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Freecom External HDD Hard Disk Drive Data Recovery & Repair
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Freecom External Hard Drive Repair & Data Recovery including:-

Freecom Mobile Hard Disk Drive 2.5"
Freecom Mobile Drive 2.5" USB 2.0 Win & Mac, 40GB 80GB 120GB 160GB
Freecom FHD-2 Pro 2.5" Mobile hard drive USB 2.0, 80GB 120GB 160GB
Freecom FHD-3 Stackable Mobile Hard Drive
Freecom ToughDrive Pro 2.5" Mobile hard drive 80GB 120GB 160GB

Freecom Desktop Hard Drives
Hard Drive 3.5" external hard drive solution, USB 2.0, Win & Mac, 80GB 160GB 250GB 400GB 500GB
Freecom Classic Hard Drive & Freecom Classic Hard Drive SL

Freecom DataTank
Freecom Data Tank 3.5" External Dual Disk Hard Drive USB 2.0 / FireWire 800 & 400 WIN & MAC..
Data Tank 500GB
Data Tank 800GB

Freecom SL Network Disk
Freecom SL Network drive 3.5" LAN & USB 2.0, Win & Mac, 80 GB 160 GB 250 GB 400 GB 500 GB

Freecom FSG-3 Gateway
Freecom FSG-3 Storage Gateway Router WAN LAN USB 2.0 S-ATA, Win & Mac, 160GB 250GB 400GB 500GB

Freecom Storage Gateway Wireless
Freecom Storage Gateway WLAN Wireless Network hard drive / 3.5" / Storage server Backup server, Web server,EMail server 160GB 250GB 400GB 500GB

Freecom Hard Drive PRO
Freecom Hard Drive PRO 3.5" USB 2.0 / eSATA / Win & MAC 250GB 400GB 500GB

Freecom FHD-XS
20GB 40GB 60GB mobile pocket hard drive USB 2.0

Freecom DATABAR USB STICK
DataBar 128 MB, DataBar 256 MB, DataBar 512 MB,
DataBar 1 GB, DataBar 2 GB, Databar 4 GB

Freecom USB CARD Freecom USB CARD 256 MB, USBCard 512 MB,
USBCard 1 GB USBCard 2 GB

Freecom Waterproof FM-10 Pro USB
FM-10 Pro USB Stick
Waterproof USB Sticks USB 2.0, Win, Mac & Linux..

What happens when we repair a Hard Drive / Hard Disc / Hard Disk?
Apex Technology provide a Professional Hard Disk Drive Repair and Data Recovery Service. We have the specialist hardware to fix your Freecom External HDD HardDisk / HardDisc / HardDrive and recover the data from the drive. Although the harddisk undergoes repair, we never recommend using them again for data storage.
Usually by the time a Freecom External HDD hard drive reaches us it is the last chance to recover the data from it. The hard disk undergoes repair purely to extract the data from it. We repair all types of faulty hard disks, mechanical, electronic, software, virus, firmware problems. We repair Desktop & Laptop Notebook Hard disk drives IDE ATA drives, Serial-ATA SATA drive repairs.

When is it time to call a specialist Hard Disk Drive Repair Centre?
There are various faults that you may observe during the harddrive or harddisc operation. Discs can go faulty, we have seen many cases including smoke, firmware, dropped drives. This section contains useful information on diagnosing Hard Disk Drive faults. Also included is a list of hard disk drives which we have fixed and any useful data sheets on Hard Disk Drives.

Cost of Data Recovery or Hard Disk / Disc or File repair
For more information on our Data Recovery or Hard Disk Drive Repair capabilities and pricing please click here

We recover data in the UK from the following Hard Disks
Western Digital, Fujitsu, IBM, Hitachi, Toshiba, Quantum, Seagate, Lacie, Conner, TEAC, Samsung, Kalok, Iomega
Click here to see a list of disks we recover data when they are not recognised in BIOS
Buffalo Tera-Station NAS XFS 0.6TB, 1.0TB, 2.0TB
Lacie Carte Orange USB Disk Drive Data Recovery
Lacie 80GB 160GB 200GB 250GB 320G 400GB 500GB Serial ATA SATA
Lacie Companion Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche 250GB USB 2.0
Firewire USB2.0 Firewire Desktop Mini, Big Disk Extreme, Bigger Disk Extreme

Common Faults observed in Hard Disk Drives - Failure - Failed - Dead! Defective Hard Disk Drive Heads
Commonly known as the 'Click of Death'. Your hard drive is on its way out, along with your data. One of the noisy hd faults.
A common fault which is usually easy to spot. When the drive is initially powered up, a logic check ensures that the drive has attained the necessary speed before launching the heads across the platter. If the drive can not attain a 'Ready' state, the logic is repeated for a pre-determined number of times causing a clicking sound, after which it stops trying.Your Freecom External HDD hard disk drive now appears dead. Do not run 'software' recovery programs in this state. They cause Disk I/O read / writes, and this places increased stress on the heads, which causes errors to be written to the disk, further decreasing the chances of data recovery.

Crashed Hard Disk Drive Heads

The hard drive is most likely making a grinding and scraping noise. Think dentist drill, its painful, and thats how it feels for your drive. Sounds nasty and is stripping the magnetic coating off the platters. Immediately turn the drive off and disconnect it from your computer. Then call us. Repeated use in this state is rapidly decreasing the chances of recovery. The sooner we can start the recovery, the greater the chance of success before it totally corrupts the hard drive data platter.
Again, do not run 'software' recovery programs in this state. They cause Disk I/O read / writes, and this places increased stress on the heads, which causes errors to be written to the disk, further decreasing the chances of data recovery.

Hard Disk Drive Motor Failure

The motor spins usually between 4200rpm upwards to around 15000rpm in todays higher end desktop drives. It is precisely controlled to enable synchronisation for reading the data off the platters. It fails in two main ways. The first is fairly obvious, it simply doesn't spin or won't start. Perhaps due to a power surge, spark or incorectly plugging the power lead in. You can usually feel a slight vibration or hear a humming sound on the drive when it powers up. If you can't then it is likely the motor isn't spinning. Erratic speed variations of the motor may cause the drive to take an extended period of time to come to the 'Ready' state. Prolonged or repeatedly powering the drives could well cause further damage. Disconnect the drive and give us a call for recovery of the data from the drive. Again, do not run 'software' recovery programs in this state. They cause Disk I/O read / writes, and this places increased stress on the heads, which causes errors to be written to the disk, further decreasing the chances of data recovery.

Hard Disk Drive not seen in BIOS
You may wonder what the BIOS is? BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System and in simple terms it provides a set of instructions to your computer, telling it how to start, and interface to the first 'Boot' device. When it has reached the first boot device, it can receive further instructions from there, and eventually load your operating system. During the start-up, the BIOS may have failed to detect the Hard Drive, and therefore is not shown. First check all connections and try again.

If it still won't work, then the recognition failure may be caused by a number of factors, eg corrupt boot sector, however, at startup on your computer you can tell whether the drive is being seen by the system BIOS. Power up the computer, and look for the on-screen instruction to tell you how to enter the BIOS. Usually this is achieved by pressing F1, F2 or DEL keys. Examine the menus for options on viewing the BIOS IDE peripheral setup and set your BIOS to automatically detect IDE drives. On some BIOSes there is an option to "automatically detect hard drives now". If you run this option and the computer 'hangs' or appears inactive for a a minute or more then it is likely that your Hard Disk Drive had failed to be recognised by the system BIOS.

Power Surge, Reversed Polarity, Power Supply plugged in the wrong way around

This is a frequent occurence - particularly plugging the power lead in the wrong way around. Despite the shape of the molex connector, the cheaper versions are often made of soft plastic and can easily be plugged in incorrectly. Often this results in the drive appearing totally dead with no noise coming from the motor and an unpleasant burning smell. Similar faults occur when a mains power surge can damage the computer motherbaord and hard drive circuitry. Immediately unplug the computer from the mains supply and withdraw the hard drive to a safe place until recovery can take place.

Useful Data Sheets on Hard Disk Drives
We recover data and repair the following Hard Disk Drives
Western Digital, Fujitsu, IBM, Hitachi, Toshiba, Quantum, Seagate, Conner, TEAC, Samsung, Kalok, Iomega
Click here to see a list of hard disks we recover data from or repair when they are not recognised in BIOS
Hard Disk Drive Knowledgebase and Database
Fujitsu MPG3 series Hard Drive Data Sheets
Fujitsu MPF3 series Hard Drive Data Sheets

Desktop Laptop Notebook USB & Firewire IEEE1394 harddisks
We recover desktop and laptop notebook harddisks, master/slave discdrives, USB Firewire hard discs, and have our own Class 100 clean room facilities as required by harddisc manufacturers for rebuilding failed drives.

Repair / Recover fix Mechanical / Electrical / Firmware Hard Diskdrive Problems

Hard Disk Drive not recognised in BIOS. Dropped harddiscs, smoking harddrives!
Hard Disk Drive Noisy, Clicking, Scraping, Sound. Disc Drive Head crashes.

Repair / Recover from following Operating File Systems
Data recovery for FAT FAT32 and NTFS file systems.
Linux with EXT2fs, EXT3, XFS, reiserfs & jfs filesystems on standalone & RAID volumes
Recover from partitions, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged
Recover files with the original time and date stamp
Recover files on network drives
Recover from all Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, NT 4.0, Windows™ XP and Windows™ 2000 systems.

Recover / retrieve files in the following situations
- UNC Uncorrectable Data Error - especially Maxtor SATA
- Mains Power Surge
- Reversed power polarity / voltage from incorrectly plugging in power leads or cable
- Fix Broken Pin or Pins on the Data Cable IDE SATA SCSI Connector
- Corruption of file systems FAT
- Corrupt Files
- Recycle Bin emptied or files were deleted without Recycle Bin
- Hardware or software failures
- Power failure
- HDD (Hard Disk Drive) not recognised in BIOS, computer not detecting harddiscs
- Virus attack
- Formatted Hard drives
- System shutdown
- Partitioning or boot-up sector problems
- Controller pcb Board failure / burnt
- Discdrive making repeated clicking sound
- No spin on diskdrive motor
- Forgotten or Lost Password removal from Hard Disk.


APEX Technology, Stafford UK - Computer Forensics and Data Recovery for the whole of Staffordshire, Failed Hard Drive, Hard Disk not recognised in BIOS

Main Locations covered for Hard Disk Drive
by Apex Technology UK

We have undertaken Hard Disk Drive repairs & data recovery throughout the UK from Brighton, London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Hard Disk Drive Data Recovery covers
Brighton, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, North West, West Midlands, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Newcastle under Lyme, Stoke on Trent, Stone, Burton on Trent, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Telford, Newport, Cannock, Rugeley, Uttoxeter, Keele, Trentham, Blythe Bridge, Cheadle, Barlaston, Festival Park, Hastings, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, Tamworth, Bedford, Cambridge, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Atherstone, Stevenage, Luton, Hemel Hempstead, Glasgow, Scotland, Edinburgh, Fort William, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Paisley, Dumfries, Elgin, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Oban, Basildon, Romford, Chelmsford, Benfleet, Southampton, Edgbaston, Islington, Macclesfield, Bridgnorth, Bradford, Sheffield, Leeds, Yorkshire, Fife, Kircaldy, Suffolk, Thetford, Bury St.Edmunds, Ipswich, Newcastle upon Tyne, South Shields, Sunderland, Northumbria, Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Preston, Darlington, Rotherham, Penrith, Workington, Lancaster, Durham, Barrow in Furness, Gateshead, Carlisle, Teeside, Stockton on Tees, Erith, Kent, Ashford, Northhants, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, Bristol, Swindon, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Hastings, Maidstone, Southend on sea, Aberdeen, Inverness, Bridgnorth, Flakirk, Cardiff, Swansea, Chester, Liverpool, Blackpool, Aberystwyth, Wrexham, Carmarthen, Hull, Norwich, Gloucester, Bridgend, Torquay, Bath, Cantebury, Portsmouth, Exeter, AbuDhabi, Dubai, Sharajah, Belgium, New Zealand, Epsom, Surrey, Northern Ireland, Belfast, Dublin, Londonderry, Armagh, Cork, Eire

 
  Freecom Hard Disk Drive Data Recovery News
Freecom Data Recovery Hard Disk Drive HDD Repair

Client Comments

160GB Seagate Firmware 3.AAC not spinning or recognised in computer BIOS
07/04/2008, Nick Hews, Active Computing, Barnstaple, Exeter

Just to say thanks from our client for a speedy and successful data recovery. If something like this happens again you will be top of our list to call!

Archos USB drive file system not recognised
10/01/2008, Hubna Butt, Bradford, Yorkshire

Thank you I have received the recovered dvd. I’d also like to thank you for a very prompt service, if ever I need any media recovering then I shall most definitely be using your company

Buffalo Terastation TS-0.6TGL/R5 0.6GB RAID5, E21 chip failure Network Controller.
15/10/2007, Adam Monnery, AppiChar Ltd, London

Marvellous, thank you for all you’ve done. The client was very impressed with the speed and level of service… we’ll certainly be using you again!


News Items

Western Digital WD NetCenter Data Recovery
16/06/2007, Apex Technology

Apex Technology now offer Data Recovery for the WD NetCenter when it has lost its share folder, or when the NetCentre cannot be viewed through the utility. Recover accidental removal of the Share Folder. Gradual failing or reporting of incorrect file size. Lost File & Folders on the NetCentre. Also recovery from Corrupt Superblock. The Western Digital NetCenter is not visible from a standard Windows system.

Netgear SC101 firmware and drive partition data recovery
16/06/2007, Apex Technology

Data Recovery for Netgear SC101. Following firmware upgrade the drive partition has been known to disappear. Apex now offers data recovery of files and folders from the SC101. The SC101 uses a proprietary file-system and is not visible from a standard Windows or Linux system. Sometimes (when the SC101 is in Mirror drive mode RAID1 one drive disappears from the system for a while. A user upgrades the firmware and then nothing is visiable on te drive. Contact Apex Technology for data recovery.

Adaptec SATA RAID Data Recovery.
17/03/2007, Apex

Apex Technology can recover your data from such advanced data protection features which are currently available for the Adaptec SATA2 Serial ATA II RAID 2420SA four-port controller, the Adaptec SATA Serial ATA II RAID 2820SA eight-port controller, the Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI RAID 4800SAS eight-port PCI-X controller and the Adaptec Serial Attached SCSI RAID 4805SAS eight-port PCIe controller. These include Hot Space (RAID 5EE) and Striped Mirror (RAID 1E).



Freecom Hard Drive Data Recovery & File Repair News..
 
 
 
 
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Brighton, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, North West, West Midlands, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Newcastle under Lyme, Stoke on Trent, Stone, Burton on Trent, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Telford, Newport, Cannock, Rugeley, Uttoxeter, Keele, Trentham, Blythe Bridge, Cheadle, Barlaston, Festival Park, Hastings, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, Tamworth, Bedford, Cambridge, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Atherstone, Stevenage, Luton, Hemel Hempstead, Glasgow, Scotland, Edinburgh, Fort William, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Paisley, Dumfries, Elgin, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Oban, Basildon, Romford, Chelmsford, Benfleet, Southampton, Edgbaston, Islington, Macclesfield, Bridgnorth, Bradford, Sheffield, Leeds, Yorkshire, Fife, Kircaldy, Suffolk, Thetford, Bury St.Edmunds, Ipswich, Newcastle upon Tyne, South Shields, Sunderland, Northumbria, Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Preston, Darlington, Rotherham, Penrith, Workington, Lancaster, Durham, Barrow in Furness, Gateshead, Carlisle, Teeside, Stockton on Tees, Erith, Kent, Ashford, Northhants, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, Bristol, Swindon, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Hastings, Maidstone, Southend on sea, Aberdeen, Inverness, Bridgnorth, Flakirk, Cardiff, Swansea, Chester, Liverpool, Blackpool, Aberystwyth, Wrexham, Carmarthen, Hull, Norwich, Gloucester, Bridgend, Torquay, Bath, Cantebury, Portsmouth, Exeter, AbuDhabi, Dubai, Sharajah, Belgium, New Zealand, Epsom, Surrey, Northern Ireland, Belfast, Dublin, Londonderry, Armagh, Cork, Eire