How much does hard drive recovery cost in San Antonio?

The diagnosis is free. Recovery is $149 to $349, depending on the damage and how much data there is, and I quote the exact price before I start. If I can’t get your files back, you pay nothing. Drives that need a clean room are a different price bracket, and I’ll tell you that up front before you spend anything.

My external drive stopped showing up. Is the data gone?

Usually not. With external drives the USB enclosure or cable fails far more often than the drive inside it. I take the drive out of the case, connect it directly, and most of the time the files are all there.

Windows says "You need to format the disk before you can use it." Should I click Format?

No. Click Cancel. Formatting writes over the information that tells the computer where your files are. The files are almost always still on the drive, and I can usually get them back if nothing else gets written to it.

Can you recover data from a laptop that won't turn on?

Yes, in most cases. A laptop that won’t boot usually has a working drive inside. I pull the drive, copy your files to a new drive, and then we can decide whether the laptop is worth repairing.

Do you recover SSDs and phone storage?

I recover from SSDs, hard drives, USB flash drives and SD cards. A failed SSD is harder than a hard drive, and deleted files on an SSD are often unrecoverable, so call me before you try anything on one. For phones, I can usually solve backup and iCloud problems, but I don’t do chip-level phone recovery.

Hard Drive & Data Recovery in San Antonio

Dead drive, a drive throwing errors, or one that won't show up on your computer at all. I'll look at it for free and tell you what I can and can't get back.

Call or text (210) 960-3260

Open Mon–Fri 8–7, Saturday 9–5. House calls all over Bexar County.

Matt, owner of San Antonio Computer Help

Data recovery is the one job where I have to be honest about the limits, because some companies won’t be. About 70% of what people bring me is fixable on a workbench. The rest needs a clean room and costs thousands. I’ll tell you which one you have, for free, before you pay anything.

Most of the hard drive calls I get fall into one of the three groups below.

Dead drives

The drive doesn’t spin up, the computer doesn’t react when you plug it in, or it just sits there.

External drives that died. Usually the USB enclosure, the power adapter or the cable has failed, not the drive itself. I take the drive out and read it directly.
Laptops and desktops that won’t boot. The drive inside is often fine. I pull it and copy your files off.
Drives that went quiet after a fall or a power surge. Sometimes it’s the drive’s circuit board, sometimes it’s internal damage. I’ll test it and tell you which.

If the drive clicks, beeps, grinds, or doesn’t spin at all, the read heads or motor are probably gone. That needs a Class 100 clean room, which I don’t have, and nobody local does. The nearest clean-room services are DriveSavers (California) and Gillware (Wisconsin). I’ll tell you which one is cheaper for your situation. Their quotes typically start around $700–1,500.

Stop using a clicking drive. Every power-on can scrape the platters and make recovery harder or impossible.

Drives that show errors

The drive shows up, but something is wrong:

“You need to format the disk in drive E: before you can use it”
“The drive needs to be initialized” or “The parameter is incorrect”
“The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer” on a Mac
SMART warnings, “imminent hard disk failure”, or a drive that shows as RAW in Disk Management
File copies that freeze partway, or folders that suddenly show up empty
A computer that keeps running CHKDSK or a disk repair at every startup

These are usually a damaged file system or bad sectors, not a dead drive. I make a full copy of the drive first, then recover from the copy so the original isn’t stressed further. Don’t click Format, don’t run CHKDSK, and don’t install recovery software onto the same drive. Each of those can overwrite the files you’re trying to save.

Drives that don’t show up on your computer

You plug it in and nothing appears in File Explorer or Finder.

The drive has no drive letter or shows as “Unallocated” in Disk Management
The computer makes the connect sound but the drive never opens
A drive from an old computer that the new one doesn’t recognize
A drive that worked on a Mac but not on a PC, or the other way around

A lot of these come down to the enclosure, the cable, a missing drive letter, or a format the computer can’t read. Those are usually simple to fix once I have the drive in front of me. If it’s something worse, I’ll tell you before going further.

Deleted files and photos

Emptied the trash, formatted the wrong card, or a kid wiped the SD card. If nothing has been written over them, the files are almost always still there. Stop using the drive or card and call me.

Pricing

Free diagnosis. Recovery is $149 to $349 and I quote the exact price before I start (full price list). If I can’t, you don’t pay anything. I’ll bring an external drive to copy your files onto if you don’t have one.

A note on prevention

Once your files are back, I’ll set up a backup that runs on its own: a Time Machine drive for Macs, File History or a cloud backup for PCs. While I’m there I can also clean out anything sketchy on the machine, fix a laptop that won’t boot, or take care of any other computer repair the machine needs.

Common questions

How much does hard drive recovery cost in San Antonio?: The diagnosis is free. Recovery is $149 to $349, depending on the damage and how much data there is, and I quote the exact price before I start. If I can’t get your files back, you pay nothing. Drives that need a clean room are a different price bracket, and I’ll tell you that up front before you spend anything.
My external drive stopped showing up. Is the data gone?: Usually not. With external drives the USB enclosure or cable fails far more often than the drive inside it. I take the drive out of the case, connect it directly, and most of the time the files are all there.
Windows says "You need to format the disk before you can use it." Should I click Format?: No. Click Cancel. Formatting writes over the information that tells the computer where your files are. The files are almost always still on the drive, and I can usually get them back if nothing else gets written to it.
Can you recover data from a laptop that won't turn on?: Yes, in most cases. A laptop that won’t boot usually has a working drive inside. I pull the drive, copy your files to a new drive, and then we can decide whether the laptop is worth repairing.
Do you recover SSDs and phone storage?: I recover from SSDs, hard drives, USB flash drives and SD cards. A failed SSD is harder than a hard drive, and deleted files on an SSD are often unrecoverable, so call me before you try anything on one. For phones, I can usually solve backup and iCloud problems, but I don’t do chip-level phone recovery.

Get in touch

Easiest way is to just call or text. I’ll get back to you the same day.

Phone: (210) 960-3260 (texts welcome)
Hours: Mon–Fri 8a – 7p
Saturday 9a – 5p
Sunday by appointment
Service area: I come to you anywhere in greater San Antonio: Alamo Heights, Stone Oak, Boerne, Schertz, Helotes, Leon Valley, Southtown, Castle Hills, Universal City, and most of Bexar County.