The cause · files that are no longer where they were
Do not use your computer. Find out what type of drive stored your files, because that will determine almost all of the next steps. When you delete a file on a hard disk drive (HDD), two small things happen: its name is removed from the index, and its clusters become marked as reusable. The file's content remains intact until a new file is created claiming its storage space, which may not happen for weeks. An SSD behaves completely differently from an HDD when deleting files. Upon receiving, through TRIM, a list of the blocks that are no longer needed, the controller empties them unprompted, often before anybody has decided anything. Below is an outline of both types of drives. A memory card or USB stick costs £250 + VAT, whereas a drive costs £300 + VAT. There is no charge for your initial assessment, and on most jobs you only pay if we recover your data.
Put it to an engineer — the first look costs nothing
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| How it shows itself | The usual reason for it | Where that leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| It's also missing from the Recycle Bin | Never stayed in the Recycle Bin: a memory card, a stick, a Shift+Delete, or an oversized file | Stop anything else being written |
| Too large to go in the bin | Deleted immediately by Windows, and the bin was never involved | The contents are usually untouched |
| Missing from a camera card, or a USB stick | No recycle bin on cards and sticks, therefore the item is deleted instantly | Just pull it out and leave it alone |
| It all went missing post-sync | OneDrive or similar synced a deletion made in another location | Go to the deleted items section of that service |
| A frequently used folder, but now empty | Deleted by someone else, a sync that misfired, or another user profile | Switch off before you start searching |
| An SSD, and the file has disappeared from the list | TRIM has got to the controller, and freed blocks are cleared in seconds | Pull the power out now |
As soon as your parcel arrives here, an engineer assigns a case number that same day, prior to determining what has really failed, which is the first thing done and costs you nothing. In addition to a note of what can and cannot be recovered from your drive, you will receive at the same time the fixed, written price for restoring what can be recovered. You can accept this quote, or decline it, which will result in no further obligation on your part and nothing owed to us.
Any machine that remains powered up continuously throughout the day finds ways to write to its own disk all day without being asked: thumbnails caching, browser files, quietly downloading an update. Each one of these writes lands on available space, and the space your file used now counts as available. Therefore the disk comes out of the machine before it is sent to us, and gets imaged.
If the index has survived, filenames, dates and folder structure come back together with the data. Otherwise each file is pulled from the image individually, identified by the signature its format starts with.
A file count listed on a report means nothing. Files recovered are opened and checked individually here, with anything you named as important checked separately.
You will see what has been recovered as a list first, after which a bill exists. Accepting the list means that a bill will be issued. Rejecting the list means that a bill will not be issued, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. The recovered data travels from here back to you via new media purchased specifically for your project, with the cost of postage paid by us. Your case is not resolved (i.e., "closed") until you personally view the files on a computer of your own.
One keystroke, two completely different clocks. Bytes written onto a platter can sit there for years, and only leave if another file comes along wanting to take up that space. Take the same steps with an SSD and it could use TRIM to clear those cells before you even boil the kettle. It's essentially the same action producing opposite results, and because of this, our bench asks about the drive first, then about the file, which is also why the free look answers that question on day one.
One keystroke erased a year of bookkeeping (bin included) from the office machine used by a Camden-based joinery company. An image was made the day it arrived. The index was rebuilt using that image instead of reading off the disk. The folder was completely restored to its original state, with its filenames and dates.
The answer depends on the medium, not on the file. On platters, what you write stays until another file needs to be stored in those particular areas, and these jobs mostly end well. An SSD with TRIM enabled is different, because once you delete something, the SSD will automatically remove the data from those blocks by itself, often before you even turn off your computer.
Not with a hard drive. Pressing Shift+Delete only skips the Recycle Bin; using either the Delete key or Shift+Delete hands over the same clusters to whatever program needs them. So whether you use the Delete key or press Shift+Delete, the actual cluster is going to hold the exact same information. The Recycle Bin was meant as a convenient way to retrieve deleted items, not as a safety net.
It doesn't exist. If you are deleting files directly from your memory stick or camera card, the deletion happens there and then, without anything being held in reserve. The data itself should normally still reside within the flash cells, and our tools work on the flash chips themselves to recover deleted data, not on the directory sitting on top.
Because it takes care of cleaning out those unwanted blocks itself. TRIM allows the operating system to inform the controller which blocks it no longer needs. Once notified, the controller will clear out the unwanted blocks in advance, instead of waiting until you next write to those locations. This process occurs behind the scenes, so you won't ever know when it cleans out unwanted blocks. SSDs give you minutes, while hard drives may give you weeks.
It doesn't cost you anything for us to look at it. All we do is give you a breakdown of what opened and what did not, plus a single fixed price to complete, written down before you agree to let us continue. On most jobs, you only pay if we recover your data. Please don't turn on the drive until you get that breakdown.