The lab · the case route
Seven steps, and no surprises in any of them.
One route, used for every job. It opens with your call and closes with a return that you sign off yourself — the way we would want a drive of ours treated. The sequence is set out below, along with the two points where the decision is yours alone.
Run the problem past an engineer
0800 6890668
Each of the seven steps.
Talk to us
Phone us or send the quote form, saying how the device failed and which files you need back. Before anything else you get a straight first read on it, plus plain instructions.
Send it to the lab
Tracked, insured post to the Oxford intake lab, printed shipping form inside the box. Take the drive out of a computer or recorder first; a NAS travels whole. Ring us about anything bulky.
Logged in, checked at no charge Free
On arrival the device is booked in under its own reference and properly examined: what has failed, what the realistic chances are, and what the recovery will involve.
Your call
One written price reaches you. Say yes and bench work begins; say no and the device is posted back with our findings. Diagnosis is free either way.
The bench work
A complete image comes first, without exception. Everything the fault calls for — donor parts, firmware repair, decryption, rebuilding — is carried out on that copy. The original is left alone.
Check the results
Nothing is payable until you've seen the full list of recovered files and matched it against the folders you named.
Back to you
The data goes back on new media and we pay the carriage. Thirty days on, our working copies are securely destroyed. You decide when the case is closed.
How long jobs really take.
| Type of job | The work | Usual turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Logical faults: deletions, formats, corruption | File-system repair, done on an image | 2–3 working days |
| Mechanical faults: clicking, dropped or dead drives | Donor parts fitted, then slow imaging | 3–5 working days |
| RAID 5 arrays, NAS boxes and servers | All members imaged, array rebuilt in software | 4–7 working days |
| Encrypted media and forensic instructions | Scope set per case, timescale agreed first | Given with the quote |
| Real emergencies | A stopped business or fixed deadline jumps the queue and runs without a break | Tell us when you ring |
What goes in the box.
The questions we get asked most, answered plainly.
Will I hear from you as the work goes on?
Yes. You hear from us at the end of every stage listed above, and you can ring the bench in between. Nothing to log into, no ticket buried in a queue.
And if nothing can be saved?
On most jobs a failed attempt costs you nothing. We'll also say straight out if another lab stands a better chance — and say it when the truthful answer is that nobody does.
Whose hands does my device end up in?
Our own engineers do every job here. Nothing is subcontracted, nothing goes overseas, and one case reference follows your device in and back out again.
What becomes of the working copies you hold?
Once your files are back with you, the working images stay here for thirty days in case a second pass is needed — after that they are wiped securely.
Start whenever you like.
A phone call or a form is all it takes. Stage one is free and ties you to nothing.