FAQs

Data recovery is the process of retrieving deleted or inaccessible data from failed electronic storage media such as computer hard disk drives, removable media, optical devices and tape cartridges.

Your data can become inaccessible due to a software problem, computer virus, mechanical or electrical malfunction or a deliberate human act.

It is an environment free from dust and other contaminants. Open drive recovery is done here to protect the HDD platter from dust, which can hinder the data recovery process and damage the hard disk. This is a very essential facility for a data recovery company.

In the event of a head crash, the reading head of the hard drive touches the platter which rotates a thousand times per minute; this causes the platter surface to be scratched and damaged. A scratched and damaged platter will definitely lead to data becoming unrecoverable because it is the exact area in an HDD where files are stored.

This is possible if the problem is a simple logical one. However, extreme care needs to taken if you’re not sure what the problem is. While most disk utilities provide excellent preventative maintenance by fixing minor problems, they can render data unrecoverable in the event of mechanical failure.

The best way to prevent further damage and risk your files is to not use any other software to recover the drives. We have the professional expertise to recover data.

Commercial recovery software is designed to recover data from working drives. If your drive has experienced a mechanical or electrical failure, the use of recovery software can cause permanent loss of your data.

Putting your hard drive into the freezer is the WORST thing you could possibly do in your attempt to recover your data. The act can actually render your data completely unrecoverable due to water condensation.

We don’t fix hard drives with mechanical failure because its integrity is lost. It will only break down again after a couple of uses, and you risk losing your files again.

The best answer for this is no, and we do not recommend for you to use your defective drive. What we do is to recover your files after we use our HDD recovery tools to gain access to your defective drive.

Yes. There are instances where the damage to the hard drive is so severe that data recovery is not possible. This usually occurs when the read/write heads actually “crash” and gouge the magnetic storage media to the point where the data is destroyed.

However, in a number of cases data recovery was possible at the time the damage first occurred, but became non-recoverable through the use of commercial recovery software. This software is designed to recover data from working drives. If your drive has experienced a mechanical or electrical failure, the use of recovery software can cause permanent loss of your data.

In many instances, yes. Like other mechanical components, hard drives are subject to mechanical failure over time. It is not a question of if, but when. Common signs of mechanical failure are: slow running or loading, freezing up, and making clicking sounds.

If your hard drive is has any of these symptoms, do not continue to power on the drive or attempt downloadable software recovery tools as this can result in further damage to your hard drive and quickly lead to permanent data loss!!

This happens when the platter is in excellent condition. We recover the files that are actually recoverable based on the latest technology we have available. Unrecoverable files which are read as Bad Sectors are usually in the physically damaged reading area of the hard disk. It’s simple; we don’t charge for data you don’t need, so if you aren’t happy with the files we have recovered, then there is NO CHARGE.

This is necessary in many instances, especially when your drive is showing signs of hardware problems such as slow running/ loading, freezing up, making clicking or scratching noises, and/ or undetected. One of our engineers will need to open the drive in a clean room to be able to physically check the damage. Through this, he will be able to determine the actual cause of these problems, whether your data is still recoverable or now, what process needs to be done to recover your data, and what parts are needed.

The initial diagnostic/ checkup fee to be paid upon submission of storage media is P500.00 for HDDs or SSDs and P300.00 for USB drives, SD cards, and the like. This is a standard fee and is non-refundable. An additional 100% of the fee is charged for Rush Diagnoses/Evaluations.

We strive to have the evaluations completed within 3-5 days of our receipt of the drive. The time required for the evaluation is dependent upon the problems encountered.

Upon receiving your drive at our Data Recovery Center, our engineers will diagnose the problem and determine if data can be recovered.

Next, we will determine exactly what procedures will be involved and how extensive the damage is, then furnish you with a report through email. If you wish to proceed with the recovery process, your job will be placed in the job queue and your data will be recovered in the order it was received.

If the evaluation is to take longer than the standard 5 days, a representative will call to explain the nature and extent of the problem & keep you apprised of the progress of the evaluation.

Most recoveries will be completed in 10-15 days but recovery time will still depend on the storage capacity and health of your hard drive as well as the availability of parts which can lengthen the process.

Though we maintain an extensive inventory of drives & parts, obtaining parts for uncommon drives may add to the length of time required for recovery work.

If other technicians have attempted to recover the data using disk utilities and have damaged logical structures, the process may be lengthened. Imaging alone may take up to 24-48 hours of computer time with extensive re-tries for badly damaged devices.

We realize your need to have special services occasionally. If your situation is critical, we will try to make arrangements for a rush recovery service. Our Rush Charge Fee for the actual data recovery is an additional 50% on top of the provided service quote.

Data recovery rates are usually expensive. It’s the cost of the technology to recovery your precious files. Initial diagnostic/ checkup fee are paid upon submission of storage media (P500.00 for HDD/ 300 for USB, SD cards). After the diagnostics, we will send you the quotation for the recovery. All our price quotations are based on the storage capacity of your medium and the extent of the damage it suffered.

It is because, in order to recover the files that you need, the process requires us to run the whole capacity of your drive to fully extract your data regardless of how many files you actually need. During a file viewing session, you can choose the files that you need in order to hasten the transferring process from our temporary HDD to your destination drive. This does not affect the recovery process anymore.

We take pride in our service making use of only the most advanced equipment, methods, and facility to ensure a high success rate in every data recovery work done. Also, we employ only the most competent Technical Engineers that were and are continually trained by data recovery experts abroad.

A donor drive is a good hard drive with the same model and firmware as your defective drive which we will extract the parts from in order to make your hard drive functional for data recovery purposes. This is needed especially if your hard drive has a hardware problem.

It is the hard drive where we will transfer your recovered files. This can be provided by the data recovery company or the customer can provide their own HDD.

We will be having a file viewing session wherein you will check what we have recovered. If you are not satisfied with the files we were able to salvage, you have the option to request that we repeat the process without any additional fee or ask for a full refund of any down payment already made.

We offer clients a secure environment so that you can rest assured knowing that your information is kept private. ISS Data Recovery has written Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements with all its customers which are signed before any actual testing or data recovery is done. In addition, the diagnosis and recovery process is conducted in a secure lab with controlled access to ensure the protection and privacy of your data.