MacMedics Data Recovery

There are only two types of people using computers-those who have lost data and those who will! Seriously, just think about the value the information stored on your computer system's hard drive - What would it cost your business if it were lost? It's time to be proactive because protecting your data is important.

The key to safeguarding data is to always have that data stored in two places at once. If your data is NOT in two places at this time, please tell your MacMedics Consultant right now, and we can put together a plan to safeguard your data for as little as $100. We have a system, where your data can be backed up, and ready to use on any other Macintosh at a moments notice. It's called the MacMedics DATA-Check system.

But, if you don't have tested and functioning back up plan in place and your data has been compromised: Call MacMedics first!

MacMedics should be your first stop when you find yourself in a data recovery situation--we're the leaders in Macintosh support, service, and consulting in the Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia area. We've seen pretty much everything when it comes to sick or non-working hard drives. When the White House had a situation that called for an expert in Macintosh data recovery, they called in MacMedics.

The best advice we can offer anyone in a data loss situation is to leave the situation alone, and call us immediately. We've seen countless data-loss scenarios where well-intentioned users (or friends and other computer folks) have poked, pried, and otherwise compromised the chances of MacMedics being able to recover their data. When we have a clean shot at the data, we can usually recover it from the drive in an hour or less.

The best chance for recovering data is to have it in a "as fail" state. Once it's been manipulated in any way, the chances of being able to successfully recover 100% of what's been lost start to diminish very, very quickly.

Here's a data recovery situation we took care of recently. This very, very sick hard drive was installed in an Apple Macintosh iBook that was being used as a server at a local high school. They were using an iBook as their server, because the iBook's screen was only partially viewable making it impossible for students to use. They had data for their yearbook, and projects for about 50 students stored on it. Because of budgetary reasons, they had no back up in place. Our talented lab staff removed the hard drive from the iBook, and used our special MacMedics data recovery techniques to coax the data off the drive. It took a long time, but all of the needed data was recovered. It's a good thing that we kept an archive of the rescued data, because the day the data was returned to the school, a student accidentally erased a major portion of it.


Hey, we're professionals and we do this for a living, so PLEASE don't try this at home.

Yes, we know you have a copy of some version of Norton (from OS 9? we hope not!), or some other data recovery program, but recovering data has to do almost entirely in the procedure that is undertaken, and not the tools used. Oh, and did we mention that we have over 200 years of combined Macintosh service, consulting, and data recovery experience? Also, we've recovered data almost every day in our 18-year history. Seriously, it's what we do, and we're not going to charge you an arm and a leg to get your data back, in fact most "Data Recovery" falls into our standard repair rates. That means we don't charge extra just for doing our job. In serious data recovery situations, where we truly have to "recover" your data, we do charge more for that service, but we can assure you, it will always be less than you'd pay ANYWHERE else.

When your data is at risk, we strongly suggest you bring your situation directly to MacMedics. You could be putting your data in even greater risk by shipping it away to a famous data recovery company, or even worse to a data recovery company that's planning on charging you thousands of dollars for something that might only really cost a few hundred.

Is your data lost or just in limbo??

The way we see it is, if you think you've lost your data and decide to send it away for Data Recovery, the company that is doing the recovery will recover it and charge you "recovery" prices (often $1000 or more). There's a reason why the major recovery firms offer a "free evaluation", they're hoping to get your drive in the door, then charge your big bucks to recover your data. All the big firms have price ranges, and you might pay more or less depending on your situation. But, there's big difference between data that is in "limbo" and data that is "lost". Many of the data recovery cases we see are situations where folks think they have a "data recovery" situation when in fact the data is just not visible to them. Makes sense, right? You can't see your data, so you think you need to send it a data recovery company. This is why we charge $49 on all incoming cases. This gives us the chance to do what we've been doing for 18+ years. If we can't recover your data, $49 is all you owe, and we'll be happy to give you a referral for a "clean room" recovery compnay (we know some of the best).

So, you need your data off a hard drive that is still under Apple's warranty?

Your hard drive is certainly more likely to die outside of Apple's warranty or AppleCare, but it does still happen. In fact it happens far more often then you would think. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security about your data just because your computer is new. (see our website www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info on protecting your data) It can be kind of a pickle figuring out how to handle the warranty situation so you end up with a free hard drive, but there are several ways MacMedics can help:

1. We can work on recovering your data before we submit the Apple warranty repair. This means we'll work on recovering your data, and after you certify that the data you need is there, we'll send your old drive back to Apple in exchange for a new free hard drive to be installed in your computer under warranty. Since we're not opening your drive up, the warranty on your drive remains intact. The replacement of your hard drive would be covered under your warranty, but you would be charged for the time it takes us to recovery your data. See our rates elsewhere on this page.

2. If your drive requires a clean room recovery, then the most sensible thing to do is just to buy a new hard drive to replace your super sick drive and forgo the warranty repair. Apple does recognize one "clean room" data recovery company who can open your drive to recovery your data, but in our opinion, it's not worth the expense of that recovery to get free hard drive that's only worth $100 to begin with. There are other clean room recovery firms that offer far more reasonable fees when the Apple warranty is no longer in play.

Don't over pay to get your data back!

Why pay literally thousands of dollars for a "clean room" data recovery if your data loss situation does NOT require it? MacMedics doesn't have a clean room, but in most cases we see, we DON'T need one. So why pay $1500 to $2000 (or more) for a data recovery job, if your drive is just sick? MacMedics has an easy to understand pricing plan for data recovery projects. We charge a $49 fee on all incoming data recovery jobs. This fee covers our attempt, and out time for hooking up your drive to our equipment. If we can recovery your data, we just charge hourly for our time, just like our regular service. There are no extra fees and in fact, we cap our data recovery costs, even if it takes us 3 days the most you'll ever pay is $550. If we just need to work our MacMedics magic to fix a software problem to make your data useable or accessible again, you just pay our standard on-site or in-lab fees. We recently recovered 250 Gigabytes of irreplaceable data off an external FireWire hard drive that appeared to have a very serious problem. The client had read about MacMedics on-line and wanted to send his drive to someone who knew about Macintosh Data Recovery. He was prepared to pay whatever it cost to recover the data. We were able to complete the project as a standard repair for $225. We're not in the blackmail business; if we can simply pull your data off a drive we'll charge accordingly.

MacMedics has a great track record for saving client's data.

MacMedics' track record for successful data recovery is excellent (See our testimonial page), but if your data loss situation calls for more extreme measures than what MacMedics can provide, we know exactly what needs to be done! We already know and work with the very best in the data recovery business, and we've already negotiated discounts on our customers' behalf. You get our insider pricing and if your data is still not recovered, you pay only the shipping. While we're on the topic of shipping, nobody else knows better than us how your sick hard drive needs to be shipped and protected during transit. We have approved shipping containers to ensure that it's protected from bumps and static electricity.

Call MacMedics First!

Don't make a move without MacMedics. Our advice is free, and we'd be happy to talk to you about your data recovery project. Call one of our Macintosh service hotlines or e-mail us right now at servicefirst@macmedics.com. While the majority of the Macintosh Data Recovery we do is in our service area of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia, we do accept data recovery jobs from other parts of the country. Give us a buzz and we'll tell you where and how to send it. In fact, we can even send you a shipping container via overnight courier, if you need one. We can also accept whole PowerBooks, iBooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and iPods (or any other Macintosh computer) that have a failing or failed drive in them. We can recover the data, and also replace the drive with new larger unit at the same time. Call us for details.

A MacMedics Data Recovery Testimonial:

Here's what one of our customers had to say about MacMedics' Data Recovery Service:

"I was in the middle of a project when my computer froze. After restarting, my secondary hard drive was no longer visible. Panic set in because all of my current projects were located on that drive and two of those were ready to go to press on that same day. My greatest fear was the complete loss of all the data and the repercussions of the loss. I contacted Mac Medics and explained the situation. I chose to drop off my CPU at their office and later that afternoon I received a call informing me that they were successful in recovering all my data. They called because they knew how important this recovery meant to me. After doing the dance of joy _ come on, you know the one _ I approved the replacement of the bad drive. In 24 hours had my CPU back with all my data and my clients never knew. Mac Medics did a great job and I recommend their service."

Ann Schroen
AS Graphics
http://www.annschroengraphics.com

Yes Virginia (and Maryland), hard drives do die.

Now that you've read all about data recovery, and how MacMedics can help get your data back, let us show you how to prevent having to to investigate Macintosh data recovery in the first place. We've added a new web page to our site that explains the value of adding a back-up drive to your system. It also details the benefits of "retiring" your faithful hard drive before it fails. Hard drives do die, and more often than you think. Start planning now for a new one, and always make sure your data is always in two places at once. See our new website at www.HardDrivesDie.com.