“If only I had a recent backup...”
When a file or folder is deleted - it hasn't actually gone, it can usually be recovered if you act quickly.
Hard disks work a little like a library, where, to find a book, you need to look up the books index card at the librarians desk (okay - an old library!). Armed with the data on the index card, you know which section and shelf to go to in order to find the book. Hard disks work in essentially the same way. The disk keeps an index of all the files stored on the disk. The index contains all of the time and date information, along with the files owner and other housekeeping data. When you delete a file, all that happens is the index entry is marked for re-use - the file on disk isn't touched.
Our forensic data recovery software ignores the index entries (for the most part) and examines the disk to see what files are actually present. It then allows those files that haven't been overwritten but are marked as deleted to be recovered.
It's true that there are many such programs available for download from the Internet, however we have seen that very often, these cheaper programs are quite simplistic and will only partially recover some files and by doing so, make it impossible to recover others.
The forensic processes and sophisticated file recovery software that we employ aren't guaranteed to get all your files back, however they do offer you the best chance of recovering your data from hard disks, memory sticks and most other digital storage media.
If you'd like to know more about timings, fees and the likelihood of success in your particular situation, give us a call for free confidential advice, or drop us an email and we'll get straight back to you.
We can usually recover deleted files and have in the past reconstructed deleted files from partial fragments found scattered across the disk.
What we cannot do however is the reconstruction of a physically damaged disk - this requires dedicated specialist equipment and techniques which we don't have.
We do have close links with companies we have worked with in the past that perform this kind of work on a daily basis. We will be happy to recommend one to you at no cost.
Drop us a note by email and we'll respond straight away.