The lab · start to finish
Seven steps, each one known in advance.
All jobs follow this same process for you. First, it is your phone call that initiates the process. Last, you will be required to sign off on the return of your media, and that's how we would like to see our own drives handled too. Below are all steps in the total process and also the two points at which you, and nobody else, make the decisions.
Describe the fault to an engineer
0800 6890668
The seven steps in order.
Make contact
Call us, or fill in a quote request and tell us about the media device that has stopped working properly and which files you require to be recovered. Next, you will receive an honest assessment of the state of your device and some clearly defined actions you should take.
Get it to the lab
After receiving a quote, please post the device tracked and insured to the Guildford intake lab, with the printed shipping form inside the box, or drop it off there yourself (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed). Prior to sending your drive, remove it from your computer or recorder, and remove your disks from a NAS if possible, labelled by their respective bays; if not, the NAS may travel whole. If you're sending disks from a server or RAID array, please just send the individual disks and label them in the same manner.
Booked in, then assessed at no cost Free
Once received, your device will immediately be assigned its own reference number. At that point, we will begin performing a complete examination of the device: we will determine the cause of failure, provide you with an honest probability of success, and describe the amount of work involved in recovering your data.
Your decision
If you accept our single written quote, we begin the bench work; we send the device back to you and provide you with our results if you reject the quote. Either way there's no cost to have the equipment diagnosed.
On the bench
There will be an initial full image of your drive taken prior to anything else being undertaken. No exceptions. Any other steps needed (parts from donors, firmware work, decrypting, rebuilding etc.) will be completed on this copy alone, and your original drive will remain unaltered.
Verify the list
You don't have to pay us a penny until we deliver the complete list of recoverable items you requested and verify they match up with all the folder names you specified in your request.
The return
Your files arrive back on new media, and the postage costs are on us. After thirty days our working images are deleted using secure methods. The case is closed as soon as you tell us to close it.
Realistic turnaround times.
| Kind of case | The method | Time on the bench |
|---|---|---|
| Software failure: deletion, formatting & corruption of the file system | Rebuilding the file system from the image of the drive. | 2–3 working days |
| Physical failure: clicking, dead & dropped drives | First, we'll replace damaged components with donor parts; then, we'll take a slow image of the repaired drive. | 3–5 working days |
| RAID 5 arrays, NAS boxes, servers | An image is done for every member, followed by the software rebuild | Typically 4–7 working days |
| All encrypted volumes and forensic instructions | The scope of what is done will be determined based on the case. Timing will also be agreed at the beginning of the project. | It is included within the quote. |
| True emergencies | If it is an operational crisis (a stopped business), or if there is an unmovable deadline, the operation goes to the front of the queue and will run continuously until completed. | Indicate this verbally on the phone |
What travels with it.
The things people most want to know, answered.
Am I kept informed while work is under way?
Yes. Each of the stages listed above ends with an update from us, and we also take phone calls between each of these updates. There is no portal to log on to for any information, nor will there be a lost ticket placed in a queue.
And if the files are gone?
In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. If another lab seems to be the best option, we will tell you this as well, and we will tell you just as clearly whether or not anyone will be able to successfully recover the files.
Who actually works on my device?
All work is performed by our in-house engineers. We do not sub-contract, none of the work is done outside of the UK, and a single case number follows all aspects of the case from start to finish.
What happens to the copies you have made?
Once your files are returned to you, the working images remain with us for thirty days, in case a further pass is wanted. After that time they are securely deleted.
Begin when it suits you.
A single phone call or submission of a form initiates a case. The initial phase is complimentary and does not obligate you in any way.