Windows PC Data Recovery

With 25 years of experience in professional data recovery, Coventry Data Recovery is the leading specialist for resolving data loss issues from PC desktops and workstations. We recover lost, inaccessible, deleted or corrupted data from all major brands and storage technologies used in modern desktop systems.

Brands We Recover From – Top 30 Selling Desktop PC Brands in the UK

We provide recovery services for the UK’s most popular desktop manufacturers and models, including:

1. HP – Pavilion, OMEN, EliteDesk
2. Dell – XPS, OptiPlex, Inspiron
3. Lenovo – ThinkCentre, Legion, IdeaCentre
4. ASUS – ROG, ExpertCenter, VivoPC
5. Acer – Aspire TC, Predator Orion, Veriton
6. MSI – MAG Infinite, Trident, PRO Series
7. Razer – Tomahawk, Razer Blade desktop
8. Alienware – Aurora R13, Area-51
9. Corsair – ONE PRO i200
10. Intel – NUC Series
11. Apple – Mac Mini, Mac Studio
12. CyberPowerPC – Infinity X Series
13. iBUYPOWER – Element, Trace
14. Chillblast – Fusion, Next Gen
15. Zoostorm – Delta, StormForce
16. Medion – Erazer Engineer X20
17. Gigabyte – AORUS, BRIX Pro
18. Fujitsu – Esprimo Series
19. ASRock – DeskMini A300
20. Shuttle – XPC Cube Series
21. Beelink – SER Series
22. Dell EMC – PowerEdge Tower
23. Wortmann AG – Terra PC
24. Overclockers UK – Custom-built Gaming PCs
25. Palicomp – Infinity Xtreme
26. Thermaltake – LUXA2, View Series
27. Hannspree – Micro PCs
28. Zoostorm – Advanced Mini Towers
29. PC Specialist – Vortex, Recoil Series
30. Origin – Chronos, Neutron

Common PC Desktop Drive Faults – Top 30 Issues with Technical Recovery Procedures

Below are the most frequent PC hard drive issues and how our engineers resolve them:

1. Mechanical Failure
   Symptoms: Clicking or grinding noises, no spin-up.
   Recovery: Disassembled in ISO 5 cleanroom. Damaged read/write heads replaced with compatible donor parts. Imaging performed using head-mapping techniques.
2. Bad Sectors
   Symptoms: Freezing during file access.
   Recovery: Sector-by-sector imaging with controlled retry algorithms. Skipped sector reconstruction using ECC and parity analysis.
3. Firmware Corruption
   Symptoms: Drive visible in BIOS with incorrect capacity.
   Recovery: Manufacturer-specific tools (e.g., PC3000) used to rebuild corrupt firmware modules and reinitialise SA (Service Area).
4. Logical Corruption
   Symptoms: File system not recognised.
   Recovery: Hex-level analysis of partition tables and MFT/FAT/EXT to rebuild file system metadata manually.
5. PCB Failure
   Symptoms: No power or burning smell.
   Recovery: Replacement PCB with ROM chip transplantation. TVS diodes and power regulators tested and replaced.
6. Accidental File Deletion
   Symptoms: Deleted important folders.
   Recovery: Carving algorithms used on cloned image to recover deleted file signatures (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, HFS+).
7. Drive Not Recognised by System
   Symptoms: Not detected in BIOS or Disk Management.
   Recovery: Interface repair, firmware reinitialisation, or logical board rework as required.
8. Power Surge Damage
   Symptoms: Drive unresponsive after power spike.
   Recovery: Power circuit tracing and chip-level repair, fuse replacement, TVS diode removal.
9. Partition Table Corruption
   Symptoms: “Drive must be formatted” error.
   Recovery: Manual reconstruction of GPT/MBR using raw data analysis and known file markers.
10. Head Crash
    Symptoms: Grinding noise followed by failure to spin.
    Recovery: Platter examination and donor head transplant. Imaging with selective head disabling.
11. Platter Damage
    Symptoms: Catastrophic failure or contamination.
    Recovery: Contaminants cleaned in cleanroom. Imaging prioritises undamaged zones.
12. Overheating
    Symptoms: Drive fails after extended use.
    Recovery: Thermal diagnostics followed by board and motor testing. Data cloned under controlled temp environment.
13. File System Corruption (NTFS/FAT/HFS+/EXT)
    Symptoms: Files missing or unreadable.
    Recovery: File tables rebuilt and fragments re-stitched manually.
14. Controller Failure (SSD/Hybrid Drives)
    Symptoms: SSD not responding.
    Recovery: Direct NAND chip access (chip-off), ECC decoding, and data reassembly.
15. NAND Flash Degradation (SSD)
    Symptoms: File copy freezes, inaccessible partitions.
    Recovery: Dumping raw NAND contents, decoding ECC blocks and reconstructing FTL mapping.
16. Virus/Malware Infection
    Symptoms: Hidden/encrypted/missing files.
    Recovery: Malware-neutral imaging and removal of payloads without booting infected OS.
17. Accidental Formatting
    Symptoms: Drive formatted accidentally.
    Recovery: Full image created, recovery of old partition structure from unallocated space.
18. Overwritten Data
    Symptoms: Partial overwriting.
    Recovery: Partial recovery from metadata cache or journaling filesystem traces.
19. Unsupported File System
    Symptoms: “Unsupported format” error.
    Recovery: Reverse-engineering of obscure or proprietary file systems.
20. Water/Liquid Damage
    Symptoms: Rust or oxidisation.
    Recovery: Internal cleaning, board replacement, and platter stabilisation.
21. Short Circuits
    Symptoms: No power post liquid spill or faulty PSU.
    Recovery: Short detection and isolation, component rework or bypass.
22. BIOS Doesn’t Detect Drive
    Symptoms: No signal from drive.
    Recovery: Board diagnostics, firmware port reconfiguration.
23. Encrypted Drives (BitLocker/VeraCrypt)
    Symptoms: Recovery requires credentials.
    Recovery: Secure imaging followed by decryption with provided keys or brute-force decryption (if metadata intact).
24. Slow Response (Freezing PC)
    Symptoms: Minutes to access or copy small files.
    Recovery: Recovered by skipping bad sectors and building a stable image.
25. Drive Beeping or Buzzing
    Symptoms: No spin-up, beeps.
    Recovery: Stuck spindle repaired via disassembly. Donor motor sometimes required.
26. Failed Boot Sector
    Symptoms: “No OS Found” or system loop.
    Recovery: Manual boot sector rebuild using hex analysis.
27. Corrupted Windows Registry Files
    Symptoms: Boot failure or BSOD.
    Recovery: Extract user data by bypassing OS, recovering profile folders directly.
28. Thermal Damage to Internal Components
    Symptoms: Burnt smell, no boot.
    Recovery: Chip-level component replacement, drive stabilisation before cloning.
29. Drive Shows Zero Capacity
    Symptoms: Detected as 0GB.
    Recovery: Firmware SA corruption resolved using vendor tools and bootloader restoration.
30. Manufacturing Defect
    Symptoms: Sudden failure within warranty.
    Recovery: Bypassing ROM limitations and rebuilding SMART tables.

Supported File Systems

We support data recovery for all major file systems, including:

• NTFS, exFAT, FAT32 (Windows)
• HFS+, APFS (Mac)
• EXT3, EXT4, XFS (Linux)
• BitLocker, VeraCrypt, LUKS (Encrypted)

Why Choose Coventry Data Recovery?

• 25 years of experience across all PC recovery scenarios
• Cleanroom for physical recovery
• Cutting-edge firmware and NAND flash analysis tools
• Emergency 48-hour recovery service available
• Transparent process and personalised case handling
• Free diagnostics with no obligation

Contact Coventry Data Recovery Today

If your PC desktop has suffered from hardware failure, accidental deletion, or file system corruption, trust Coventry Data Recovery to recover your data securely and efficiently. Contact us today for a free diagnostic.