Data Recovery in Taunton

Photos, documents and files off failing drives and dead machines.

Taunton & Somerset Honest odds up front No recovery, no recovery fee
Assessment£25
Dead laptopOften OK
First stepStop using it
Turnaround1-3 days

The single most useful thing you can do after losing files is also the cheapest: stop using the device. Deleted data is not wiped immediately — it is simply marked as space that can be reused. Every minute the machine stays on, something in the background may be writing over the very photos you are trying to get back. Shut it down and leave it off.

After that, it comes down to why the files went. Accidental deletion, a corrupted Windows install, or a laptop that has died around a perfectly healthy drive are all usually recoverable. A drive that clicks or is not detected at all is mechanical failure, which is a clean room job and not something I will pretend to do on a workbench. You will get told which of those you are facing, honestly, before you spend anything beyond the assessment.

What I Can Usually Recover

Accidentally Deleted Files

Emptied the recycle bin, or a folder vanished during a tidy up. Caught early this is one of the better outcomes, which is exactly why stopping straight away matters so much.

Drive Present but Unreadable

Windows asks to format it, or reports it as RAW. The partition table is damaged rather than the disk itself, and the files underneath are very often intact and readable with the right approach.

Laptop That Will Not Power On

A dead motherboard, charging circuit or screen does not touch the storage. The drive comes out, gets read on my bench, and your files come off it — even when the laptop itself is beyond saving.

Memory Cards & USB Sticks

Camera cards that suddenly show as empty, or a stick that has stopped being recognised. Common jobs, and frequently successful — particularly worthwhile for photos that exist nowhere else.

After a Failed Windows Update

Machine stuck in a repair loop or refusing to boot after an update. The files are almost always fine underneath; the job is getting to them safely and then deciding whether to repair or rebuild.

Backup Set Up Afterwards

Once your files are safe, I will set up a backup that means this never costs you a day again — two copies, two places, one of them unplugged. It takes twenty minutes and costs a few pounds a month.

What I Will Not Pretend to Do

If your drive is clicking, grinding or completely undetected, the read heads or motor have most likely failed. That is physical damage, and recovering it needs a clean room and specialist hardware — which I do not have. Running consumer recovery software against a mechanically failing drive can destroy what is left, so I will not do it just to look busy. I will tell you it is a clean room job and point you towards a proper specialist. The same goes for encrypted phones that will not start: if the handset is dead, that data is usually genuinely unreachable, and I would rather say so than take your money to find out.

Questions I Get Asked

What should I do right now if I have lost files?
Stop using the device. That is genuinely the most important thing, and it is free. Deleted files are not erased straight away, they are just marked as space that can be reused, so every minute the machine keeps running risks something writing over them. Shut it down and leave it off until it can be looked at properly.
What are the chances of getting my files back?
It depends on why they went. Accidental deletion caught early, a corrupted Windows install, or a drive that still spins but will not boot are all usually good odds. A drive that clicks, grinds or is not detected at all has likely failed mechanically, and that is a much harder job. I will tell you honestly which category yours is in after looking, not before.
What does data recovery cost?
The £25 assessment tells us what we are dealing with, and it is credited towards the work if you go ahead. Straightforward logical recovery is priced once I know the scale of it. If I look at it and conclude nothing is recoverable by the means I have, I will not charge you a recovery fee for a job I could not do.
My drive is clicking. Can you still recover it?
Clicking usually means the read heads have failed, which is physical damage rather than a software problem. That needs a clean room and specialist equipment, which I do not have and will not pretend to. What I will do is tell you plainly that it is a clean room job, and point you at a proper specialist rather than running software against it and making things worse.
Can you recover photos from a phone, memory card or USB stick?
Memory cards and USB sticks, yes, and they are common jobs — camera cards especially. Phones are more limited, because modern iPhones and Android handsets encrypt their storage, so if the phone itself will not start there is often genuinely nothing anyone can extract. If your photos were syncing to iCloud or Google Photos, that is usually the faster route and I will say so.
The laptop is dead. Are my files gone with it?
Very often not. A laptop that will not power on has frequently suffered a motherboard, charging or screen fault while the drive inside is completely fine. In those cases the drive can be removed, read on my bench and your files copied off, even though the machine itself is finished. It is always worth asking before writing the data off.
How do I stop this happening again?
Two copies in two places, one of them not attached to the computer. A cloud service such as OneDrive or Google Drive covers most home users for very little, and an external drive that you unplug afterwards covers the rest — unplugged matters, because ransomware encrypts anything still connected. I will set that up with you as part of the job if you want.

Get It Looked At

£25 assessment, credited towards the work. Stop using the device first — that costs nothing and matters more than anything else.

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Related: virus removal, laptop screen replacement, or the main computer repairs page for everything I offer.