External hard drive data recovery
External drives fail for one additional reason that internal ones do not have: the bridge board between USB and the drive itself.
Mon–Fri 8 am–6 pm · emergencies and pick-up by arrangement
Free initial assessment
Tell us what happened – we will tell you what is technically possible and what it will cost.
- Guide price: from 299 € incl. VAT
- Analysis free of charge and without obligation
- Binding fixed price before work starts
- No data, no invoice
External drives fail for one additional reason that internal ones do not have: the bridge board between USB and the drive itself.
The bridge as the weak point
If the drive no longer appears, the cause is often the small board in the enclosure rather than the drive. That would be good news – except that many manufacturers encrypt on that board, which means the data cannot simply be read by attaching the bare drive.
In those cases the bridge has to be repaired or its key material transferred, which is why the enclosure should always come with the drive.
After a fall
Portable drives are dropped while running more often than any other type. The head then touches the platter, and every further start-up attempt grinds away more of the surface.
Unplug it, leave it off, and let it be checked. A drive that is not running does not deteriorate.
What recovery costs
For this service the guide price is from 299 € including 19 % VAT. The binding price is fixed after the analysis – nothing is charged before that.
Analysis free of charge
We examine the medium and establish what work is needed. There is no charge for that.
Fixed price in advance
You receive a binding quote with a list of the files found. Only then do you decide.
No data, no invoice
If the agreed data cannot be recovered, you pay only the agreed return shipping.
Frequently asked questions
Should I send the enclosure as well?
Yes, please. With hardware-encrypted models the enclosure is part of the key.
The drive beeps and does not spin up. What does that mean?
Usually a seized head or a damaged bearing, often after a fall. Both are mechanical and need to be opened in the lab.
More services
Hard drive recovery
Head crash, seized motor, firmware faults
SSD recovery
Controller failure, firmware, drives not detected
RAID recovery
Reconstructing order, block size and parity
NAS recovery
QNAP, Synology, Btrfs and ext4
Server recovery
Databases, virtual machines, shared folders
USB flash drive recovery
Broken connector, stick not detected
Lost data? Every further start-up attempt can do harm.
Call us or describe the case briefly in the form. The initial assessment is free of charge.