FAQS

I dropped my Hard Disk or Laptop, now I can not access my data. Can the data be recovered?


Yes, possibly.  When a hard disk is dropped, the Read/Write heads slap ( scratch, indent ) the platters inside the disk. Platters move from the original positions causing mis-alignment, the electronics may be damaged, etc. This kind of damage may cause permanent damage to the drive in question and may be extremely difficult to recover. The service may take longer time than normal, we may need to repair it and make it accessible temporarily in order to recover your data.

 

Can you recover everything from my failed, broken drive fully, 100%, everything?

 

Basically, the answer is no. 
 

We cannot guarantee and promise anything with data recovery. What we are doing in our Lab is doing our best to recover as many files as possible , read as many good spots as possible, and then rebuilding your files in usable condition. 

 

The recovered results really depend on your drive situation:
 

  1. If your drive is in good condition, yes, we will recover your files in almost original perfect situation, even boot OS from it, but it may be not if you did something before sending to us.
     
  2. If the drive platters are severely damaged, we can not recover your files. Even if we recover some raw data, what little raw data we do pull out may be corrupted and unusable.
     
  3. If your drive has developed physical problems, most of time, we will pull out your important files first, then others. Do keep in mind, your drive has some physical problems, mechanically or electronically. So it is very important to let us know what the important and urgent files are.
     
  4. If your files were deleted, or corrupted for a while, or with some kind of overwritten, or with some operating systems, we may not recover them perfectly with exact file and folder names.
     

Furthermore, we may not recover your files on the first try. There can be vital information about the drive that we didn't know the first time, which allows us to pinpoint the client's data. We have developed many different ways to recover lost files after being in the data recovery business for more than 23 years.
Here is a quote regarding our 2nd recovery after some files were missing from the 1st recovery:

 

"I want to thank you very very much for trying again: you have retrieved everything this time! You make my Day. 
Thanks again for your support.
"
Nicolas

 


Will you evaluate my drive free?

 

We believe that you may not need this procedure as

  • You know the final cost before you send: our service form and rates.
     
  • If recoverable, we will pull out your data right way.

    No time waste.

    No risk to wait and play around as most of time the chance for recovering your data has only once, every time anyone power on the faulty device(s), she/he is making it worse, specially for some bad drives with "clicking noise" that will damage the platters, even for working device(s) that may overwrite the data.

 

 

How will I get my recovered data back?
 

  • Prefer to send a backup hard drive with your faulty device(s).

  • You may buy one backup drive from us in marketing cost, under manufacturer's warranty.

 

What is your success rate?

 

Depend on your drive situations AND how you handled it after crashed.
 

  • It should be 88% if you just send your faulty drive to 1stDataRecovery immediately after it crashed;
     
  • It may come down to 75% if you play around with the drive, such as, repeatly powering on the drive, or running the software when the problems are physical, specially if the drive was dropped.
     
  • It will drop down to 55% if you have a computer pro friend to help you, or you have sent to some so called data recovery firms, specially the faulty drive was opened.
     

Anyway, the more you tried, the lower the success rate.

 

 

Why can you charge much less for dead drive data recovery and other companies charge a fortune?

 

  • We are good at it. If you are good at doing something, will you need a lot of time and energy?
     
  • We are developing and adopting the most advanced technologies. If you have good tools, would not it make your job much easier, better, and faster?
     
  • We have a lot of clients worldwide. If you have plenty of business, will you need to charge a fortune to survive?
     
  • There are no middlemen. Our engineers will finish your data recovery in our own lab.
     
  • We have huge inventory of parts to repair your fault drive temporarily .

 

 

 

This efficiency translates into high-quality service at comparatively low fees for customers. 

 


How long will it take to recover?
 

It really depends on the situations of your devices.Basically we have three kind of services:

 

  • Standard service takes about 4 to 7 business days;
     
  • Rush service takes about 2 to 4 business days, which costs 50% more.
     
  • SuperRush service takes about 1 to 2 days, which costs 100% more.


 

What is the "no files, no charge" policy?
 

  • No charge, if your device is not recoverable totally, nothing we get for you.
     
  • No charge, if nothing we get what you indicate in the service order form, or you indicated verbally and in emails, or have not received any recovered files, or can not getting any more requested files from our 2nd, 3rd recovery. Please do write it down in details what you are looking for.

 

Exceptions as followings: 
 

  • If you received recovered files from your faulty device(s),
  • If we have recovered your files indicated in the service order form,
  • If you mistakely sent the wrong device(s), but we have spent time and resources to recover files from it, 
  • If you chose the High Success Standard service
  • $70 if your faulty hard drive has been opened and attempted before sending to us,
  • $100 if you choose the Rush service,
  • $200 if you choose the SuperRush service,
  • $38 shipping if you need us to send your faulty device(s) back.

 

How do I package the Devices?
 

Please secure the drive in an anti-static bag and enclosed in a drive-shipping container. If a shipping container is not available, please use a box size of not less than 5" x 8" x 10" and be sure that the drive has at least 5" of bubble-wrap insulation on each side. Please do not use packing peanuts. If shipping more than one hard drive, please wrap each drive individually with at least 5" of bubble insulation.

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