Your laptop just died. It won’t turn on. Or it’s painfully slow at start up. You haven’t backed up your work files or family photos. What do you do?
There are options. Here are popular data recovery scenarios we see often. Let’s review them:
If you fix your computer, will your files be back again?
Possibly. If a main part of your computer has failed like the motherboard or screen, then as long as your hard drive is intact, then yes, your files should be accessible. The think to note is that your files are all stored on your hard drive. As long as your hard drive wasn’t impacted, then your files should still be safe.
Wait, what if I have a new MacBook or Windows laptop where the solid state drive is integrated into the motherboard, what happens then?
Good question. On this one requires a higher level of technical service. Essentially, our motherboard repair technicians need to fix the board directly in order to retrieve your files. Keep in mind there’s a chance we fix your board and your computer works, but your integrated drive already burned out previously. Recovering from integrated drives within the main board is doable and should still be attempted as it’s usually the only way within this case.
Click. click. click.
If you hear clicking or sounds coming from your laptop, that usually means your hard drive has a mechanical failure. Still salvageable. Not always, but usually. It’s recommended not to power up your laptop any longer for fear it could cause more damage. In this example, we would swap out the failing parts of your drive, whether it be the head, arm, or another ancillary part, to revive the drive and pull off the data.
What if my laptop got wet?
Still recoverable here. Best practice is to open up your laptop screen fully and place it face down for 24 hours. If it still doesn’t turn on afterwards, then it’s a good candidate for data recovery. The hope is that the water didn’t impact your drive too much. Fingers crossed.
What if my laptop took a fall?
Whether you got angry with your laptop or it accidentally fell, the drive usually takes a toll on this one. Older drives with several moving parts will take the brunt of the fall while solid state drives (SSDs) don’t have moving parts and don’t have as much as a chance to have damage. Either way, these cases are usually recoverable.
When are my files unrecoverable within laptop data recovery situations?
When the platters are severely damaged. On all drives, your files are physically stored on platter that looks like thin sheets of aluminum alloy, glass or ceramic. What we’ve seen happen is if the head of the drive or other parts come spindling down on the platters, that could shatter the platters, rendering files irretrievable. The hope here is we’ve seen some platters affected where we can still image off good parts of the platters.
So, what is my next step to get my laptop taken care of for data recovery?
You can go to a local NYC laptop lab recovery center or if you’re outside NYC, mail it in your laptop for data recovery. You have a good solution to recover your files.
if in NYC:
or Outside NYC:
