How expensive is data recovery?
Hard drive data recovery problems and prices:
Drive not showing up: If the drive doesn’t present itself when plugged in, it is usually $250-$650 to repair. This can be a firmware issue. You may be lucky and simply have a bad partition table: I am talking about when it is not recognized, even by basic recovery software.
Bad sectors: Drives develop bad sectors over time. If a drive has a few bad sectors and no physical damage, recovery usualy ranges from $100-$250.
Slow data transfer: Bad sectors, damaged heads, or corrupted firmware can cause slow data transfer. Pricing for this is anywhere from a $150 recovery to $900-$2000 if essential information is not accessible due to heads failure.
Bad partition table: If the partition table became corrupt due to software issues(computer turned off suddenly), you may be looking at a $100-$300 fix. It may require just fixing the original partition table. If partition tables were damaged after heads failure, corrupted firmware, etc. recovery can easily enter the $400-$2000 price bracket.
Heads parked/click noises/drive beeps: Stuck heads may elciit a bill of $300 to $400. When new heads are necessary, pricing can enter the $1000-$2000 area.
Platter issues: If the platter is stuck, or has damage on it, pricing begins at $900 and up.
Data recovery pricing depends on three things: device, problem, and company.
Company: Heavily branded companies, companies with expensive affiliate programs, or expensive marketing/advertising campaigns are often going to cost more than lesser known brands. Further, companies that outsource the work are often going to cost more than companies doing it themselves – you are paying a middleman fee. Typically, the prettier the website – the fancier the office building, and the more polished the branding – the more coming out of your pocket.
It is no coincidence that the most expensive companies with the highest prices, are the companies paying the most in advertising.
Watch out for pay-per-click advertisers!
Prices tend to go up when a company has paid a few hundred dollars just to get you in the door. When searching for a data recovery company, look and see if it is an organic search result, or a paid search result. Google will typically denote paid search results with a tiny green box that says “ad”
Data recovery adwords is VERY EXPENSIVE: it is normal for companies to be paying $30-$75/click to be at the top of Google adwords, for search terms with low conversion rates. Remember, at the end of the day, they do not pay for it – YOU DO, out of pocket, in the form of higher data recovery costs.
Device: Solid state drives are more difficult to recover than hard drives when they fail catastrophically. We have hard drives, SSDs, cellphones, SD cards – the device in question is going to be a big factor when it comes to price.
Problem: Data not being accessible can occur due to many reasons, the same way being tired can occur due to many reasons. If you are fatigued due to having late stage cancer, this is going to be more difficult and expensive to treat than if you are tired due to having a common cold. The same is true when it comes to hard drives. Different problems cost different amounts to repair. To give you an idea, see below.
Amateur vs professional
Problem not listed? We can still help!
Although your problem hasn’t been listed, that doesn’t mean we cannot help! Our dedicated team at data recovery has seen many problems over the years and are more than likely still able to recover your data even though the problem isn’t listed. Feel free to contact us if you have any enquires about a drive you wish to be recovered.
Check out a real data recovery below!
Top Reasons To Have Your Repairs Done By Us
