Common questions we have been ask about data recovery and our service over the years...

• What's the difference between Data Recovery vs Repair?
  Data recovery is the act of retrieving deleted or lost data from any media that has been formatted, intentionally deleted or otherwise lost.  Data repair indicates that there is some type of damage to the physical media or database that will need to be fixed prior to the data being usable.  For example if you have a hard drive that is clicking, chances are that drive will need to be repaired.  However, if you have a drive that has been accidentally formatted the drive will most likely only need data recovery.  There are cases where these services go hand in hand, its best to consult with a recovery technician and discuss your particular case. 
  
• My hard drive is making some really weird noises, what should I do?
  Well, our suggestion is "Shut it off and do not power it up again"... The reason we advise this is, chances are if your drive is making strange noises you are experiencing a physical drive failure.  Continuing to apply power to the drive can cause more damage, making recovery more difficult and in some cases impossible.  You first goal should be to protect the platters, do not shake, freeze, heat or attempt to open the drive.  None of these things will fix your problem and most likely they will just make matters worse.  We advise you contact a qualified hard drive repair facility such as Data Recovery Aid and discuss with a technician how to recover your data.
  
• Why should I use a Data Recovery service?
  Experience and resources, like anything else the more often you do something the better at it you get.  A reputable recovery service like Data Recovery Aid has years of experience recovering data from a variety of situations.  We also have resources and methods that are proven to work for many common data loss scenarios.  Use this experience to your advantage.   
• Why should I pick Data Recovery Aid?
  We are a part of a large network of data recovery providers located within the USA, we have specialized technicians who are willing to work with you one on one to provide a solution to your problem.  Very few recovery companies offer such a comprehensive array of recovery solutions.  We are so confident in our abilities that we provided free consultations and a NO DATA NO CHARGE policy.  Give us a call, speak with our technicians, we are positive you won't be disappointed with our service.
  
• Is my data secure and information kept private?
  YES, Absolutely, unequivocally we provide a full non-disclosure agreement for every job that is sent to us. We are willing to sign 3rd party NDAs if necessary.  Your security is top priority and privacy is extremely important to us.  If you have any security concerns please bring them to our attention and accommodations can be made to put your mind at ease. 
  
• What is a Clean room and why is it so important?
  A clean room is a dust free environment, typically used in manufacturing or scientific research, that controls and maintains an extremely low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, particles and chemicals.  The reason they are so important is, when working with most forms of digital media the platter or surface where the critical data is contained uses a magnetic field to store data.  When exposed to an open environment these magnetic fields will literally pull contaminates right out of the air.  These contaminates adhere to the surface and cause tiny scratches that damage the data making recovery nearly impossible.  Clean rooms are a critical component in any physical hard drive repair. 
• Can you suggest or consult with me about a good backup plan?
  Absolutely, we would be happy to consult with you and help you develop a fail safe backup plan. Our goal is to prevent you from ever needing to use a service like ours. We offer several online backup packages that will give you a very secure and easy to use backup solution. Please contact us for further details. 
• What information do you require to provide a quote?
  Well, very little actually and we never request any personal information over the phone.  Your initial free phone consultation is just an "ice breaker" we gather a bit of information about your particular problem and provide you with some basic information about our services.  We then do our best to offer you a "ball park" quote on any repair or recovery jobs that do not fall under our flat rate services.  We pride ourselves on our ability to accurately diagnose problems, you will have a very good idea where you stand after just a few minutes of conversation with one of our technicians.  
• What is the average turn around time?
  This varies a bit depending on the type of recovery or repair you require.  Most database repair and logical drive recovery work can be completed within 24 hours if its an emergency. Standard level services are usually completed in 1-3 days. Physical drive repair, RAID and Server recovery work and complex or very large database repair can take a bit longer. In most cases these jobs are completed within 3-7 days.  You are always kept up to date on the status of your recovery and we do our best to offer quick turn around times while maintaining a top quality service.
• Do you offer discounts?
  Yes, we offer a tiered discount for clients who send us multiple jobs, for example if you have several Quickbooks company databases and you need all of them repaired, you will receive a discount based the number of files you send us. This same system applies on all of our offered services and any job you send will count towards your tier score.  The discounts range from 5% up to 25%.  We also offer other partnership options if you would like to work out a partnership with our company please contact us at 1-877-230-3282.  
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