Frequently Asked Questions

HDD recovery starts from €99, SSD recovery from €99, RAID/NAS from €259, phones from €99 and flash drives from €69. Registering a case is free; optional insured DPD pickup costs €45. The final recovery price is set after diagnostics.

The diagnostics include examining the device, identifying the damage, assessing whether the data can be recovered, and a binding quote. Registering your case, sending the device yourself and dropping it off in person cost nothing; optional insured DPD pickup costs €45.

Register your case free of charge, then send the device to Prague with a tracked carrier of your choice or drop it off in person. Optional insured DPD pickup is available for €45.

You can visit our Prague laboratory without an appointment during opening hours: Mon–Thu 9:00–17:00, Fri 8:00–15:30. For a free case assessment, use the form or email info@datahelp.eu. Express processing outside business hours is available by prior arrangement only.

We accept cash or card when you collect in person, bank transfer in advance, or invoice with 14-day payment terms (business customers and partners only, once we have received the order).

No Data, No Fee: if the recovery is unsuccessful, there is no recovery fee. The optional €45 DPD pickup fee is separate and non-refundable, because it covers the insured pickup and the initial laboratory assessment.

You can collect the device free of charge from our Prague laboratory, have it disposed of free of charge, or request return shipping for €25. Any optional DPD pickup fee already paid is separate and non-refundable.

You'll find selected references on our References page and all customer reviews on our Google Business Profile. We have handled more than 57,000 cases.

Please collect your device within 14 days of our request. If you don’t, we set an additional deadline; after it expires, the device may be disposed of without compensation. A storage fee of €2 per day applies after the deadline.

If, after a successful recovery, you also want your non-functional original drive back, we reassemble it for €60. During recovery we fit our own spare parts and make changes (PCB, read heads, firmware modifications, etc.), which then have to be removed and the original parts refitted. (This is different from declining the recovery, where return shipping costs €25.)

We recover data from all storage devices on the market, as well as from unique systems and devices: hard drives (HDDs) of all brands, SSDs including NVMe and M.2, RAID arrays and NAS servers, USB flash drives, SD/microSD cards, the internal memory of Android and iOS phones, backup tapes and more. We work with all operating systems – Windows, Linux, macOS, Novell and others.

For example, broken microSD cards and CDs, or drives that have been deliberately destroyed or securely wiped so that they cannot be read. With flash memory, recovery is impossible if the memory chip itself is physically damaged. With hard drives, recovery is very difficult if the platters are heavily scratched.

Diagnostics typically take 24–48 hours after we receive the device. Same-day diagnostics are available for devices delivered before 15:00. Express diagnostics while you wait are possible by prior arrangement. You'll receive a detailed report with a damage assessment and a binding quote.

Deleting a file happens in several stages. Moving a file to the Recycle Bin doesn't remove it permanently. But if you deleted it with Shift+Delete or emptied the Recycle Bin, the computer treats the space where the file was stored as free and can write new data there at any time. That's why you need to act quickly – shut down the computer immediately and contact data recovery specialists.

We handle every case with strict confidentiality. We access your data solely to recover it, and we comply fully with the GDPR. Your data never leaves our secure laboratory in Prague. You can read more on our data security page.

Yes, we offer secure data destruction. If you need data removed from an HDD or SSD so that it can never be recovered, contact us. We use professional methods, including physical destruction of the drive.

In Standard mode, data recovery takes 3–14 days: simple logical damage (deleted files, formatting) is usually at the shorter end, hardware faults (head replacement, electronics) and RAID reconstruction at the longer end. For urgent cases we offer Priority (24–72 hours) and Express (12–48 hours, including weekends and holidays) for a surcharge; EcoHelp (4–6 weeks) is available at a 20% discount.

We'll copy the data to your own drive (hard drive, flash drive) or to your computer free of charge. You can also buy a new drive from us or borrow one against a refundable deposit. The data can also be downloaded from our secure FTP server.

Please check the recovered data within 7 days of handover, unless otherwise agreed. We keep a copy of the recovered data for these 7 days only; after that it is securely deleted for data-security reasons, so later complaints about the recovered data cannot be accepted.

If a drive you bought from us fails, bring it back and we'll handle the warranty claim. We are not liable for any loss of data stored on it that occurs more than 7 days after the data was handed over to you, so we recommend always keeping a second copy on another device.

No — we don’t repair devices, we recover data. A drive with a hardware fault is rarely worth repairing: the sensible solution is to recover the data onto a new drive and replace the faulty one. After recovery, the original can be returned to you or disposed of free of charge.

If we need to break warranty seals, we tell you. Diagnostics are non-destructive and non-invasive, so the drive does not lose its warranty. Whether the warranty remains valid after the actual recovery depends on the individual case.

We buy dead hard drives (HDDs) for spare parts. We can't pay much, but it certainly makes more sense than throwing the drive away.

Yes, we run a partner programme for customers who are interested. It offers premium service on very favourable terms, including discounts on data recovery from HDDs, SSDs, RAID arrays and other devices.

No, we don't offer unlocking, but our blog article explains the options. We specialise in data recovery from Apple devices – iPhone, iPad and MacBook.

Charging your phone correctly helps its battery last longer. We recommend keeping the battery between 20 and 80%, using original chargers and avoiding extreme temperatures. We've written a detailed article about this on our blog.

Formatting prepares a hard drive or other storage device for use. It includes testing the drive and writing a new file system. After formatting, data can often still be recovered, as long as it hasn't been overwritten.

No – defragmenting an SSD is something you should avoid. Unlike on an HDD, where defragmentation helps, on an SSD it only shortens the drive's lifespan unnecessarily. SSDs use the TRIM function instead.

Yes, but read up on it first so that the program doesn't do more harm than good. Whenever something goes wrong with a storage device, we recommend contacting professionals – every amateur attempt reduces the chances of recovering the data.

It can’t be repaired, and a microSD card broken into pieces cannot be recovered either — the memory is part of a single monolithic chip, and the break destroys it. Other physical damage, such as bent contacts or a cracked casing on a standard SD card with the memory chip intact, can often be recovered.

A USB flash drive can only be repaired if the damage is limited to the USB connector or standard electronic components. We don't repair flash drives, but we can recover the data from them. It always depends on the extent of the damage: if the memory chip itself is mechanically damaged, recovery is impossible.

First, do not turn the device back on. Fill out our online form or email info@datahelp.eu so we can assess the problem from the details you provide. Further use of a damaged HDD or SSD can cause irreversible data loss.

On Windows you can use a tool such as Macrium Reflect, which creates an image of a whole drive or of individual partitions. You can store this image elsewhere and don't have to worry about losing your installed applications. If you ever need it, you can restore everything from this image.

The key is to get into the habit of backing up regularly. Everything that matters to you should always be stored in at least two places. Don't forget to keep backups of frequently changing files – documents, emails or invoices – up to date.

Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: keep 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage (e.g. HDD and cloud), with 1 copy kept away from your home or office. Regularity is key – set up automatic backups.

Data loss has several types of causes: mechanical HDD damage (drops, impacts), electronics failure (power surges, short circuits), firmware failure, software errors (file system corruption), human error (accidental deletion, formatting), malware and ransomware, and natural disasters (floods, fire). We have seen all kinds of damage and know how to deal with it.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer – anything can fail, whether it's a mechanical HDD, an SSD, a flash drive or the cloud. It's best to keep several independent backups. For home use, a NAS with multiple drives is another option.

Please don't believe everything you read online. It doesn't work! Low temperatures cause condensation on the platters, which can cause further damage. We debunk this myth in detail in an article on our blog.

If you have set up automatic backups correctly (iCloud or iTunes), it should be straightforward. You'll find a step-by-step guide in our article on data recovery from Apple devices.

It depends on how much water got in and where exactly. As a rule, remember the three don'ts: don't switch it on, don't dry it (especially not with a hair dryer!) and don't take it apart. Switch off the wet device immediately and contact professionals. You'll find more advice in our article.

We've put together proven backup tips for photographers. We recommend combining a local backup (external HDD or NAS) with a cloud service. Keep RAW files and important photos in several locations.

On Android you can sync your contacts with your Google account, on iPhone with iCloud. We've written separate articles for both systems, including how to recover lost contacts.

It's best to stick to the 3-2-1 backup rule. We recommend Macrium Reflect, Acronis True Image or EaseUS Todo Backup for Windows, Time Machine for Mac and rsync for Linux. Add a cloud service such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox.