Vantage Data Recovery

Data gets lost.  It’s a fact of modern life.

We all store lots of data.  Photos, financials, our latest novel, customer accounts, emails, new product development ideas, genealogy records, engineering specs, tax returns, term papers, spreadsheets, programming code, business plans, music.  You name it, we save it, both for personal and for business use. Continue reading ‘What’s Your Data Worth?’ »

Hard drive: noun – a mechanical device used in computers for storing and retrieving data, generally consisting of a spindle, motor, one or more disks, a corresponding number of read-write heads attached to an actuator, inside a case, with a circuit board attached.

Hard drive technology has evolved rapidly since the introduction of the Winchester drive in the 1960’s.  With ever-increasing size and speed has come new interfaces, magnetic coatings, data recording methods, etc., but the general mechanics have remained the same. Continue reading ‘Anatomy of a Hard Drive’ »

Data recovery is not meant to be a foolproof alternative to backing up.  Any professional data recovery company that has been in business for a while has experienced situations where data could not be recovered, or not recovered in its entirety.  If your hard drive suffers a head crash and scrapes all of the magnetic coating off your disks, no one can put it back.  If your data is erased, then physically overwritten, it’s gone.  Continue reading ‘The 99% Data Recovery Rate Myth’ »

We get a lot of calls from people with damaged flash drives a.k.a. “thumb” drives.  Many people use them to backup important data from their laptop or desktop system, which is fine in the short run, but their very nature makes them somewhat unreliable in the long run.  The things that make them so attractive to us – they are small, lightweight and portable – make them vulnerable from a data loss standpoint. Continue reading ‘Data Loss – Gone in a Flash!’ »

If someone steals your laptop, there isn’t a data recovery company in the world who can help you.  While it may hurt to have to replace the laptop (there are companies who will insure them), what about the data?  What if someone else had access to it?  Think about what’s on your laptop.  Continue reading ‘Preventing Laptop Data Loss – Literally’ »

Digital photography is everywhere.  From professional studio portraits to casual vacation snapshots, digital media is getting a workout.  But digital photos, like all other data, are subject to loss.  There is nothing as gut-wrenching as that “format card Y/N” message when you are attempting to off load your photos.  While no system is completely foolproof, there are some steps you can take to keep your photos safe. Continue reading ‘Safeguarding Your Digital Photo Media’ »

You suddenly can’t access critical data, and in a panic search the web for help.  And find it.  Too much of it actually.  A search on Google for “data recovery” will give you over 20 million hits!  Sorting through your options, you start to wonder - Why won’t some of these people tell you how much your data recovery project will cost, while others offer to recover your data for $99.00?  Why are data recovery prices so varied, and why are some companies advertising flat rates?  Continue reading ‘Data Recovery Pricing’ »

DIY or “do it yourself” projects are as popular as ever.  The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, not to mention financial savings are great motivators for those of us who would rather take on projects ourselves than hire someone to do them.  But we must know our limits.  I might, for example, change a faucet on the bathroom sink.  If I want to move the sink to another location I know that I need to find a good plumber.  I just don’t have the tools, knowledge or experience to do that kind of job and be sure it will be done right.

The internet abounds with information on how to do almost anything, and data recovery is no exception.  Your drive doesn’t work?  Hit it.  Drop it.  Tap it.  Slap it.  Kick it.  Freeze it. Continue reading ‘DIY Data Recovery’ »

We all love our laptops.  The thinner and lighter they get the more we love them…and the easier they are to break, leading to costly repairs or replacement and possible data loss.  The old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” comes into play here.  Laptops are such an everyday part of our lives that we often don’t pay attention to how we treat them.  While laptop problems are probably eventually inevitable, there are some things you can do to limit the chances of damage to both your hardware and your data. Continue reading ‘10 Ways to Love Your Laptop’ »

Almost every data recovery company has a page on their website explaining how to choose a data recovery company.  These pages generally tell you why they are the best/only/most logical choice.  “Choose me.  Pick me.  Love me.”

I would like to go on record as saying that while I would certainly like you to “choose me”; I know that Vantage is not the only professional data recovery company out there.  So how do you choose? Continue reading ‘Choosing a Data Recovery Company’ »