Laboratory in Caracas · Av. Universidad, Edif. Cordero, Piso 1, La Candelaria Emergencies 24/7/365 +58 414 919 6248
Tell us what happened

The first 24 hours: what to do and what not to do

Most failed recoveries are not caused by the original damage. They are caused by what gets done afterwards, by someone acting in good faith without knowing that each attempt can overwrite the very thing they are trying to save.

Do this

  • Switch the device off and leave it off if you suspect physical damage: unusual noises, it will not start, or there is a smell of burning.
  • Write down exactly what happened: when you noticed the problem, what you were doing beforehand, and any sound or error message. That detail genuinely changes the diagnosis.
  • If the device still works and is accessible, do not save or install anything new on it. Then stop using it and bring it to the laboratory: even copying puts strain on a device that may already be failing.
  • Ask before trying anything, if the data matters. A message costs nothing and can save the case.

Do NOT do this

  • Do not keep restarting it. Each start-up of a mechanically damaged drive can scratch the platters a little more.
  • Do not run repair tools such as chkdsk or fsck on a failing drive. They are designed to make a file system consistent, not to preserve your data, and they can discard exactly what you need.
  • Do not reinstall the operating system. It overwrites large areas of the disk, including the parts that still hold your files.
  • Do not open the drive. Outside a clean room (laminar flow chamber with positive pressure) it is contaminated within seconds, and a single particle on the platter destroys the magnetic surface permanently.
  • Do not put a wet phone in rice. It does nothing useful and the delay lets corrosion spread across the board.
  • Do not accept the «format this disk» prompt. It can overwrite the file table and turn a straightforward recovery into a difficult one.

If the data is critical, in this order

  1. Stop using the device. Everything else can wait; this cannot.
  2. Write down the symptoms while they are fresh in your memory.
  3. Do not let anyone try «just one thing» before the case has been assessed.
  4. Get in touch and describe what happened, so we can tell you whether it can be handled remotely or has to come to the laboratory.
  5. If it comes to the laboratory, the technical evaluation establishes what is recoverable and produces the quotation before any recovery work begins.

One thing worth being clear about

There is no guide that can tell you whether your particular data is recoverable. This page can only help you avoid making things worse, which in practice is a great deal. What can actually establish the state of the device is the technical evaluation in the laboratory, which is a paid service precisely because it is specialist diagnostic time spent on your case.

Would you rather ask before trying anything?

Describe what happened and we will tell you whether it is safe to keep going.

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We answer in English by email and WhatsApp. Phone calls are answered in Spanish.

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