Firstly – count. A solitary bad file from a fully functional system is a file issue that has a solution. Multiple files going down in unrelated directories indicates your storage is telling you something — and running repair tools on a dying disk is how that gets worse.
A single document failing to load on an otherwise good machine is a file issue. Multiple documents failing in multiple directories is a storage issue. And running repair tools on a failing piece of hardware is how you make that so much worse.
This is the most useful diagnostic here, and you can do it in about a minute.
When a single document won't load, but everything else is working perfectly well, then it's safe to say the document itself was messed up, and likely due to either an app crashing during save, a network drop mid-write while saving to a shared folder, or a USB stick ripped out before Windows was done with it. Your storage underneath is fine, and all we're doing is fixing one file.
When many file failures occur in different places in your system, then it's likely to be a failure of the drive and therefore these errors are symptoms of something else. Therefore repairing each one of them as separate entities is treating an effect rather than the cause. Each repair operation will also read and write data to disk, while both reading and writing data to a disk that is under stress may cause the disk to crash sooner. Before you even begin making repairs, check SMART first — the result decides everything that follows.
The reason structured formats are able to be repaired at all is because they are very predictable.
Much faster and much better than any repair; for once something has been mangled, it will hardly be so good again.
Word, Excel and most editors save auto-save files to their own respective directories. And they are often newer than you might have anticipated.
Click right mouse button over the directory and view “Previous Versions” with Windows. Enter “Time Machine” if using macOS. Both keep hidden copies you can view.
OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive and Dropbox all maintain previous versions. However, the online versioning provides information that is typically not accessible through the local syncing application.
Sent via email, transferred onto a memory stick, accessed using another computer. In most cases, recovering a "clean" copy from last week will work better than repairing a copy made today.
If the storage itself is working properly, then there are likely enough tools available that you can repair or recover your files yourself.
When data corruption occurs because of a bad hard disk, the cost of recovery is from £300 +VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic. The hard disk is always imaged before repairs occur; in other words, we always fix corrupted files by restoring them from an image of the disk rather than fixing them directly on the original.
If everything works properly with the hardware, and you've lost just one file, try looking into the four options listed above. In many cases, auto-save versions, document histories, or a backup created by someone else may contain the missing file and restore access without requiring payment.
Please send us your device along with a brief description of what happened. This diagnostic process has no cost and the price for the next phase of service will be fixed in writing prior to commencing work.
This is the only step that requires input from you and nothing else can happen until the device is on our bench. Package your item properly and include all the information we require about you and your item(s), then ship them to us. Then comes a no-cost diagnostic, followed by a written quote.
Posting it? Use a tracked and insured service. The value of what is on the drive far exceeds the cost of postage. Bringing it in? Weekdays from 9am to 5:30pm, and it still needs packing as described above for the journey.
Tell us about the item in question, tell us how it has been behaving lately, and let us know if there is anything you have done as far as troubleshooting goes so that our engineers may provide a realistic estimate of success and a probable cost range prior to sending your items off.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0161 871 0788.
What people ask about recovering their corrupted files and drives most frequently.
Yes, in many cases, depending upon the type of file and amount of corruption. Those that have a structured format such as Office documents, database, video container will normally recover well because they are based on an easily predicted format. The same does not hold true for encrypted and highly compressed files.
Applications crashing during save operations, network interruptions during write operations to shared directories/drives, pulling a removable drive out prior to completion of a write operation, and loss of electrical power all can corrupt a file. If multiple files are corrupted in areas of the system that have no direct relation to one another, then the problem is probably with the storage device rather than the individual files.
Count them. If you see only one corrupted file, there is a good chance the problem lies within the file itself. However, if you see multiple files across different sections of the system which were created independently of each other, it likely indicates a problem with the storage device. Always run a SMART test before using any repair tools since running any repair tools on a failing disk can further degrade its health.
Do not do so until you have established the healthiness of your data storage. In cases of a failing hard drive, each time you use a repair tool there will be additional reading and writing on a system that is already under stress. Many tools make their repairs by overwriting existing content. This means there is no way back if the repair goes wrong.
Not necessarily. A "repair" rebuilds as much of the file as possible. Therefore, depending upon the extent of the damage and the type of file, there could be parts of the file missing or changed. If you are able to find an uncorrupted copy of the file within version history or autosave then repairing the file will likely never result in anything but an inferior alternative.
From £300 + VAT where a failing drive is involved. The costs associated with recovering a corrupted file are confirmed after a free 48-hour diagnostic. If you have one damaged file on a healthy computer then it is best to check both autosave and version history first. Typically, these methods will allow you to resolve the issue without incurring any expense.
A complimentary diagnostic. No charge for most jobs if it doesn't work out. Corruption recovery from any media including hard drives, memory sticks and cards. Leave all repair utilities alone — start your recovery now.