Tests Show Why You Should Stay Away from Knockoff USB Chargers

In Blog by AdministratorNovember 1, 2012

Cheap power supplies cause HDD failure. Lifehacker.com Updates: Tests Show Why You Should Stay Away from Knockoff USB Chargers. I think this is aimed at mobile phone chargers, but the …

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How easy is it to find a donor hard disk drive? Part 2 – PCBs

In Blog, Hard Disk Drive News, Successful recovery by AdministratorApril 20, 2012

How to find a donor PCB for HDD data recovery. In a follow up to the initial post, “How easy is it to find a donor hard disk drive? Part …

Excellent

Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd5.0

Based on 378 reviews

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Noel Frith

3 days ago

I have read most of the reviews on this page and I can relate to a similar situation myself with those of John Cartwright. I was recommended to consult Cheadle Data Recovery Ltd, so I telephoned John Reid and explained the situation. This was on the 23rd Feb. '26. From the receipt of my harddrive by him a few days later, I was kept informed regularly as to how the recovery was developing and the technical details involved. Also, the cost of the recovery was outlined to me in full at the outset and any questions I had were answered to the full. I must admit, I was totally resigned to the fact that I had lost everything. Now,I'm a happy chap once more!
I cannot thank Dr. Reid enough for the work and effort he has put into this recovery. I have every confidence in recommending his
expertise to anyone who could be in the same boat in the future.

Noel Frith.

Response from the owner:Hello Noel, thank you for the review. I am glad the process and result was a positive one for you. In this case you had a 500GB 2.5" Seagate HDD (ST9500325AS) dating from about 2010. When powered on the HDD made a high pitched noise as the platters were spinning. This was due to the head-assembly failing. In particular read-write head #0 was degraded, but still had some limited functionality to read the firmware modules. Heads 1, 2 and 3 were OK. The head-assembly was replaced and it was possible to read the majority of the data from platter surface 0 as well as platter surfaces 1, 2 and 3. Best regards, John C. Reid.

Jim Waddington

4 days ago

Although my lost data wasn't able to be recovered, the service delivery I received was both professional & personable
from start to finish. John was honest regarding his expectations from the off which I felt was a refreshingly good attitude when considering the onslaught of pushy sales speak from other companies I called before choosing this
5 star, highly recommended, friendly company.

Response from the owner:Hello Jim, thank you for the review. In this case the guidance I provided from your initial enquiry was that the chances of a successful recovery was low. This was due to the fact that a significant amount of data had been written to the memory stick since the device had been formatted. And, as a consequence the critical (lost) data may well have been overwritten by the new data.

This of course, will not stop certain data recovery companies providing unrealistic claims about what can be achieved. The main aim of course being to receive the device and charge an upfront non-refundable fee regardless of the situation.

CDR's standard terms operate on the basis that the data recovery fee is payable only at the end of the work if there has been a successful recovery. Despite the non-recovery, you offered to pay our fee. It was not expected, but certainly appreciated, and in particular your appreciation of the working-time required to make the recovery attempt. Best regards, John C. Reid.

Margaret Jones

1 month ago

After my hard drive failed on my laptop and a failed attempt to recover data I was recommended to this Company who ‘have a good reputation’. I don’t really bother with much on-line research as I’d much rather go by word of mouth recommendations - far more reliable and trustworthy.
My initial enquiry via message was immediately addressed. I then had a telephone conversation when every detail of the process was explained. To me, the no recovery, no fee stipulation didn’t need much thinking about! Nothing to lose, but a possible gain. I was also given a glimmer of hope, going by my description of what had happened. Plus the all important - detailed - costs, with no hidden extras. No low starting point prior to adding ££ as the process progressed. I knew exactly where I stood, plus the time span was spot on. Professionalism at its best. With a successful outcome!

Response from the owner:Hello Margaret, thanks for the good summing of your experience of trying to find a reliable data recovery company and the service. Regarding the work: You had a solid state disk (SSD), which came in completely blank, all of the sectors were filled with a "00" hexadecimal pattern. If any PC Shop had scanned this with data recovery software they would have recovered no data at all. This is because the SSD had been affected by the "TRIM" command set or rebuilt a new 'translator'.

Fortunately, since this occurred your SSD had not been reused. And, very fortunately, your SSD was a supported model in the data recovery equipment (PC3000). It was possible force your SSD into an engineering mode, and 'roll back' to the previous translator. It was then possible to recover your files. This is only achievable on models of SSD which are supported by PC3000. For many SSDs it is not. For information on how this is achieved see the following website:

https://blog.acelab.eu.com/pc-3000-ssd-how-to-bypass-the-trim.html

Best regards, John C. Reid.

John Cartwright

2 months ago

Imagine the feeling when you try to access your desktop hard drive that contains over 20 years of photos and other important documents, and suddenly you can't access any of the content - everything you try fails, and the device continues to return a CRC error message!!!!

A totally unexpected and gut-wrenching experience that left me wondering if I would ever get to see the many memories captured over many years that were sitting on the device.

Well, following discussions with a number of local professional Tech Teams I was pointed towards Cheadle Data Recovery and John Reid, with the comment that, “if the data is there, CDR will be able to recover it” – and they did!

Following a simple phone call, I travelled to meet John Reid at his office with the damaged device in hand. John was the true professional and provided a detailed and credible description of the problem and the solutions that could be applied to recover the data – his professional approach and calm nature gave me the confidence that I would see those memories again. His commitment that CDR always operate on a 'no-recovery, no-fee' basis with a full price list provided in advance, created further confidence of a positive outcome.

Having discussed the process that would be followed with John, I left his office and waited for the outcome. Within a few days, I received information that confirmed the majority of the data was still on the drive and could be recovered and a few more days later I received a new memory device containing all my data.

Thank you John, I can’t express how grateful I am for your support in recovering my data, it is very much appreciated!

Response from the owner:Hello John, thank you for the review. I am glad there was a successful recovery of your Seagate ST31500541AS HDD. You've provided a good summary of the data recovery process and how the business operates. Thanks! Best regards, John C. Reid.