Your computer keeps locking up for a few seconds, then carries on. Folders take forever to open, a file copy crawls to a stop, and some documents won’t open at all. It’s easy to blame an old PC, a virus or a bad update. But these are also classic signs of a hard drive with […]
Data Recovery News
Ransomware, drive failures and storage news, and what it means for your data. RSS feed
Time Machine backup won’t restore? What to do next
Time Machine is supposed to be your safety net, so it’s a nasty surprise when your Mac has failed and the backup won’t cooperate. Maybe the backup disk doesn’t show up in Migration Assistant, or macOS says it can’t find it. Maybe you’ve been told Time Machine must create a new backup. Your backup may […]
Files missing after a Windows update? Check here first
You restarted after a Windows 10 or Windows 11 update and your desktop is bare, your Documents folder is empty, or your photos seem to have disappeared. It is a frightening thing to see, but in most cases the files have not been erased. Updates more often change where Windows is looking, or which account […]
Dead drive after a power surge or lightning strike? Read this
A thunderstorm rolls through, the lights flicker, and afterward your computer will not start, your external drive is silent, or your NAS has no lights. Power surges, nearby lightning strikes and the spikes that come when power returns after an outage are a common cause of dead electronics across the US. The good news is […]
Cloud sync is not a backup: what to do when synced files disappear
Many small businesses and families assume their files are safe because they live in OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or iCloud Drive. Those services are excellent for working across devices, but syncing is not the same as backing up. A sync service’s job is to make every copy match – so when a file is deleted, […]
External drive USB port broke? Why encryption matters
The USB port on your external hard drive snapped off, or the drive stopped showing up after a fall or a power surge, and the advice online seems simple: open the case, take out the drive inside and connect it to a computer or a new enclosure. With many external drives that works. With many […]
RAID 1 mirror failed? What to do before you rebuild
RAID 1 is the simplest way to protect a computer, server or small NAS against a single failed drive: two drives hold identical copies of the same data. Plenty of home offices and small businesses rely on it. But when a mirror fails, it often fails in ways people do not expect, and the most […]
Hard drive grinding or scraping? Turn it off now
A healthy hard drive makes a soft hum and the occasional quiet tick as it works. A grinding, scraping or scratching sound is different, and it is one of the most serious noises a drive can make. It often means the read/write heads are touching the spinning platters where your data is stored. If your […]
How to choose a data recovery company
When a hard drive, SSD or RAID array fails, the pressure to get it fixed fast is enormous. A quick search turns up dozens of data recovery companies, all promising results, with prices that range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. The company you choose matters, because a failed drive often gets only […]
BitLocker recovery screen: where to find your key
You install a BIOS update, a repair shop replaces your laptop’s motherboard, or Windows restarts after an update, and instead of the login screen you see a blue screen titled “BitLocker recovery” asking for a 48-digit recovery key. Many people did not even know their drive was encrypted. This is now a common situation, because […]