Hard drive recovery at Datraction costs from £150 for logical faults and £450–850+ where the drive has failed mechanically. Standard turnaround is 5–10 working days, or 24 hours on the emergency tier. Standard diagnostics are free, and no recovery fee is due if we cannot recover useful data.
Start a free diagnosis
Choose the closest match. The symptom changes both what you should do now and how the drive should be assessed.
The drive repeats a click, scrape or spin-up cycle.
The drive vanishes, freezes a computer or drops during copying.
The drive remains readable but files, folders or a partition are missing.
A readable platter is not enough. The heads, pre-amplifier, firmware and recording surface must work together long enough to acquire stable sectors.
Recovery work aims to acquire the data, not return the failed drive to everyday use.
Diagnosis is useful when it narrows the route and the limits. We state both before you approve recovery work.
The symptom is only the starting point. These are the physical and logical dependencies that shape the recovery route.
A drive that clicks is moving its heads and failing to find the servo data it expects. Every power cycle after that point risks turning a recoverable fault into an unrecoverable one, because damaged heads scrape the platter surface they are supposed to float above. The single most useful thing you can do is stop powering it on.
Donor components must match more than a brand or capacity. Model family, revision, head map, preamplifier and other parameters can all affect compatibility. Our donor library spans Toshiba, Samsung, Western Digital, HGST, Hitachi and Seagate. Where internal work is justified, compatible parts are selected and the drive's original adaptive information is preserved before controlled imaging begins.
Real cases show the fault, the decisions made and where the result stopped. They are evidence, not a promise that every device behaves the same way.
Approximately 130 GB was recovered after donor attempts, although some files remained incomplete and the result was therefore recorded as partial.
The drive was handled through PC-3000, the accessible data was recovered successfully and the completed copy was returned on a 1 TB external drive.
Customer identities and ticket references have been removed. Images show Datraction laboratory methods and are not presented as photographs of the archived customer device.
From first description to returned files, each stage has a clear decision and an agreed commercial limit.
View the complete recovery processYour enquiry
Describe the device, the failure and the files you need. We give you an initial price range before it is sent or dropped off.
Price range before arrival
Lab diagnosis
An engineer identifies the fault, assesses complete and useful partial recovery, then prepares a written price or agreed range.
Fault, prospects and commercial limit confirmed
Your decision
We explain the proposed work and timing. Recovery starts only after you have accepted the quote.
No work starts without consent
Secure return
Recovered data is copied to suitable return media and sent back with your original device.
No recovered data, no recovery fee
Recovery priority
The engineering process and level of care stay the same. A faster service moves your case forward in the lab queue.
Turnaround starts when the device reaches our laboratory.
5–10 working days
Targets recovery and return within 5–10 working days of the device reaching our lab, subject to diagnosis, parts and media condition.
3–5 working days
Prioritises the case and targets 3–5 working days from arrival, subject to diagnosis, parts, media condition and data volume.
24 hours
Gives the case highest queue priority and targets 24 hours from arrival when the fault, parts, media condition and data volume allow it.
Emergency recovery targets 24 hours from the drive reaching our lab and adds 70% to the quoted recovery price. This is a priority target, not a guarantee that severe mechanical damage or a required donor part can be made predictable. Tell us which files matter first when booking.
We’ve recovered data from many different hard drives, some of which are much older models. Between us, our team has a lot of experience. So, it’s likely someone on our team will have seen your hard drive before and know how to tackle it.
No. Overwritten sectors, severe platter damage, missing encryption keys or damage caused by previous opening can prevent a complete recovery. Diagnosis establishes whether a complete or useful partial result remains possible, and we ask which files matter most before recovery work begins.
The cost will vary depending on how much work is required to retrieve your data and how soon you want it. For example, if you require your data back urgently, this will increase the cost. When you get in touch with us, we will provide you with a full quote for carrying out the work and we won’t start until you’re happy to approve the quoted cost.
Describe the device, the symptom, what has already been tried and which files matter most. We will tell you the safest next step.
Prefer to speak to someone? 020 8543 7088
Already asked to send the device? Follow the packing and delivery checklist.