Sydney · Australia-wide

Hard drive recovery: image first, then rebuild.

Internal and external HDDs, any interface. Failing, slow, clicking (referral check), or “not initialised.” We image sector by sector before recovery attempts.

Before you do anything else

Protect the only copy.

  • 01

    Power it down

    Every minute a failing drive runs can overwrite the bytes you need.

  • 02

    Skip consumer scanners

    Desktop recovery apps write as they scan. That is the opposite of imaging a dying disk.

  • 03

    No repair, no format

    chkdsk, First Aid and reinstall fix the disk; they do not preserve what was on it.

  • 04

    Call, then decide

    Free triage: lab job, cleanroom referral, or Recovery Studio.

Method

Dying disks get a map, not a spinner.

Unstable media is copied on hardware built for bad sectors. Worst regions last. Recovery runs on the image.

Filesystem rebuild and carve when directories fail. Deleted is often still present until overwritten.

Clicking, non-spinning, or head-crash symptoms: free assessment, then cleanroom referral if needed.

We do not run a cleanroom. Mechanical failures (clicking, non-spinning, head crash) are referred after free assessment. We will not open the drive on a bench and make it worse.

Read-only imaging before recovery. The original stays untouched.

FAQ

Common questions.

Should I keep powering on a clicking drive?

No. Power it down and call. Repeated spin-ups can destroy remaining readable areas.

Do you open the drive in your workshop?

Not for mechanical work. We do not run a cleanroom; those cases are referred after assessment.

Can Recovery Studio replace lab imaging?

For healthy enough own media, yes try the app. Failing platters belong on the lab bench.

Next step

Tell us what failed.

Free assessment. Fixed quote before recovery starts. No recovery, no fee. Sydney drop-off or Australia-wide by tracked post.