Peterhead operates equipment that is exposed to water, cold temperatures and general wear and tear, and storage is no exception. Once the drive containing the landings data or survey files stops working, get a quote first, then send it down to us in a padded box by post or drop it off at our Edinburgh lab (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed), and it comes back readable.
We diagnose Peterhead jobs free of charge. We write down one single figure for any job before work starts, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
Europe's largest white-fish port creates paperwork that nobody can simply redo. Landings, quota and traceability records come off the market and the processing units. Then there are the job files and drawings produced by the fabrication and engineering yards which serve the harbour and the energy supply base. Laptops and ruggedised external drives used on vessels come ashore after a winter at sea with a bearing that sounds wrong. There is site data from the gas terminal up at St Fergus and from the power station to the south of town. AB42 also sends plenty of ordinary household work, and a family drive gets the same bench and the same equipment as a corporate one.
Salt air and vibration are what this coast does to hard drives, and the failures of the two types are different. A drive that was stored in a bag on a boat typically fails mechanically. It may click, beep or tick rhythmically as the heads attempt, but ultimately fail, to read data. A drive left in a damp store typically fails at the electronics, with corroded contacts, until it can no longer be powered up. Neither is a reason to plug it back into a computer. Each time you plug a drive with failed heads into a computer, it drags those heads across the surfaces where your files were written. Turn off the power to it immediately, leave it dead and have it properly evaluated.
Get your quote first, by phone or with our free online diagnostic, then post the bare drive tracked and insured from Peterhead (a single external drive comes whole, in its enclosure, with its own cable and power supply), and it will be here the next working day. If your firm has a courier account open, you can book your own courier; that booking and its cost remain yours. Alternatively, you may bring it in person to Edinburgh Data Recovery, 4 Redheughs Rigg, Westpoint, South Gyle, Edinburgh EH12 9DQ, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, with no appointment needed, roughly three hours down the A90. Please note that nothing is picked up from yards, quaysides or houses. We have no van and no doorstep service, and saying so plainly beats leaving anyone hanging about.
The evaluation is free and is completed within 2 working days of the item arriving. One fixed written figure and a straight account of what is likely to be recoverable will be provided. On logical faults, in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. If a drive needs to be opened, or its electronics rebuilt after impact, a surge, seawater or heat, half of our quote falls due at that point and the balance only if we recover your data. Ransomware, recorder and DVR work and BitLocker volumes are forensic-classed and require payment in advance, and the ransom itself is never on the table. We do not accept phones or tablets, or anything whose storage is soldered directly onto the motherboard; if you're not sure which kind you have, please ring us before sending. The terms that apply to Boddam, Cruden Bay, Longside, Mintlaw, St Fergus and the rest of Buchan also apply throughout Scotland. Freephone 0800 689 0668.
Get a quote first by telephone or use our free online diagnostic. Most of what you see on this bench will then be delivered via tracked, insured post. This is one of the safest ways to move a failing drive and packages handed in at a North-East post office are normally delivered here the next working day.
Still attached to a laptop, desktop, MacBook, iMac, server or CCTV/DVR unit? Remove the hard drive or SSD first. The bare drive travels on its own; when removing disks from a server remove all the disks and label each disk by its bay. This lab does not take machines apart. Any storage that has been soldered onto a motherboard (as in T2 and Apple Silicon Macs and a couple of thin laptops) will not be worked on: if it will not unbolt, we cannot work on it. If you're not sure what type of machine you have, ring us first. Phones and tablets are also not taken on.
↓ Print the shipping & booking-in form (PDF)
Your parcel should be addressed to Edinburgh Data Recovery, approximately two and a half hours (and 130 miles) from Aberdeen via the A90; alternatively it can reach us the next working day by tracked post if this journey time / distance is prohibitive to travel. As soon as your drive has been scheduled in we will contact you.
Still unsure about what should be placed inside of the packaging? Please call us first on 0800 689 0668, or use our free online diagnostic tool to assist you in deciding which items belong inside of the packaging before sealing.
Free diagnostics, the quoted figure in writing, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. This service is available online or over the phone.