Data Recovery and Disk Repair: A Guide to Software and Services

Editor's Note: In the following chart, we present some essential and basic information about some of the industry leaders in data recovery and disk repair. Several companies did not respond to our request for information. It is also worth noting that in gathering the data for the matrix that begins on the next page, almost every single provider was reluctant to take part, claiming that the data recovery and disk repair industry was full of specious companies, most of whom make false promises. We removed from the charts claims about being the best, or being first. Because data recovery typically involves vital data worth paying for, we suggest that you do your homework and check references. Products Pricing Years in Business Number of Technicians Repair Staff Avg. Experience Receiving Locations Technician Certifications Average Turnaround Time Turnaround Time Guarantees Vendors Who List Company as Authorized Repair Depot Ability to do Forensic Repairs and Recoveries Technicians with Forensic Recovery Certification Technicians with Expert Witness Experience Advanced Technology Used Repairs Onsite or Outsourced Average Price for Repair If You Cannot Do Repair, Is There a Fee? DataMechanix DriveSavers DTI Data Recovery Flashback Data Gillware Data Recovery Secure Data Recovery The Data Rescue Center WeRecoverData KrollOntrack Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go 22 28 16 10 10 17 5 11 29 9 26 10 3 20 22 No details provided Confidential 125 12 6 20 15 5 10 10 17.5 10 2 (Irvine, CA, Sidney, Austrailia) 14,000 referral partners worldwide 3 (hundreds of partner locations in U.S.) 1 HQ with 11 authorized drop off centers 1, with 1200 active partners 57: N. America, Mexico, Australia, UK 1 (HQ). Free expedited shipping for 5000 partners 40 in U.S., 10 in Canada, 1 in Mexico. 19 Every Engineer has a minimum A+ certification, Every Engineer passes the certification outlined by NIST and the DOD ASCLD/ ISO 17025 2005 Windows, Apple and Novell certified. PGP, Ultimaco Software, SafeGuard Enterprise, Access Data, Pointsec Check Point, EnCase Guidance, Cellebrite, Blackbag, Paraben and many others. Ace Lab avdanced training, MCSE, Cisco, Apple ASCLD/LAB International accredited crime lab (ISO 17025); examiners with many digital forensics certifications, including CFCE and EnCE. No specifics provided Apple Mac Certification, MCPD, A+. SSAE 16 SOC 1 Type II, Class ISO 4 Cleanroom, BBB Accredited with A+ Rating Apple and Windows Certifications MAC certified, Microsoft Certified Professionals. Forensic and e-discovery engineers hold CCE (Certified Computer Examiner), EnCE (Encase Certified Examiner), CHFI (Certified Hacking Forensic Investigator) Certified Mac Technician. VMware Certified 4 days 1-2 business days 5 business days Standard Service, 3-4 business days. Expedited services as fast as same-day turnaround. 6 business days standard. Advantage service takes 3-4r business days (additional $350). Priority service averages one business day (additional $700) 1 - 3 days depending on the size and condition of the disk 3- 5 days, but overnight expedited recovery service for an extra fee Standard service at 5-7 business day; Priority service 2-3 business days. Weekend service is 2-3 days. For emergency service most cases are recovered within 24 hours. 3-5 business days Yes (24 hours for priority and 3-5 days for standard service) Round the clock priority service, 1-2 business days and 5-7 business days. 97% turn-around time result. Only Expedited Service No, due to the nature of damaged drives. Difficult to guarantee recovery turnaround time due to the uncertainty involved in many of the recovery procedures Emergency service options with option for same day service. Hard drive recovery is variable based on the unique circumstances. Turnaround times are guaranteed. Our time frames are based on similar cases No Western Digital (Hitachi) and Toshiba. 5 SSD manufacturers; 4 Notebook/desktop/server manufacturers; 8 storage system manufacturers; 3 hard disk manufacturers 2 publicly on their sites. All accept our work without voiding warranties. Western Digital. Also listed with several external HDD makers such as Verbatim, Rocstor, etc. Dell, Western Digital, Intel for SSDs 20+ Listed by G-Technology and Hitachi. N/A Authorized by all major hard drive manufacturers Yes Yes Yes Yes. Accredited crime lab (ASCLD/LAB International (ISO 17025), same as FBI labs) Yes We have capabilities to handle any recovery but we do not forensically document them as part of our service No Yes Yes All 9 6 5 1 No details provided 1 tech and 2 engineers No details provided No details provided 30 3 3 1 2 No details provided No details provided N/A About 50% of our data forensic engineers have served as expert witnesses in court. 15 ACE Laboratory's PC-3000, DeepSpar Data Recovery Software, Atola Insight Recovery Tool, Proprietary disk tools for both hardware and software ACE Laboaratory's PC-3000, DeepSpar Data Recovery Software, Atola Insight data recovery tool, Proprietary software and hardware tools ACE Laboaratory's PC-3000, DeepSpar Data Recovery Software, Custom Atola Insight data recovery tool, Our own. Sells tools to other DR companies ACE Laboaratory's PC-3000, DeepSpar Data Recovery Software, Many Others Proprietary Other Proprietary ACE Laboaratory's PC-3000, DeepSpar Data Recovery Software, Atola Insight data recovery tool, Other Proprietary Tools Proprietary, developed by an in-house R&D lab Patented Remote Data Recovery technology; hundreds of proprietary tools across all operating system platforms Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite Onsite $795 $1600 $199+ $700 $700 Depends $400-$1200 $500-$2500 $695+ No attempt fee or fee for parts, etc. if data is not recovered No. We do not charge a fee if the data is not recoverable. No (diagnostic fees if drive has been opened, or has been to another data recover company) No, unless the drive seals have been broken by the customer or another data recovery company