Technical advice for data recovery, tips for data preservation, and general wisdom from a team who has been recovering data and working on computers and other electronic hardware for decades.
Last year was our busiest year to date at Blizzard Data Recovery, with a 66% increase in data recovery cases since 2019. As I gathered up the numbers for this 2020 retrospective, I remembered a number of blog posts I’ve seen from other companies “warning” about flat rate data recovery pricing. Some people make claims […]
We recently completed a flash recovery case where the drive was not repairable, and a chip-off recovery was not, at first, successful. Once Clint had determined that the device was not physically repairable, it came to me to dump the memory chip to attempt a logical recovery. The controller on the device was a Chipsbank […]
Most modern portable hard disk drives use relatively new technology, first implemented in the early 2010s, called shingled magnetic recording (SMR) to write data to the platters. SMR can achieve higher areal density than the older method of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR, sometimes referred to as conventional magnetic recording or CMR) which simply means more […]
We recently completed data recovery for a customer with a 32GB Lexar Jump Drive which had taken an impact while plugged into a USB port, and, as is the case with many of these Lexar flash drives, the impact flexed the circuit board enough to lift the controller (Silicon Motion SM3267L AB) and tear solder […]
In the past few years, there has been a spike in new data recovery labs opening up across the USA and other countries. When researching topics on data recovery forums, it looks like a number of computer repair shop owners are looking for a new business, and data recovery is enticing. Let’s be clear: PC […]
When it comes to flash memory devices – whether USB flash drives or memory cards like SD and MicroSD – there are two main types of construction: surface-mounted technology (SMT) and monolithic. SMT type devices are made of distinct components soldered to a printed circuit board, which requires a certain amount of space to fit […]
In this post we provide you with some useful insight to help determine what model Western Digital drive might be Inside: a particular model of enclosure. We have included pictures of the shell to help you identify these drives quicker when searching for a matching donor. If you have done some research you have probably […]
It’s a common misconception that a large percentage of hard drive data recovery cases involve removing platters. The truth is platter swapping is only necessary in a low percentage of recovery cases for most data recovery labs. For mechanical failures, the most common reason for in-lab recovery service is removal and inspection of the read/write […]
It’s not uncommon for us to get calls from potential customers when they are searching for low cost data recovery service. Some want to make sure that our affordable data recovery service is real. Others are just being cautious and want to make sure they can talk to a live person before they ship their […]