Data recovery from head crash saves TV series

Where a head has crashed against the platters, we can generally save
the data providing there is not too much scratching on the platters

Time-lapse images saved for TV series

Having just finished filming in Tanzania for a forthcoming TV Series, our client contacted Data Recovery Specialists with their worst nightmare! The portable external drive with all their time-lapse images had crashed, leaving no option but to recover the images.

The photos had been taken over the course of filming with a community of hunter-gatherers who live in the Tanzanian bush. Whilst on location the team pictured the inhabitants going about their daily routines, singing, dancing and hunting. The time-lapse images captured the Tanzanian landscape throughout the day and night. Overall they took 4752 jpg and associated files in over 16 gigabytes of data. The information was all stored on a FreeCom portable hard drive and were stills to be used for time-lapse - meaning that if a group of images from a sequence are missing none of the sequence can be used.

Nevertheless, Data Recovery Specialists Ltd were able to come to their rescue. After completing an initial observation in the clean room, it was obvious that a shock to the working hard disk had caused the head to bounce against the disk, destroying the thin magnetic coating on the disk – a common problem with portable hard drives. A ‘head crash’ occurs when the heads of a hard disk drive touch the rotating platter surface. The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air entrapped at the surface of the platter.

Since most modern drives spin at rates between 7,200 and 15,000 rpm, the damage caused to the magnetic coating can be extensive. At 7,200 rpm the edge of the platter is travelling at over 74 miles per hour (120 km/h), and as the crashed head drags over the platter surface they generally overheat due to friction, making the drive or at least parts of it unusable until the heads cool. Following a head crash, particles of material scraped free of the drive surface greatly increase the chances of further head crashes or damage to the platters.

Despite the bleak prognosis, the engineers from Data Recovery Specialists set about their magic. Firstly the mechanical damage was overcome in the clean room using donor parts, before a clone of the data was taken. Once a 100% image was taken by slowing the revolution speeds of the disk down to a fraction of their normal spin rates, advanced software was used to rebuild the data, from the raw code of the image. In all, the process took a little over a week, but all the data was retrieved from the drive.

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Listing Of Recoverable Files

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Completing the Process

"Should you choose to proceed, the data recovery process will be completed and the data will be safely stored on our servers. We will then copy out the data to your preferred choice of output media - either 64Gb memory stick or HDD (for purchase or loan). Your data will be dispatched on our secure, next day courier service. Once you have received your data any copies of your data will be permanently and securely erased from our servers after 7 days."

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"40 years experience in the data recovery industry chairing ISO and BSI standards, we have developed a reputation for excellence at a price that is affordable. With extensive data recovery research and development capabilities, our success rates are second to none - without compromising on our prices! This is why over 36,000 companies and individuals come to us every year."

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"Your data is important to us, which is why all our data recovery procedures comply with the Association of Chief Police Officers Guidelines and Civil Procedure Rules for handling electronic evidence. Great care is taken when recovering and handling your data to ensure that its integrity is maintained and that there is a clear audit trail through the entire data recovery process."

Industry Leading Diagnostics

"Our data recovery laboratory completes over 120 successful recoveries every day from clients including the British Petroleum, NHS and EDF Energy. With ISO 27000 (Information Security) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management) accreditation - we are a data recovery company you can rely upon! Class 100 clean rooms, specialised platter removal jigs and software applications allow us to provide the most comprehensive service in the industry."

"Absolutely fantastic"

"Absolutely fantastic customer service from a very professional, efficient and friendly team. They are great at communicating findings and keeping you up to date with recovering any lost data. We had a corrupt video file recovered using the express service and the work was completed very quickly. I highly recommend using Data Recovery Specialist and rate the service and experience a 10/10"
Will Lloyd
Five Star Review

"Service I received was great"

"The data recovery service I received was great. They were very clear from the outset about what may and may not be possible and what the cost would be. From my device being collected by a courier, to a new device being sent back to me only a matter of days later, they were in touch every step of the step way to let me know what was happening. "
Lucy Owen
Five Star Review

"I found the service easy use"

"I found the service easy use. The recovery of my data was carried out extremely efficiently. It wasn’t cheap but the cost included a new Hard Drive. The issue for me was the recovery of my photographs, some of which were really irreplaceable. Everything I needed was carried out and the data was returned to me on the new hdd in a manner that followed my own distribution."
Martyn Webster
Four Star Review

"Delivered in the timescales promised"

"The service from start to finish was excellent. Before contacting DRS I had been advised I needed their type of specialist service. The technical service and customer service was always top class, everything was delivered in the timescales promised. It was expensive but it recovered the irreplaceable and that, in its way, is priceless."
Martin Goff
Five Star Review

"I would definitely recommend them"

"My external hard drive failed and the local company I tried couldn't retrieve anything from it. I found Data Recovery Specialists through an online search and they responded to my initial query very quickly. I sent my hard drive to them and they were able to recover all my data very quickly, keeping me informed of what was going on the whole time. Great service and I would definitely recommend them."
Lorraine Bunce
Four Star Review

"Would recommend to anyone"

"Excellent service, I felt completely at ease sending my hard drive to be fixed with Data Recovery Specialists. Would recommend to anyone needing help salvaging their hard drives."
Jemima le Sueur
Five Star Review

"Helped me retrieve the data"

"I had a damaged external hard disk that my local computer shops were unable to repair. Data Recovery Specialist help me retrieve the data quick. It's not a cheap service but it works and the data recovered was far more valuable than the repair cost. "
Music Law Contracts
Four Star Review

"Quick and professional service"

"I had dropped my external while it was spinning so did huge amounts of damage. I contacted several companies and opted for DRS. They were very quick with communication, explained everything for someone who’s not terrifically technically minded and put it all in writing as well. Collection of my device was simple, the turn around time was quicker than I expected and they kept me informed right through the process. Really pleasant and professional company. If I do break something, they would be my first port of call, but I’m hoping I won’t!"
Alex West
Five Star Review

"Fantastic job"

"The guys did a fantastic job in recovering my very important data. My interaction with Daniel Rees was very good, he was honest with what he could do to recover my very important Data. I also found their customer service department especially Roger a pleasure to deal with. My only real concern is that I found the company to be too expensive, however I scored them a 5 star as they recovered 100% of my very important Data."
Richard Daniel
Four Star Review

"Recovered my precious data"

"The guys at Data Recovery were excellent, especially Daniel Rees and Roger from customer service, who throughout my interaction with them kept me informed and were honest with regards to what they could do to recovery my precious data. They were very expensive but I've given them 5 stars as they manage to recovery all 100% of my data."
Ricky Daniel
Five Star Review

"The best in data recovery"

"After a bad experience with my local computer shop who had my dead hard drive for a week and said the data could not be recovered, I sent my hard drive to Data Recovery Specialists. Rapid, amazing service. Had a report of files available in 24h and 100% of data was recovered from hard drive. These guys are the pros! "
Michael Paterson
Five Star Review

"The data recovery service was first rate"

"The data recovery service was first rate from start to finish. My hard drive was collected quickly by a pre arranged courier service and returned quickly in the same manner.I was kept informed by telephone at all parts of the recovery and all my data was returned.I can fully recommend this company to anyone."
Cecilia Gregson
Five Star Review

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