FAQ

After reinstalling your operating system (OS), you find that you no longer have access to your data stored on your hard drive. This problem frequently occurs during an OS reinstallation and is in most cases related to a modification of the hard drive's partition table — a software cause, not a hardware one.

A faulty CD/DVD can present two types of failure: physical (scratches, deposits, delamination) or software (data corruption, burning error). In both cases, any non-professional handling increases the risk of permanent data loss. According to our data recovery specialists, each attempt at amateur repair reduces the chances of subsequent recovery by a professional by 30 to 60%.

When your USB drive is no longer functional, two types of failures are possible: physical (broken connector, damaged component) or software (corrupted file system, bad sectors). In both cases, each additional manipulation increases the risk of permanently damaging the electronic components and losing your data irretrievably. Entrust your drive to a data recovery specialist at the first signs of malfunction.

A failing hard drive is a mechanical storage device whose internal components, platters, read/write heads, and motor, are compromised to the point of no longer guaranteeing reliable access to data. As a general rule, each additional rotation of a damaged drive irreversibly worsens the damage (domino effect). The read/write heads fly over the platters at a height of 5 to 10 nanometers, which is about 1,000 times less than the thickness of a human hair, meaning that the slightest shock or particle of dust can permanently scratch the magnetic surface and make data recovery impossible.

A defective SSD is a Solid-State Drive that has a physical failure (damaged electronic components) or software failure (corruption of the firmware or file system), making data access impossible or unstable. Any incorrect handling increases the risk of permanent data loss.

When your SSD is no longer functional, do not attempt to repair it yourself. Each uncontrolled intervention increases the likelihood of damaging the electronic components and losing your data irretrievably.

Actions to never perform on a defective SSD:

• Do not open it — Opening the case exposes the NAND chips and the controller to electrostatic discharge and dust, making any subsequent recovery impossible.
• Do not format it — Formatting overwrites the allocation tables and metadata; your files would be permanently and irrecoverably lost.
• Do not hit it — Unlike mechanical hard drives, SSDs do not contain any moving parts; a physical shock directly damages the flash memory chips.
• Do not perform repeated power on/off cycles — Successive power-ups can cause surges and worsen an existing electronic failure.

Our data recovery services are primarily available in Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Germany. These four countries constitute our main area of operation, with local teams and optimized response times. We also handle data recovery requests from around the world, without geographical restrictions.

#Information

JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) is an aggregate of multiple hard drives operating in sequential writing. Unlike RAID 0, data is written entirely to the first hard drive in the aggregate. Once it is full, writing continues on the second disk, and so on until the last disk in the array.

Consequence in case of failure: If a defective disk contains data, it is inaccessible until the disk is repaired or replaced. Unlike RAID 1 or RAID 5, JBOD offers no redundancy: the loss of a disk results in the loss of all the data it hosts.

A hard drive damaged by fire or flood presents a serious physical failure requiring specialized intervention. Disasters of this type cause several types of cumulative damage:

• Thermal damage (fire): melting of electronic components, deformation of magnetic platters, carbonization of read heads
• Water damage (flood): moisture infiltration into the housing, oxidation of circuits, deposits of limescale or mud on the platters
• Combined damage: electronic short circuit, corruption of magnetic sectors, firmware failure

A hard drive that has been dropped is a storage device that has been physically damaged due to a mechanical impact, most often affecting the read/write heads or the surface of the magnetic platters. According to DriveSavers Data Recovery data, more than 40% of physical hard drive failures result from a shock or fall. If your hard drive no longer starts after a fall, do not attempt to restart it: each additional attempt risks aggravating the damage and reducing the chances of data recovery by up to 60% (source: Ontrack, 2023).

RAID 0 is a storage configuration that distributes data in blocks across multiple hard drives simultaneously (a technique called striping). Each file is fragmented into several pieces distributed across all the disks in the array. In the absence of redundancy, the failure of a single disk renders 100% of the data inaccessible, as the missing fragments make each file incomplete and unreadable. According to industry statistics, the risk of total data loss in RAID 0 is proportional to the number of disks: a 4-disk RAID 0 quadruples the risk of failure compared to a single disk.

RAID 1 is a mirrored storage configuration in which each piece of data is written simultaneously to two or more disks, providing complete redundancy. If one disk fails, the data remains accessible on the intact mirror disk(s).

RAID 5 is a redundant storage configuration that distributes data and parity across a minimum of 3 hard drives, allowing for the failure of a single drive without data loss. If one of your drives is defective, your RAID 5 remains functional but switches to degraded mode: all data remains accessible, but any additional failure would result in total data loss.

RAID 5 is a redundant storage configuration that tolerates the failure of only one disk at a time. When at least two disks fail simultaneously, the integrity of the array is compromised and the RAID is no longer functional: the data is no longer accessible by normal means.

RAID 6 is a redundant storage configuration that tolerates a maximum of 2 simultaneous disk failures thanks to its double parity. When at least 3 disks are defective at the same time, this tolerance is exceeded: the RAID 6 volume is no longer functional and the data is no longer accessible by the usual means.

• RAID 6 fault tolerance: 2 defective disks maximum
• Your situation: ≥ 3 defective disks — critical threshold exceeded
• Immediate consequence: automatic reconstruction impossible, risk of total data loss

RAID 6 is a RAID level that uses dual parity, allowing a set of at least 4 hard drives to continue functioning even if one or two drives fail simultaneously. In this case, your RAID enters degraded mode: the data remains accessible and intact, but the tolerance for additional failures is reduced or non-existent until the failed drives are replaced.