A non-booting PC can be due to a fault with either the machine or the hard drive. Our Edinburgh-based laptop data recovery team answer this query every day. We recover lost dissertation work from student laptops, photos spanning two decades from family PCs, as well as all varieties of Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Acer and Toshiba computers shipped to Scotland. Free diagnostic either way.
Typically, when there is no power at all to the computer, then most likely the issue lies in either the charger, the battery or the motherboard. The drive itself typically has nothing to do with this situation, and your data should be safe. When you turn on the computer, but there is no operating system (you get "boot device not found", an endless loop of repairs, or just a blinking cursor), this indicates one of two issues related to the drive: the areas of the drive where Windows resides have failed sectors, or the entire hard drive is bad. If you've experienced blue screen errors and freezing that grew progressively worse over time, this is the classic sign of a dying laptop hard drive. Your laptop had been trying to warn you about this problem for weeks. Did your computer start malfunctioning after you dropped it or spilled something on it? Then you're looking at different pages from the same book. In other words, liquids damage circuitry before they reach the drive, while impacts damage drives directly. Whatever type of failure your laptop may experience, reinstalling Windows to determine whether it will help is the wrong thing to do, because a reinstall writes over the very files you want back.
We take only the drive, not the whole laptop or desktop. If you are uncomfortable with taking this out yourself, many computer shops will remove it for you. In addition, modern thin laptops often solder the storage onto the motherboard. We do not take on soldered storage, and we'll tell you so before you send anything. (We also have an Apple-specific page for Mac and MacBook recovery because they use APFS and FileVault, which changes things.) Get a quote first, either through our phone line or our quote form, then send the drive and let us know in writing what happened and what matters most. A recovery based on your priorities will be completed quicker where it counts.
Rarely is everything lost: generally, the failure occurred within the part of the drive where the operating system resides, while your documents and photos remain on healthier ground. Recovery images the original drive, with weak spots left until last, and retrieves your files from the duplicate. The mistake to avoid: reinstalling Windows over them.
Very often, yes. Most of the time, liquid will damage the motherboard before affecting the solid-state drive or traditional mechanical hard drive. In this case, you should immediately shut down the device, do not charge it, and do not attempt to "rice" it. After that, you need to remove the drive or SSD (most computer shops can help you do so). Before bringing the drive in to us, get a quote first, by either calling us or filling out our quote form. Bring in the drive itself, and not the laptop, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed. Even if the rest of your laptop is beyond repair, there is still usually usable information stored on the drive.
No. We do not accept storage that has been soldered onto the motherboard, and we will inform you of this before you send anything. If the drive or solid state drive in your laptop is removable (M.2, SATA or mSATA), please obtain a quote first, either via our telephone service or using the quotation request form; once received, send us the drive.
First, a free diagnostic, then a fixed written quote before any work is done. This means no surprises on the invoice (because we don't give you an invoice until you approve the number).
It will take only two moves to place your device at our service area, and once that has been accomplished, the clock on your free look starts.
First get a quote, over the telephone or using the online quotation form. When sending your internal drive, remove all cables, caddies and power supplies, as they will have little use when sent to us. But when sending an external drive, send the complete item, including its original casing, together with the supplied cable and power supply. Ensure that the device is securely wrapped and unable to move during transportation. Either post it insured to 4 Redheughs Rigg Westpoint, South Gyle, Edinburgh EH12 9DQ or call into our offices Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed. Please include a brief description of how your device was damaged. If you have printed a shipping form, please attach it along with the device.
Once the arrival of your device has been confirmed, the diagnostic will run free of charge, and then when we make the phone call to you, we'll name the problem and tell you the fixed price to fix it. The bench will remain dormant on your device until you give us permission to proceed.
The cost is a fixed £300 + VAT, with no charge for diagnostics first, regardless of brand of laptop or PC, as long as the drive can come out.