People often ask how long it takes to get the information off of their broken phone or hard drive. There are many things that can go wrong with today’s complicated data storage technology, and the problems can range from relatively simple software issues to catastrophic internal hardware failures. These and many other factors can influence the time it takes for our engineers to get back those vacation pictures or those Excel spreadsheets for work.

Quick turnaround: Deleted files

If you accidentally deleted your files and took appropriate steps to minimize the risk of permanent data loss, then odds are likely that the recovery engineer’s job will be relatively straightforward. This means, of course, that you can typically get your data back in a shorter period of time.

Medium turnaround: Logical (software) errors within the hard drive

Sometimes, through no fault of the user, the hard drive or solid-state drive may experience some corruption of the code that the drive needs in order to function properly. This code tells the hard drive how to do its job — store your data. As the drive gets older, problems like this become more and more likely. For this kind of problem, the data recovery engineer needs to perform more complicated operations on the drive, sometimes involving finding highly specific replacement parts for the drive. The turnaround for this type of issue can range from days to weeks to months, depending on the availability of parts and the nature of the logical error. Each individual case will vary, however, so it’s important to confirm with the engineer to get a better estimate.

Slower turnaround: Physical issues with the drive

Finally, turnaround time is typically slowest when the drive has an internal physical issue. These sorts of problems can often occur when the drive has undergone some sort of trauma, such as being dropped. It can also happen through normal wear and tear. This is usually the most complex type of issue and also requires the most expertise. These problems must be handled by senior engineers because they may require hard drive “surgery” — replacing small, sensitive internal components. Like with logical errors described above, drives with these problems also require specific replacement parts which can be difficult to locate. Replacement part availability has a big impact on turnaround time.

Overall, due to the complexity of these cases and the personnel required to recover the data, these cases often take a month or more to complete.

Actual turnaround times may vary

Each case is unique, so the times described here serve only as a guide. We can only give a better estimate of the time required once our engineers have diagnosed the specific problem with the drive and if applicable, confirmed the availability of replacement parts. One final important thing to note is that turnaround times are also subject to the number of cases our engineers are working on at any given time.

If you’ve lost data and have questions about turnaround time, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (208) 888-3991.