Professional Hard Drive Data Recovery in Austin

94% on recoverable cases across the last 1,000 jobs; broken down honestly: logical failures ~97%, firmware faults ~94%, single-head replacements ~89%, multi-platter or severe damage ~65%. We publish raw, anonymized outcomes so you can see the reality by device type and failure mode.

Most professional hard-drive recoveries land between about $100 and $2,000+. Simple, logical issues (file-system errors, minor bad sectors) sit at the low end; jobs that need donor parts or clean-bench head work live at the top. Price is driven by the device (HDD vs SSD/phone), the problem (logical vs mechanical), and the company (in-house lab vs outsourced, paid-ad middlemen). We do all work on-site in Austin and don't buy ads.

On a healthy 1 TB HDD, a full image reads in about 3-4 hours; with verification and copy-out, most standard jobs finish in 1-2 business days. Light bad sectors can add a few days. ‘Not detected’ or firmware issues often take around a week. Head swaps that require donor parts run 1-3 weeks. Severe platter damage can take weeks and may be unrecoverable.

Short answer: no; and that's on purpose. Those paper certifications cost tens of thousands and are used to justify $3,000+ invoices. We keep prices sane by investing in tools and staff, not certificates. Need a BAA or NDA? We sign them daily. Your device never leaves our Austin lab; access is limited to your assigned technician; we securely purge working copies after delivery.

No; and that's a feature, not a bug. Being ‘authorized’ usually means agreeing to price minimums and sending complex work to third-party labs. Our reputation was built on being UNAUTHORIZED while fixing problems the ‘authorized’ shops couldn't. We do the work here, talk to you directly, and charge you for the work done; not for a logo on our wall.

Often, yes. If you DON'T power it on wet, DON'T bake it with heat, and get it to us quickly, success can be 70-80%. Salt water is worse than fresh; fire cases usually include corrosive residue from suppression. Once in-lab, we address PCB corrosion/shorts, transfer ROM/adaptives, and image with controlled timeouts.

Logical failure: the hardware works but the file system doesn't; deleted files, bad partition table, light bad sectors. Physical failure: the hardware is damaged; stuck heads, seized spindle, shorted PCB, platter scratches. Logical jobs are cheaper ($100-$500) with near-certain odds; physical jobs need clean-bench/donor parts ($900-$2,000+) and success depends on damage severity.

Professional hard drive data recovery follows an image-first workflow: (1) Evaluate symptoms safely and protect the media; no CHKDSK/Disk Utility on a failing disk. (2) If the drive isn't detected, correct firmware/translator issues and stabilize access (PC-3000 class tools). (3) Acquire a sector-level image with write-blocking and controlled retries (DeepSpar/ddrescue). (4) If heads are stuck or weak, unstick or replace them on a clean bench using donor parts, then resume imaging. (5) Rebuild the file system and extract files from the image. (6) Verify and deliver the data on a new device.

Yes; often enough to recover your data, but a repaired hard drive shouldn't be reused. In professional hard drive data recovery we stabilize the drive with PC-3000-class tools, correct firmware/PCB issues or replace stuck/bad heads on a clean bench using an exact-match donor, then acquire a write-blocked sector-by-sector image. Files are recovered from the image, verified, and delivered on a new drive; the old failing HDD is retired.

No. Removing a drive from a computer does not erase it. Data remains on the platters (HDD) or NAND (SSD) until it is securely overwritten or cryptographically erased. If you need a wipe, request a verified secure-erase with certificate.

Geek Squad offers data recovery, but most complex hard drive data recovery (head swaps/clean-bench cases) is outsourced to partner labs rather than done in-store, which can add time, cost, and a middleman. We perform all recovery in-house in Austin with clean-bench procedures, PC-3000 imaging, direct technician communication, and transparent pricing.

On most Seagate 2.5-inch external drives (including Rosewood), a repeating beep usually means the spindle can't start because the read/write heads are stuck on the platters. That's a mechanical fault, not a cable or power issue. Power-cycling, tapping the drive, opening the HDA, or running repair utilities can scratch platters and turn a $300-$400 unstick into a $1,000-$2,000+ clean-bench head swap. If the data matters, stop powering it.

Most LaCie external drives contain a Seagate HDD inside. A repeating beep usually means the motor can't start because the read/write heads are stuck on the platters (common after a drop on 2.5″ models). Don't power-cycle, tap, or open the drive; those moves turn a $300-$400 unstick into a $1,000-$2,000 clean-bench head swap.

If the drive still spins and is detected, you can try the free SystemRescue + ddrescue method: clone the failing drive to an equal-or-larger target, then recover from the clone. Do a fast pass to grab good sectors, then a retry pass for bad areas. Do not run CHKDSK/Disk Utility repairs on the original. If it clicks/beeps or isn't detected, stop; those typically need a lab.