External hard drive recovery
Portable and desktop USB drives and portable SSDs: WD My Passport and Elements, Seagate Expansion, Backup Plus and One Touch, Toshiba Canvio, LaCie, Samsung T7, SanDisk Extreme and more.
The model number is on the sticker underneath the laptop (for example 15s-fq5000na), or on the drive’s label.
Before you do anything
If Windows says the drive needs to be formatted, click Cancel. If it clicks or beeps after a drop, unplug it and leave it unplugged.
Many WD drives have the USB connector built into the drive’s own circuit board, and encrypt the data with that board. They can’t simply be taken out of the case and plugged in by SATA, so don’t open them yourself. Most Seagate, Toshiba and LaCie drives have a separate USB adapter inside, and sometimes only that adapter has failed.
Symptoms
| Dropped, now clicking or silent | Head damage from the drop. Stop using it. |
| Light on, not showing up | USB board, power or firmware. Don’t format it when Windows asks. |
| Broken USB socket | Socket repair or board work; on encrypted models the original board matters. |
| Asks to be formatted | The file system is damaged. Don’t format; it is usually recoverable. |
| Service | Price + VAT |
|---|---|
| Initial consultationWe find out whether the fault is physical or logical, and the best way to recover it. | Free |
| Deleted files on a standard hard driveUp to two hours of work. | £99 |
| Cleanroom diagnosticFor clicking, buzzing or silent hard drives. | £79 |
| Physical recovery on a single driveLabour, plus a donor drive if one is needed. | £450 |
| SSD firmware or electronic board repairDepends on how complex the recovery is. | £450 to £650 |
| External drive for your recovered filesPrice follows the market at the time. | £150 (1 TB) to £250 (4 TB) |
No data, no recovery fee. If we can’t recover the files you need, you don’t pay for the recovery, only the cleanroom diagnostic where one was carried out. A donor drive, if one is needed, is bought at cost plus 30%.
Every model we list
46 drives from Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie, Samsung, SanDisk, Crucial, G-Technology, Transcend, Buffalo, Verbatim, Maxtor, Freecom and Iomega, 2008 to 2026. Not listed? We still recover it.
| Drive | Capacity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| WD My Passport | 320 GB to 6 TB | 2008–2026 |
| WD My Passport Ultra | 500 GB to 6 TB | 2013–2026 |
| WD My Passport for Mac | 1 TB to 6 TB | 2013–2026 |
| WD Elements Portable | 500 GB to 6 TB | 2009–2026 |
| WD Easystore Portable | 1 TB to 5 TB | 2017–2026 |
| WD Black P10 | 2 TB to 6 TB | 2019–2026 |
| WD My Book | 2 TB to 24 TB | 2008–2026 |
| WD My Book Duo | 4 TB to 44 TB | 2016–2026 |
| WD Elements Desktop | 2 TB to 24 TB | 2010–2026 |
| WD Black D10 | 8 TB to 12 TB | 2019–2026 |
| WD My Passport SSD | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2018–2026 |
| WD Black P40 SSD | 500 GB to 2 TB | 2022–2026 |
| Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex | 320 GB to 1.5 TB | 2009–2012 |
| Seagate Backup Plus Slim | 1 TB to 2 TB | 2013–2020 |
| Seagate Backup Plus Portable | 4 TB to 5 TB | 2014–2020 |
| Seagate Expansion Portable | 500 GB to 5 TB | 2012–2026 |
| Seagate One Touch | 1 TB to 5 TB | 2020–2026 |
| Seagate Ultra Touch | 1 TB to 2 TB | 2021–2026 |
| Seagate Game Drive | 2 TB to 5 TB | 2016–2026 |
| Seagate FireCuda Gaming Drive | 1 TB to 5 TB | 2019–2026 |
| Seagate Expansion Desktop | 2 TB to 28 TB | 2012–2026 |
| Seagate One Touch Hub | 4 TB to 20 TB | 2021–2026 |
| Seagate One Touch SSD | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2020–2026 |
| Toshiba Canvio Basics | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2012–2026 |
| Toshiba Canvio Advance | 1 TB to 4 TB | 2017–2026 |
| Toshiba Canvio Flex | 1 TB to 4 TB | 2021–2026 |
| Toshiba Canvio Connect and Premium | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2013–2022 |
| LaCie Rugged Mini | 500 GB to 5 TB | 2010–2026 |
| LaCie Rugged USB-C and Thunderbolt | 1 TB to 5 TB | 2015–2026 |
| LaCie Porsche Design | 1 TB to 5 TB | 2012–2026 |
| LaCie d2 | 2 TB to 24 TB | 2008–2026 |
| LaCie 2big and 6big | 4 TB to 120 TB | 2010–2026 |
| LaCie Rugged SSD | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2019–2026 |
| Samsung T5 | 250 GB to 2 TB | 2017–2021 |
| Samsung T7 and T7 Shield | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2020–2026 |
| Samsung T9 | 1 TB to 4 TB | 2023–2026 |
| SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2018–2026 |
| SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD | 1 TB to 4 TB | 2019–2026 |
| Crucial X6, X8, X9 and X10 | 500 GB to 8 TB | 2020–2026 |
| G-Technology G-Drive and G-RAID | 1 TB to 24 TB | 2010–2022 |
| Transcend StoreJet | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2009–2026 |
| Buffalo MiniStation and DriveStation | 500 GB to 8 TB | 2010–2026 |
| Verbatim Store 'n' Go | 500 GB to 4 TB | 2009–2026 |
| Maxtor OneTouch and M3 | 250 GB to 5 TB | 2008–2022 |
| Freecom Mobile Drive | 250 GB to 2 TB | 2008–2016 |
| Iomega eGo and Prestige | 250 GB to 2 TB | 2008–2014 |
Ready to get your files back?
Book online and you get a job number by email straight away. Bring the laptop or drive to our London SE1 lab, or call us to arrange a courier collection from anywhere in the UK.