PC Recovery

Windows PC Data Recovery

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Our experts have extensive experience recovering data from Windows PCs. With 25 years experience in the data recovery industry, we can help you securely recover your data.

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Swansea Data Recovery: The UK’s No.1 Desktop Computer Data Recovery Specialists

With 25 years of dedicated service, Swansea Data Recovery stands as the UK’s premier specialist for desktop computer data recovery. Desktop drives, from high-capacity 3.5″ HDDs to blazing-fast NVMe SSDs, face unique challenges including extended power-on hours, heat cycles, and complex configurations like RAID. Our state-of-the-art laboratory is equipped with the advanced tools and certified cleanroom environment necessary to tackle every type of failure, from the legacy IDE drives in older towers to the latest enterprise-grade SAS and NVMe storage in modern workstations.

Supported Desktop Computer Manufacturers & Models

We recover data from the storage drives of all major desktop computer brands and their internal components:

Manufacturer	Popular Desktop Series & Internal Drives We Recover
1. Dell	OptiPlex, XPS, Precision, Alienware, PowerEdge (Server)
2. HP	Pavilion, Envy, Omen, ProDesk, EliteDesk, ZWorkstation, ProLiant (Server)
3. Lenovo	ThinkCentre, IdeaCentre, Legion, ThinkStation
4. Acer	Aspire, Predator, Veriton
5. ASUS	ExpertCenter, ROG (Republic of Gamers), ProArt
6. Apple	iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini
7. MSI	Infinite, MEG, MPG
8. CyberPowerPC	(Gaming & Custom Desktops)
9. Scan Computers	(Custom/Boutique 3XS Systems)
10. PC Specialist	(Custom Desktops)
11. Novatech	(Custom Desktops)
12. Fujitsu	ESPRIMO, CELSIUS
13. Sony	(Legacy) VAIO
14. Samsung	(Consumer Desktops)
15. Toshiba	(Legacy)
16. Intel	NUC, Server Systems
17. SuperMicro	Workstation & Server Platforms
18. IBM	ThinkCentre, System x (Server)
19. Stone	(Commercial/Government)
20. Tiny	(Legacy)
21. Mesh Computers	(Custom)
22. Chillblast	(Custom)
23. Overclockers UK	(Custom)
24. Dino PC	(Custom)
25. AWD IT	(Custom)
26. Box	(Custom)
27. Vibox	(Gaming Systems)
28. HP Inc.	Workstation Z-series
29. Dell Technologies	Precision Workstation
30. Lenovo	ThinkStation P-series

Supported Desktop Drive Interfaces

Our engineers are proficient in recovering data from every storage interface found in desktop computers:

SATA (Serial ATA): All generations (SATA I, II, III), the standard for 3.5″ and 2.5″ desktop drives.
PATA (IDE): Legacy 40-pin IDE interface with 80-wire cables, common in pre-2005 desktops.
SAS (Serial Attached SCSI): Enterprise-grade drives found in workstations and servers.
SCSI: Legacy Ultra, Ultra Wide, and LVD interfaces from older workstations and servers.
PCIe (PCI Express): Add-in card SSDs and NVMe drives.
NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express): The protocol for high-speed SSDs over M.2 and PCIe slots.
M.2: Supporting both SATA and NVMe (PCIe) protocols.
U.2: Enterprise NVMe drives (SFF-8639) in high-end workstations and servers.
eSATA (External SATA): External drive enclosures connected to desktops.
Fibre Channel: High-performance enterprise storage networks.
Apple Proprietary: Including older ATA and new T2/Mx chip security.

Top 25 Desktop Hard Drive & SSD Faults & Our Technical Recovery Process

Desktop drives present unique recovery challenges due to their larger physical size, higher spindle speeds, and complex firmware. Here is a detailed breakdown of our processes.

1. Head Stack Assembly (HSA) Failure – 3.5″ Specific

Summary: The larger, heavier heads in 3.5″ drives are susceptible to crashes from impact or wear. Symptoms include loud clicking, beeping, or grinding.
Technical Recovery: In our Class 100 ISO 5 cleanroom, the drive is disassembled. The damaged HSA is carefully removed. We source a compatible donor HSA, often performing micro-soldering to transfer the original preamplifier chip to maintain compatibility with the drive’s unique adaptive data. The donor heads are installed, and the drive is immediately imaged using hardware (PC-3000) with controlled read retries to prevent damage on potentially degraded media.

2. Spindle Motor/Bearing Seizure

Summary: The high-torque motor in 3.5″ drives can seize due to failed bearings, often from dust ingestion or lubricant breakdown. The drive fails to spin up, drawing excessive current.
Technical Recovery: Cleanroom intervention is required. The platter stack is transplanted with extreme precision into an identical donor HDA with a confirmed healthy motor and bearing assembly. Maintaining platter alignment is critical. The spindle is often clamped during transfer to prevent micro-misalignment that would render the data unreadable.

3. Firmware Corruption (Service Area Damage)

Summary: The drive’s internal operating system, stored in the Service Area on the platters, is corrupted. Common on drives with high power-on hours. The drive may not be detected, or may detect with an incorrect capacity (e.g., 0 MB).
Technical Recovery: Using PC-3000, we place the drive into a technological mode to bypass corrupted modules. We directly access the Service Area to diagnose and repair damaged modules (e.g., TRANSLAT, SMART, CERT). We use factory-level commands to rewrite modules, carefully adapting them to the specific drive’s configuration parameters stored in its RAM and System Area.

4. PCB (Printed Circuit Board) Failure

Summary: Desktop PCBs are exposed to power surges from PSUs. TVS diodes, fuses, or the motor driver IC can fail. The drive is completely dead.
Technical Recovery: We diagnose failed components and replace them. A simple board swap is insufficient due to drive-specific adaptive data stored in a serial EEPROM. We desolder this ROM chip using hot-air rework and transfer it to a compatible donor PCB. For modern drives, the adaptive data may be stored in the main controller, requiring in-system programming.

5. Bad Sectors & Media Degradation

Summary: The large surface area of 3.5″ platters is prone to media degradation over thousands of hours of use, creating unstable sectors.
Technical Recovery: We use hardware imagers (DeepSpar, Atola) with sophisticated control algorithms. The process involves reading data using soft-resets and adjustable timeouts. We create a logical map, prioritising healthy areas first. For persistent areas, we apply firmware-level tweaks to temporarily reduce the drive’s read retry thresholds, allowing data extraction before sectors are permanently reallocated.

6. Platter Surface Scoring/Deep Scratching

Summary: A severe head crash has physically gouged the platter surface, permanently destroying data in those tracks.
Technical Recovery: After cleanroom disassembly and head replacement, we perform a full surface scan. The imager is configured to skip heavily damaged areas instantly. We recover all readable data first, then attempt multiple passes with varying physical head actuator offsets and adjusted read channel settings (MR head bias) to read remnant magnetic flux from damaged track edges.

7. SSD Controller Failure (SATA & NVMe)

Summary: The SSD’s main processor has failed. The drive is not detected or returns detection errors.
Technical Recovery: We perform chip-off recovery. The NAND flash chips are desoldered using a controlled reflow station. Each chip is read individually using a dedicated NAND programmer. The raw dumps are processed through our software, which uses controller-specific algorithms to reverse-engineer the RAID-like striping, XOR parity, and wear-leveling to reassemble the original logical data.

8. Accidental File Deletion or Formatting

Summary: Files or partitions have been deleted during OS reinstallation or disk cleanup.
Technical Recovery: We create a forensic sector-by-sector image. Using tools like R-Studio and UFS Explorer, we perform a deep scan, parsing raw data for file signatures and analysing surviving file system metadata (e.g., $MFT for NTFS). For formatted drives, we reconstruct the partition boot sector and directory tree from backup metadata.

9. Power Surge Damage

Summary: A voltage spike has damaged sensitive components on the PCB and potentially the preamplifier on the head stack.
Technical Recovery: The PCB is diagnosed for failed components (TVS diodes, fuses, motor driver IC). The HDA is tested for a short circuit on the preamplifier’s power supply line. If shorted, HSA replacement is required. We repair the PCB and proceed with careful power-up diagnostics.

10. NAND Flash Wear-Out (SSD Degradation)

Summary: The flash memory cells have reached their program/erase cycle limit, leading to uncorrectable errors.
Technical Recovery: We perform chip-off recovery. The raw NAND dumps contain high bit error rates. Our software employs advanced ECC algorithms and performs read retry calibration, adjusting read reference voltages to find optimal thresholds for reading degraded cells.

11. Logical File System Corruption

Summary: Critical file system structures are corrupted due to unsafe shutdowns or software bugs.
Technical Recovery: We work with a disk image. Our engineers perform manual file system repair by locating backup metadata (e.g., $MFTMirr for NTFS, Superblock backups for EXT4). For complex corruptions, we use hex editors to analyse and patch damaged structures directly.

12. RAID Configuration Failure

Summary: A RAID array (0, 1, 5, 6, 10) has failed due to multiple drive failures or controller corruption.
Technical Recovery: We image every member drive. Using RAID recovery software, we manually determine RAID parameters (stripe size, order, parity rotation) through statistical analysis. We create a virtual RAID reconstruction, handling complex scenarios like failed rebuilds.

13. Partition Table Corruption (MBR/GPT)

Summary: The Master Boot Record or GUID Partition Table is damaged, making partitions appear lost.
Technical Recovery: We perform a full sector-by-sector image. We scan for backup copies of the partition table. For MBR, we look for backups at the drive’s end. For GPT, we use the primary header to locate the secondary GPT. If backups are corrupted, we manually reconstruct the table.

14. Overheating Damage

Summary: Chronic overheating in poorly ventilated cases has weakened solder joints and accelerated media degradation.
Technical Recovery: The PCB is reflowed using a BGA station to repair cracked solder joints. The drive is imaged in a temperature-controlled environment, with real-time monitoring of SMART parameters to pause imaging if temperatures rise dangerously.

15. Encrypted Drive Failures

Summary: The drive is encrypted (BitLocker, FileVault), and has a physical failure or TPM/password issue.
Technical Recovery: We first resolve the underlying physical issue. Once the drive is stable and imaged, the encrypted image is mounted. For BitLocker, we require the recovery key if the TPM is unavailable. For hardware encryption, repairing the original PCB is often critical.

16. S.M.A.R.T. Errors & Pre-Failure

Summary: The drive’s monitoring system has logged critical failures (Reallocated Sectors, Current Pending Sector Count).
Technical Recovery: We use imaging hardware to clone the drive, prioritising healthy data first. The process is configured to be highly sensitive to read instability, extracting data from weak sectors before they become permanently unreadable.

17. Virus/Ransomware Infection

Summary: Malicious software has encrypted or corrupted files.
Technical Recovery: We image the drive. For ransomware, we analyse the encryption method; decryption tools may be available. For data destruction, we use techniques for accidental deletion and file system corruption.

18. Failed OS Upgrade/Install

Summary: A Windows or macOS upgrade failed, corrupting the file system.
Technical Recovery: We image the drive and access previous installations (Windows.old) or Time Machine local snapshots to reconstruct user data.

19. Physical Impact/Shock Damage

Summary: The desktop tower was dropped or struck, causing internal component damage.
Technical Recovery: Cleanroom intervention is mandatory. The HSA is typically damaged and requires replacement. Platters are inspected for scoring. A full HSA transplant into a donor HDA is performed.

20. Unstable Drives – G-List/P-List Overflow

Summary: The drive’s internal defect management tables are full, causing slow performance and eventual failure.
Technical Recovery: We access the drive’s Service Area and read the defect lists. We can clear the grown defect list (G-List) and perform a full surface scan with our imager’s robust bad sector management.

21. HPA & DCO Regions

Summary: The manufacturer has set a Host Protected Area or Device Configuration Overlay, hiding drive capacity.
Technical Recovery: We use hardware tools to detect HPA/DCO presence and issue ATA commands to remove these restrictions, allowing access to the full drive capacity.

22. File System Journal Corruption

Summary: The journal of a journaling file system is corrupted, causing the volume to mount as RAW.
Technical Recovery: We attempt to replay the transaction journal. If damaged, we discard it and perform raw file system recovery, rebuilding the directory tree from orphaned metadata.

23. Slow Performance & I/O Timeouts

Summary: The drive experiences extreme slowdowns due to media degradation or firmware issues.
Technical Recovery: We monitor SMART logs and error codes, adjusting imaging strategy to use slower, more sensitive read commands while disabling the drive’s internal retry mechanisms.

24. Drive Not Recognised by BIOS

Summary: The computer’s BIOS does not detect the drive due to PCB failure, firmware corruption, or internal damage.
Technical Recovery: We systematically eliminate causes: test PCB and ROM, then use hardware tools to access the Service Area directly for firmware diagnosis and repair.

25. Manufacturing Defects

Summary: Inherent flaws in the drive from factory cause early failure.
Technical Recovery: We treat this as severe media degradation or electronic failure, employing chip-off recovery for SSDs or advanced imaging techniques with extensive read retry calibration for HDDs.

Our Comprehensive Recovery Methodology

Firmware & Electronics Repair: ROM transfers, firmware patching, component-level PCB repair using hot-air rework and BGA stations.
Mechanical Interventions: Head stack replacements, platter transplants, and motor swaps in Class 100 cleanroom conditions.
Logical/Data Recovery: File system reconstruction (NTFS, HFS+, APFS, EXT, XFS, ReFS, exFAT) and corrupted metadata repair.
Verification & Delivery: Hash verification (MD5, SHA-256), sample file testing, and secure data transfer to customer-provided storage.

Why Choose Swansea Data Recovery?

25 Years of Expertise: Thousands of successful desktop drive recoveries
Multi-Vendor Specialisation: Consumer, enterprise, and SSD technologies
Advanced Tools & Inventory: PC-3000, DeepSpar, cleanroom facilities, vast donor parts library
Free Diagnostics: Clear report and fixed-price quote before work begins
High Success Rate: Proven track record with complex desktop recovery scenarios

Contact Swansea Data Recovery today for a free, confidential evaluation of your desktop computer drive. Your data is in expert hands.

Case Study: Advanced Recovery from a Corrupted Windows 10 Boot Configuration & File System

Client Profile: Self-built PC enthusiast.
Presenting Issue: Catastrophic boot failure preventing access to a multi-partition HDD, with critical data stored across the entire drive.

The Fault Analysis

The client reported a failure to boot, with a specific error referencing Windows\system32\config\system and an inability to access the BIOS boot menu or Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This symptom profile immediately indicated a complex, multi-layered failure beyond a simple OS corruption.

Our initial diagnostics at Bracknell Data Recovery’s Class 100 cleanroom laboratory revealed a two-tiered problem:

Logical Corruption of the Boot Configuration: The primary issue was severe corruption within the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store and critical boot files. The BCD is a firmware-independent database that replaces the legacy boot.ini file. Corruption here prevents the Windows Boot Manager from initialising the Windows kernel (ntoskrnl.exe) correctly. The client’s attempts to repair using the Windows 10 installation media likely failed because the underlying file system was also compromised.
File System Metadata Corruption: Further analysis using proprietary hardware imaging tools revealed inconsistencies in the drive’s Master File Table (MFT). The MFT is the core of the NTFS file system; it is a relational database that contains a record for every file and directory on the volume, including its physical location (cluster allocation). Corruption in this structure renders the file system un-mountable, explaining the inability to access any partitions from the recovery console.

The Bracknell Data Recovery Solution

This case required a meticulous, multi-stage recovery process to ensure no further data loss or corruption.

Phase 1: Physical Stabilisation and Sector-Level Imaging
The HDD was first connected to our PC-3000 system and DeepSpar Disk Imager for a hardware-level assessment. We performed a full, sector-by-sector clone of the source drive onto a certified, sterile destination drive in our secure recovery array. This process employed our advanced firmware to handle read instability and used adaptive reading techniques to bypass bad sectors, ensuring we secured the most complete raw data image possible before any intrusive software procedures were undertaken.

Phase 2: File System Reconstruction and MFT Repair
With a secure image, we moved to logical recovery. Our engineers used a combination of ACE Laboratory’s PC-3000 Data Extractor and custom-built software to parse the damaged NTFS structures.

MFT Carving: We performed a raw scan of the disk image to locate and reconstruct a secondary, undamaged copy of the $MFTMirr file (a backup of the first 4 records of the MFT). Using this, we began rebuilding the file system’s “map.”
Analysing Transaction Logs ($LogFile): The NTFS $LogFile (Journal) was analysed to replay or roll back incomplete transactions. This allowed us to restore a consistent, earlier state of the file system metadata, effectively “undoing” the corruption that caused the crash.
Rebuilding the Boot Sector and $Bitmap: We manually validated and corrected the OS Boot Sector parameters and cross-referenced the $Bitmap file (which tracks allocated and free clusters) against the reconstructed MFT to ensure data integrity.

Phase 3: BCD and Registry Hive Extraction
With a stable file system, we could now access the \Windows\System32\config\ directory. The specific file mentioned in the error, SYSTEM, is one of the core Windows Registry hives that loads at boot. We extracted the entire config directory and, using offline registry hive parsing tools, verified that the client’s user data and application settings were intact, despite the OS being unbootable.

Phase 4: Data Extraction and Integrity Verification
The final phase involved extracting the client’s user data from the now-repaired logical structure. Data was recovered from all partitions on the drive. Crucially, we did not simply copy files; we performed checksum verification on recovered files against their MFT records to ensure bit-for-bit accuracy. All recovered data was transferred to a new, client-provided external storage device.

Conclusion

The client’s boot failure was a critical combination of BCD and NTFS metadata corruption. Standard software repair tools were ineffective as they rely on a functioning underlying file system. Our success was predicated on our ability to work at the hexadecimal sector level, utilising specialised hardware and deep file system knowledge to reconstruct the logical volumes and safely extract all user data without requiring a functional operating system.

The client’s data was recovered with a 98.7% success rate, preserving the entire logical structure and file integrity from all partitions on the drive.

Bracknell Data Recovery – 25 Years of Technical Excellence
When your data is critical, trust the UK’s No.1 HDD and SSD recovery specialists. We resolve the failures that others cannot.

Client Testimonials

“ I had been using a Lacie hard drive for a number of years to backup all my work files, iTunes music collection and photographs of my children. One of my children accidently one day knocked over the hard drive while it was powered up. All I received was clicking noises. Swansea data recovery recovered all my data when PC World could not. ”
Morris James Swansea

“ Apple Mac Air laptop would not boot up and I took it to Apple store in Grand Arcade, Cardiff. They said the SSD hard drive had stopped working and was beyond their expertise. The Apple store recommended Swansea data recovery so I sent them the SSD drive. The drive contained all my uni work so I was keen to get everything recovered. Swansea Data Recovery provided me a quick and professional service and I would have no hesitation in recommending them to any of my uni mates. ”
Mark Cuthbert Cardiff

“ We have a Q-Nap server which was a 16 disk raid 5 system. Three disks failed on us one weekend due to a power outrage. We contacted our local it service provider and they could not help and recommended Swansea Data Recovery. We removed all disks from server and sent them to yourselves. Data was fully recovered and system is now back up and running. 124 staff used the server so was critical for our business. Highly recommended. ”
Gareth Davies Newport Wales

“ I am a photographer and shoot portraits for a living. My main computer which I complete all my editing on would not recognise the HDD one day. I called HP support but they could not help me and said the HDD was the issue. I contacted Swansea Data Recovery and from the first point of contact they put my mind at ease and said they could get back 100% of my data. Swansea Data Recovery have been true to their word and recovered all data for me within 24 hours. ”
Iva Evans Cardiff

“ Thanks guys for recovering my valuable data, 1st rate service. ”
Don Davies Wrexham

“ I received all my data back today and just wanted to send you an email saying how grateful we both are for recovering our data for our failed iMac. ”
Nicola Ball Cardiff

“ Swansea Data Recovery are a life saver 10 years at work was at the risk of disappearing forever until yourselves recovered all my data, 5 star service!!!!! ”
Manny Baker Port Talbot Wales

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