FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Data Clinic can recover the data from all types of hard drive including HDDs, SSDs and Hybrid drives, plus all types of interface including SATA, SAS, PATA, SCSI.

Yes, ticking and beeping noises are indicative of mechanical faults. Whilst this is a serious issue, we’ve been dealing with this type of problem for over 20 years and should be able to recover the data.

Yes, this is going to be a problem with either the read / write heads &/or the surface of the drive. Again, it’s a serious problem but we should be able to recover the data for you.

No, if a feature called TRIM is enabled (and it usually is by default), the data has already been overwritten and is not recoverable.

We will recover your data to another hard drive with the same folder structure and file names as before. You can have a drive from us, or supply your own. Your old hard drive will also be returned along with your recovered data unless we arrange to buy it from you to increase our stock.

Power the unit down and leave it off. Don’t restart it repeatedly, don’t remove or swap disks between bays, and don’t start a rebuild – these are the most common ways data is lost for good. If you do remove the disks, label them with their bay order first. Then call us for advice, or read more on our RAID data recovery page.

No. CHKDSK, fsck and forced rebuilds all write to the disks and can permanently overwrite the very data you’re trying to save. Every write to a failed array reduces the chance of a full recovery. Leave it powered off and speak to us first.

We recover data from all common RAID levels and from servers and all popular makes of NAS. See our RAID and NAS pages for more details.

Our Emergency service runs out of hours, including weekends and bank holidays, and aims to recover your data within 24–48 hours. Read about our Emergency data recovery service or call us straight away on 0800 151 2207.

Data Clinic can recover the data from nearly any type of phone damage including phones that have been smashed, dropped, bent, run over, crushed, or have liquid or fire damage.

We are usually able to recover the photos, videos, SMS messages, contacts, voice recordings, notes etc. from both iPhones and Android phones. It’s not currently possible to recover Samsung Notes data as it is encrypted.

Yes, instead of a phone data recovery you can ask us to rebuild your phone back to a working condition. You will then be able to use it again as normal.

In 99% of cases, NO. This is due to the way the phone maintains and administers its storage. As soon as an item or items are deleted they are overwritten almost immediately. Once an item has been overwritten there is no chance of recovering it because the data you want no longer exists on the phone.

It depends on whether you’re running iOS or Android, the phone you are using and what features you’ve enabled or disabled on your phone.

Our phone skills are far in advance of most organisations in the UK (including police forces), just because you’ve been told your phone is beyond repair and your data is lost doesn’t mean it actually is. Contact us.

Yes, if the iOS it is running is below version 15.0 we will be able to reprogram the phone back to a working condition with zero data loss. Unhelpfully, Apple plugged this recovery route from iOS 15 onwards.

No, it’s not possible to recover any data from a phone after a factory reset. For a full explanation of why, see our guide to data recovery after a factory reset.

We will recover your data to a memory stick. Your old phone will also be returned in a non working condition and also (usually) in an unassembled condition. This is because many modern phones have tamperproof parts that prevent reassembly.

Yes, as long as you still have the address of your wallet we can correctly determine up to 3 missing or incorrect seed words. Any more is currently unfeasible due to the mathematics involved.

Yes, the more you can remember about the passphrase the higher the chance of recovery. If you can remember little or nothing the chances are slim.

Your seed words are wrong. We can help find the correct ones.

We are world experts in recovering Bitcoin from old MultiBit wallets.

No. Scammers aren’t stupid and cover their tracks. If you’ve lost your crypto to a scammer it’s because you were manipulated into giving away control of your private keys. Beware of services that say they can help you recover the crypto that has been stolen by scammers, they can’t, they are just more scammers. If anyone says they can help but require you to pay them money upfront (eg. for ‘software’, or ‘tax’) they are lying and are scamming you.

It depends on the type of device, the fault, and how quickly you need the data back – a straightforward hard drive fault costs less than a complex RAID or phone recovery. We’ll always give you a clear quote before any work starts, so there are no surprises. Our guide to data recovery costs explains what affects the price.

For standard recoveries from single mechanical hard drives we operate a No Data, No Fee policy – if we can’t recover your data, you don’t pay a recovery fee. For other devices such as RAIDs, phones and SSDs we’ll agree pricing with you before any work begins. If you decide not to go ahead with a recovery, we return your device for a small charge of £20 + VAT to cover secure handling and return postage.

Call us on 0800 151 2207 or request a free quote and we’ll take care of the rest. We offer free collection from any UK address using DPD and Parcelforce, or you can drop your device off at one of our locations by appointment.

Use our online Job Status checker – you just need your surname and your Data Clinic job number. You can also call our existing-jobs line, 8am–4pm Monday to Friday.

Yes. Data Clinic Recovery for Memory Cards & USB Sticks is our free Windows tool that recovers deleted photos, videos and documents from SD cards, microSD cards and USB sticks. It’s digitally signed and read-only, so it can’t overwrite your data. If the tool can’t recover your card or stick — usually a sign of a physical fault — it will offer to send photos of the device and its diagnostic report straight to our lab, and our engineers will assess whether we can recover the data and, if so, quote a diagnosis fee for sending it in. For hard drives and RAID, contact the lab directly.

Our business hours are 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

Phone Lines
New Enquiries: 8am – 8pm, 7 days a week
Existing Jobs: 8am – 4pm, Monday – Friday

Lab
8am – 4pm Monday – Friday
Note: Emergency work is an exception and is also processed out of hours, including weekends and bank holidays.

You are welcome to drop a device off with us for recovery but you will need to make an appointment first please.

We have 3 levels of service you can choose from:
Emergency: We aim to recover your data within 24-48 hours. Includes out of hours and weekend work
Priority: Your data is recovered within 2 – 5 working days
Standard: Your data is recovered within 5-20 working days.

Yes, we have an Emergency service that can recover your data within hours. However, due to the costs involved it’s usually just businesses that use this service.

Our office locations can be found here.

Yes, there’s no need for you to come into one of our locations and drop off, it’s far easier to arrange a free collection from anywhere in the UK. We use DPD and Parcelforce to collect.

Yes, data security is paramount to us. We are registered with and audited by the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) for data security. Your data is treated confidentially and will not be shared.

Yes, we can prepare an NDA by request.

You can read our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy online, and find out more about the company on our About Us page.