Data Recovery Cost Calculator
Choose the type of drive and what happened to it, and the calculator shows the price from our workshop price list. The initial consultation is free, and you do not need to give any contact details to see a price.
How the prices work
The initial consultation is free. It establishes whether the fault is physical or logical and the best way to recover the data. It does not include opening the drive in a clean room or any attempt at recovery.
Logical recovery
The drive works, but files have been deleted or the file system is damaged. Deleted files on a standard hard drive cost £99 + VAT, which includes up to two hours of work. Recoveries that need 24 to 48 hours of work cost from £150 + VAT for a 1TB drive to £250 + VAT for a 4TB drive.
Physical recovery
The drive clicks, was dropped or no longer spins. A clean room diagnostic costs £79 + VAT. Recovery on a single drive is £450 + VAT for labour, plus the cost of a donor drive if one is required.
Donor drives
If a donor drive is needed, we send you a link to buy the matching drive from donordrives.com. If you would rather we bought it, we charge a 30% mark-up plus import charges and VAT.
SSD recovery
Firmware repair or electronic board repair on an SSD costs between £450 + VAT and £650 + VAT, depending on how complex the recovery is.
RAID recovery
For arrays of 2 to 10 drives: RAID 0 costs £650 + VAT. RAID 5, 6 and 10 cost £850 + VAT to £1,500 + VAT, depending on the number of drives to repair and rebuild.
NAS recovery
A 2TB NAS made of two 1TB drives, with one drive to repair, costs £450 + VAT. A QNAP or Synology NAS in RAID 5 costs £650 + VAT.
Ransomware
Recovery after a ransomware attack is quoted case by case after the free consultation. What to do first, and what can be recovered.
Recovered data needs a drive to go on. Bring one, or buy an external drive from us at the current market price.
Before you send or bring the drive
- Stop using it. Do not install recovery software on the drive you are trying to recover.
- Do not open the drive, freeze it or tap it. These make recovery harder and sometimes impossible.
- Note what happened and when, and any passwords or encryption keys.
Questions
Is the calculator price what I will pay?
The prices are the ones on our workshop price list. Which one applies depends on the fault, which the free initial consultation establishes. Recovery only starts once you have agreed the price.
My drive is clicking. What should I do?
Switch it off and leave it off. Every attempt to start a clicking drive risks more damage to the surface that holds your data.
Do you need the whole computer or only the drive?
For most laptops and desktops the drive alone is enough. For MacBooks and other machines with soldered storage, and for RAID arrays and NAS boxes, bring the whole unit.
Will you keep a copy of my files?
No. We open files only to check the recovery worked, and the recovered data goes back to you on a separate drive.
What if the drive is encrypted?
We can recover encrypted drives, but we need the password or recovery key to unlock the data afterwards. For BitLocker that key is usually saved in your Microsoft account.