client any fees.

Have a question about the data recovery process? Feel free to contact us or visit our blog.

Will the recovered data be saved back to the original media?

Not in most cases. Unless it is a purely software defect, the data medium used for data recovery cannot be reused. That would be a highly unreliable solution.

The data medium for the restored data can be supplied by the customer or it is possible to buy a suitable medium from us, which we will gladly help you choose.

Is the data recovery always 100% successful?

Although we have a high success rate of data recovery in EXALAB Data Recovery, there is no guarantee that 100% of the data will be recovered.

The success of data recovery depends on many factors. The type of damage and how the user further manipulated the data medium after the detected defect or unavailability of data, are crucial indicators for further progress and success of data recovery.

In general, it is strongly recommended that the user should not attempt any unprofessional data recovery after a defect has been detected with the data medium. For example, if your hard drive is damaged by being dropped or makes unusual mechanical noises for another reason, chances are that you turn on the drive repeatedly and therefore reduce the possibility of successful data recovery. In extreme cases, the surface of the drive plates may be completely destroyed and data may be lost forever.

Another example could be accidentally deleted data. For classic hard drives, simply deleting data does not actually delete it. To put it simply, the drive only receives information that the location where the data is located can be reused and will be freed for new data . By working with the drive and writing additional data, you increase the likelihood that the free space will be overwritten by other data. If this happens, the original data is irretrievably lost.

You can use our free diagnostics to determine the status of damaged data media. You always pay only for successfully recovered data!

The data medium is still under warranty. Does the data recovery warranty expire?

It depends on the type of damage. We will do our best not to lose your warranty.

You will receive accurate information after our free diagnostics. We always perform non-invasive diagnostics unless otherwise specifically agreed with the client. Therefore, you will not lose your warranty by diagnosis.

Do you offer a data shredding service?

Yes, we do. Shredding (secure deletion) of data is closely related to the data recovery itself and belongs to the portfolio of services offered by EXALAB Data Recovery.

We guarantee data shredding according to the highest standards. After this shredding, data from the data medium can no longer be recovered in any way, so you can safely transfer the data medium for further use. You will receive a confirmation of data shredding according to the highest standards.

I have further questions.

We will be pleased to answer any questions you may have about data recovery from storage media. If you did not find the answer to your question on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us or simply send your question using the form below.