Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Before you send it to us for recovery, please submit a prepaid case at Services & Pricing | Atpdataservices. Please print a copy of your invoice and include it with your shipment and send it to the following address:

​

ATP DATA SERVICES

Aalsmeerderweg 283-2

1432CN

Aalsmeer

The Netherlands

info@atpdataservices.eu

To maximize your chances of a successful data recovery, it is important to protect your media during shipment because device components are very delicate. Any potential mishandling of the hardware could cause further damage to the media. If you have access to non-static wrapping material, it would be best. However, all media should be wrapped in bubble wrap or foam and placed in a box that is twice the size of your media. The shipping box should have enough room for both the media and the packing material that allows for NO movement while in transit.

​

• Please note that if you are sending us an internal hard disk drive, be sure to remove it from the laptop or desktop computer case before shipping it to us.

• For smaller items such as flash media cards, USB drives and smartphones, please place it in an envelope before wrapping it and placing it in the shipping box.

• When shipping multiple drives to us, we recommend packaging each drive in its own box or to make sure each drive is separated with packing material so that there is no contact between each drive when they are packed in the same large box.

In the unfortunate event that your data is not recoverable, we will refund you the entire data recovery services fee. In addition we will return the original device back to you. In this scenario, please note that your device will not include its original enclosure and accessories.

By selecting the media type and quantity in the the "Services & Pricing" section of our website, you will be able to see the all-in price for the relevant services in cluding tax if applicable. You will be charged upfront for the data recovery services.  

​

Your data recovery services pricing includes any spare parts that may be needed, labor, a new device or service to provide you with your data, return shipping, and any other cost incurred in recovering your data and providing you with access. However, this does not include the shipping cost of shipping your media to our facility.

You may consider getting insurance from a provider to cover any hardware that has significant value. However, it is important to note that you cannot insure the value of the data so while you cover for the value of the hardware, this does not insure your data.

The data recovery process involves several critical steps to ensure successful retrieval of lost or damaged data:

​

1. Evaluation and Triage: Our experts assess the extent of the data loss or damage, identifying the underlying issues and determining the best course of action for recovery.

2. Device Repair: If the data loss is due to physical damage or hardware failure, we undertake necessary repairs to restore functionality to the affected device, ensuring it is in optimal condition for data retrieval.

3. Sector-by-Sector Copying: Using advanced tools and techniques, we create a sector-by-sector clone of the damaged storage device. This meticulous process ensures that every bit of data, including corrupted or inaccessible sectors, is copied accurately to the clone, minimizing the risk of further data loss.

4. Extraction of User Files: Once the clone is created, we extract user files and critical data from the clone, employing specialized software and methods to identify and recover valuable information. This step focuses on retrieving specific user files, such as documents, photos, videos, and databases, tailored to the client's needs.

5. Data Transfer to New Device: Finally, we transfer the recovered data to a new storage device, ensuring data integrity and security. Whether it's a new hard drive, solid-state drive, or other storage medium, we ensure that the recovered data is safely copied to an easily accessible USB device, ready for access and use by the client.

​

Throughout the entire data recovery process, our team prioritizes precision, security, and confidentiality, leveraging years of expertise and industry-leading technology to deliver reliable results and peace of mind to our clients.

As long as you have the password for the encrypted drive, we will be able to access the drive to recover the data. Unfortunately, without the password, we are not able to access the data.

Please do not include the password of the encrypted drive in the package you are sending to us. You can communicate that password to us either on the submission form or email us the information separately at info@atpdataservices.eu with your case information.

It takes an estimated 15 business days from the time we receive your device at our facility till the time we complete your data recovery service. 

To learn more about the reason why it may take time to recover your data, please read our blog about what data recovery entails at So what does data recovery really entail?

Once we recover your data, we will ship it back to you on an encrypted USB drive. We will communicate the password of the drive to you via email. You will be able to reset the password of the drive once you receive it.

Hard disk drives (HDDs) store data on spinning platters. Mechanical failures such as scratches, corrosion, or physical damage to these platters can render the data unrecoverable. If the damage is severe enough, it may not be possible to read the data from anywhere on the platter. In addition, a head crash occurs when the read/write heads of an HDD make physical contact with the platters. This can lead to damage to both the heads and the platters, making data recovery impossible. The severity of the head crash influences the chances of successful recovery. While mechanical failures in storage devices are common reasons for data loss, non-mechanical issues can also pose challenges to successful data recovery. There are numerous non-mechanical reasons why data recovery might not be successful:

​

• If new data has been written to a storage device after it has been deleted or made inaccessible, it can overwrite the sectors containing the lost data.

• If data loss resulted from file corruption rather than deletion, this also means certain sections of the data were overwritten by incorrect data.  Data corruption can occur due to software issues, power outages, unstable write heads, or other non-mechanical factor

• Encrypted data adds an extra layer of complexity to the recovery process. If the data is encrypted, the recovery service needs access to the correct encryption keys to decrypt and recover the files. Here too, corruption might damage certain areas on the device needed to correctly decrypt data.

• Damage to the file system structure, for example the master file table (MFT) on NTFS file systems, can make it difficult or impossible to locate and recover files.  This is especially true for heavily fragmented files.

• Problems with the firmware of a storage device can impede the data recovery process. Firmware issues may prevent the drive from functioning correctly or cause it to misinterpret the data, leading to difficulties in accessing and recovering the lost files.

For flash based storage devices such as solid state drives (SSDs), SD cards, or portable USB drives, physical damage to the storage chips such as cracked or severely overheated chips will sever its extremely small, internal connections. After the manufacturing process, it is no longer possible to access these electrical connections, making the data unrecoverable.

For your data recovery scenario, we had to use special software to regain access to your files. This happens when important file structure data was damaged due to physical damage or corruption. Our software separates the files it finds in two folders, one called "ROOT" and the other called "EXTRA FOUND FILES". The "ROOT" folder will have some data that may have original file names and a folder structure that is intact. These files were likely recovered from areas of your disk that weren’t damaged. The "EXTRA FOUND FILES" folder will have several folders within it consisting of fragments of file structure that could be retrieved, or filetypes with files that were found without any structure whatsoever. The results you will have in your recovered data are the best possible outcome given the severity of the device failure. Some files will have the original names but most will not. There is also a good chance our software found “false positives” where the software might have thought it found a file but it in fact was not. These files will not work, or will only partially work due to damage (for example only the top half of a photo will open as the lower half had damages)

Please email us at info@atpdataservices.eu, or even easier, fill in the contact form below  You can expect a reply from us within 2 business days.