Devices · notebooks & desktop PCs
When a laptop stops working, the storage inside is usually still fine — machine and drive tend to fail independently rather than at the same moment. Removable or soldered down, it makes no odds to us: we are here for what is stored on it.
Speak to an engineer about it
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| The exact words | What that tells you | First step |
|---|---|---|
| HP: SMART Hard Disk Error — Hard Disk 1 (301) | HP's firmware has read the SMART data and won't boot that disk | Take it seriously; image it |
| HP: Boot Device Not Found (3F0) | Nothing bootable can be seen | Disconnected, or the drive has died |
| Dell: Error Code 2000-0142 | Failed Dell's built-in test — usually the heads | Quit running the diagnostic |
| Dell: Error Code 2000-0146 | Earlier faults are already written into the drive's log | This decline started some time ago |
| Lenovo: 2100 — Detection error on HDD0 (Main HDD) | Nothing detected — either a loose connector or a dead disk | Take the image before touching cables |
| A disk read error occurred — press Ctrl+Alt+Del | Unreadable system disk, or a wrecked boot sector | Rebooting solves nothing here |
| Reboot and Select proper Boot Device | Firmware can find no usable system disk | Get it checked, don't reinstall |
As soon as it lands with us, your device gets its own case number. An engineer works out the fault, says what can genuinely be pulled off, then puts one fixed price in writing — no charge for diagnosis, no obligation, and no chargeable work until you approve it.
Where the disk unplugs, we take it out and work on the drive alone. Where the flash is soldered to the mainboard, the whole machine stays on the bench and the chips are read in place.
A dead disk takes the same route as any HDD or SSD case; a sound drive from a dead laptop is simply imaged and read — usually our quickest work.
Everything returns in the structure you recognise: user profiles, desktop, documents, mail archives — copied to new media and matched against an index you sign off.
You sign off a complete list of the recovered files first; only then does the recovery fee fall due. Everything returns on fresh media, postage paid, and the job stays open until you confirm the files open at your end.
What intake keeps showing: when a maker's diagnostic names a storage fault, the disk really has failed far more often than not — it is rarely a lead that needs pushing home. Those drives break down at the same rate as any others covered in the HDD and SSD sections above.
The machine wasn't worth repairing, and the drive inside had begun clicking. A donor head swap, a patient image, and five years' worth of coursework marks, lesson plans and reports were in her hands three days later.
Where the drive lifts out without a fight, send only that — postage is cheaper and safer, and any repair shop can pull one in minutes. If the storage is soldered down, or you can't tell, post the whole machine and leave the rest to us.
Very likely. Far more laptops fail through power problems, motherboards and screens than through the drive itself. Pulling a sound drive from a dead machine is among the most reliable work we do.
Not if you hold the password or recovery key. BitLocker cases are routine work here; with no key at all, by design, nobody can read anything — so go and find that key in your Microsoft account.
Often in part — a reinstall overwrites some regions and leaves others untouched. The quicker the machine is put aside, the more comes back. Treat this as a priority.
Powering a damaged device up again costs you data. Start a case first; diagnosis is free whatever you decide.