Your Data Recovery Experts

Data stored on electronic media is susceptible to a number of issues that can make the data inaccessible. These issues seem to have a way of cropping up at the most inopportune times.

A digital forensics examiner from Vestige can employ advanced forensic data recovery processes and procedures to retrieve lost data from not only most devices, but the most severely damaged media. Whether the data failure is due to a logical failure (misconfigured/corrupted data), human error, electronic failure or physical component damage, Vestige can assist in assessing the damage, determining recovery feasibility and recovering data.

Data stored on any digital device is prone to damages due to wear and tear of the mechanical parts in these devices, mishandling, or various other reasons. Sensitive information stored on digital devices is not secure unless regular backups are made. I a backup was not made, facing a data loss situation can be stressful.

Contact a Professional

Professional data recovery service is the process of recovering inaccessible, lost, corrupted or formatted data from various storage devices such as Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Solid State Drives (SDD), USB Drives, External Hard Drives, mobile phones, etc.

There can be multiple reasons for a storage device failure such as:

• Formatting
• Deletion
• Corruption
• Physical damage
• Mechanical failure
• Natural disasters such fire or flood
• Virus

Data Which Can be Recovered

It is important to understand that the data which is accidentally deleted or formatted still exists on the hard drive somewhere. Only the storage space where the data was stored is marked as available to store the new data.

This is why data recovery is possible from such a storage device. The important point is to stop using the drive. It is also possible in case the hard drive is not detecting, inaccessible, or has physical damages.

For maximum recovery, the hard drive must be handled by specially trained professionals in humidity, temperature, and the contaminant-controlled environment – commonly known as a Cleanroom. For complicated tasks such as physical damages or an undetected hard drive, the recovery process is complex and needs specialized equipment and skills.

Data Which Can’t be Recovered

Keep in mind, it is not possible to recover data in every case. There are some situations where data recovery is not possible. These include:

1. If the data was overwritten with new data, it can’t be recovered
2. Data can’t be recovered from a smartphone that has been factory reset.
3. In case of physical damage to the hard drive, if the data has been physically scrapped from the platter, it can’t be recovered.
4. If the HDD operating system, also known as firmware, is damaged then also the data can’t be recovered.

Immediate Steps To Take When Realize You Are Missing Data

If you suspect damage to the drive and the data is valuable  to you, you should take immediate steps to ensure the success of any data recovery attempts. Specifically:

• Do NOT attempt to recover the data yourself. While you may be successful, the activity may make it worse. There are a lot of $39 software packages out there that claim to recover data–and some do–sometimes! Ask yourself if your data is worth more than $39?
• Stop using the device. If there is an electronics issue or physical damage, continued use can exacerbate the problem.
• Do not open the drive/device casing. Electronic storage media is manufactured and sealed in special clean-room environments, opening a device will introduce contaminants that can further wreck havoc on recovery efforts.
• Document as much information as you can about how and when the problem arose, information that is useful to know includes: a description of what is happening, the type of filesystem on the media, the operating system (any and all, if present) on the media, the type of content that is on the device, the type of content that is most critical to you for recovery, the use of encryption (if applicable), what steps you took when you noticed the issue and any attempts that you did make at recovering the data.
• Hire a reputable Expert. Again, there are a lot of recovery facilities out there. Make sure the one you send it to has the requisite knowledge.
• Find a facility that doesn’t void your warranty. While data storage prices are minimal compared to the data that is on the drive, there’s nothing to add insult to injury than to find that the recovery facility couldn’t recover the data AND in the process voided the warranty on the media.

At Vestige we have the expertise, tools and resources to handle data recovery – from a simple file deletion to recovering data from a hard drive with physical damage.

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