EX · SDR-2026-0791SIGNED OFF ✓
Clicking Seagate 2TB holding ten years of family photos
A matched donor head stack assembly was installed, and the drive was imaged around the damaged area. Every album was rebuilt from that image.
Data recovery for Southampton · Eastleigh · Hampshire
Most lost data does come back. Panic is not required.
Dead drives, wiped cards, non-starting servers: most of it can be recovered. There will never be any cost for a diagnosis, our quotation is fixed and in writing, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
Only pay if we recover your data, on most jobs
25+ years of bench work
Recoveries from £250 + VAT
GDPR compliant & ICO registered
Prefer to talk first?
0800 6890668
No-cost diagnostic · intake ticket
SDR-2026-····
Where does your data live?
Go for the nearest option — it decides what our engineers examine first.
No commitment · no fee to diagnoseAnswer inside 1 working hour
Cases closed on the bench this month.
EX · SDR-2026-0785SIGNED OFF ✓
NAS at an Eastleigh agency — botched RAID rebuild
Neither member was touched until they were both fully imaged; the array was rebuilt in software and the shared volume came back intact.
EX · SDR-2026-0779SIGNED OFF ✓
SD card from a wedding, blank next morning
First cloned, before any tool ran; the file system was rebuilt on the clone and each frame was restored at its full resolution.
EX · SDR-2026-0772SIGNED OFF ✓
Break-in footage recovered before the loop reached it
This DVR hard disk was forensically imaged and its proprietary video store was carved by time stamp. The break-in window, still held in sectors the loop had not reached, was provided to the insurance company.
The index. Start from the device,
or from the fault.
Something else? Ask →
Media and devices we handle
Internal disk drivesClicks, seizure or complete silence: platter-level work in the lab→ Drives that plug inDropped cases, failed bridge boards, shucked disks→ NVMe & SSDFailed controllers are bypassed and the chips read directly→ Macs and their drivesAPFS jobs that other labs turn away→ Arrays and serversFailed RAID 5 and other rebuilds, reassembled from images→ NAS unitsSynology, QNAP and WD devices, imaged before a rebuild can kill them→ Camera cardsCamera cards that error, go blank or ask for a format→ Memory sticksBroken connectors, and monolithic chips read directly→How it broke
Clicks or beepsShut it down now: the noise means damage is still spreading→ Doesn't show upNo spin-up, no lights, nothing showing on the computer→ Erased & missing filesOn a hard drive they survive; on an SSD, minutes count→ Wiped by accidentFormatting usually wipes the index, but rarely the data itself→ Ransomware incidentOriginal files often outlive deletion. We recover them; we never negotiate.→ Encrypted & BitLockerLocked or corrupted volumes recovered, with the key in hand→ Damaged or droppedOne knock can shift the heads while the case looks fine→ Fire or waterDo not try to dry it out or turn it back on: it is sealed and treated in our lab.→Cases that go further
Sometimes it isn't just data —
it's evidence.
Not every case ends with the return of the missing files. Some continue to an insurance claim, a tribunal or a court hearing. Digital evidence is recovered and preserved to forensic standards: a read-only image of the media, every step documented throughout, and a report that holds up.
Forensic examination work
Forensically defensible imaging and examination of computers, hard drives and storage media, carried out for Hampshire solicitors, insurers, employers and private individuals.
- Bit-for-bit images, with the chain of custody logged
- Investigation of deleted data and user activity
- Expert reports in plain English, and support in the witness box
- Workplace conduct and data-theft enquiries
DVR & CCTV video recovery
Video erased, or locked inside an old recorder that no longer works: pulled off the disk by time stamp and exported in the formats police and insurers accept.
- Deleted footage recovered, and a straight answer about overwritten video
- Failed or damaged DVR/NVR hard disks
- Incident exports for police & insurance claims
- Hikvision, Swann, Dahua and other proprietary kit
How your case unfolds.
How a case runs →Start a case
First get a quote, by phone or with our form, or start with the fault finder above. We then log the case and explain exactly how to send the device.
Post it or drop it in
Send it by tracked, insured post to our intake lab in Guildford, Surrey, and return carriage is free. Or drop it off there, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. No appointment needed.
Diagnosis, free
The fault is identified by an engineer and what can be recovered is confirmed. No charge, no commitment.
A fixed written price
One figure, agreed before any chargeable work is done on your case. You get a list of the files first.
Files back, checked
What we recover is sent back to you on fresh media, verified with you before your case is closed.
What Hampshire says.
Every review →After suffering hard drive failure, the brilliant Southampton Data Recovery team saved me from the hassle of chasing my clients for all their details again. Worth every penny.
After an accidental folder deletion, Tony and the rest of the Southampton Data Recovery team did an excellent job of recovering deleted data that was considered to be unrecoverable by other companies.
Thank you very much for recovering 100% of our precious file data from an SD Card. It's been a pleasure to deal with yourselves and thank you for recovering all those precious family photos.
Where we work.
Thirty-four towns across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight have their own page. Devices go to our Guildford intake laboratory by tracked, insured post, or can be dropped off there (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed), and are logged the day they arrive. We hear from these places most.
Whatever has gone wrong, keep it switched off.
Restarting a damaged drive can result in losing more information. Start a case instead: diagnosis will cost nothing, regardless of the outcome.