The short answer: Prague is one of the few places in the Czech Republic where search results for „external drive data recovery„ include companies with genuine laboratories, so distance is not the deciding factor here—the stage your case has reached is. Take a newly failed drive wherever you can deliver it in person this afternoon. Send it to us in Brno mainly for a second opinion—when the first lab failed to recover the data, declined the job, or quoted only a „starting price" without a professional diagnosis. Our diagnostics for HDDs, SSDs, and USB media are free, you receive a fixed price before any work begins, and if we cannot recover the data, you pay zero crowns plus shipping.
In Prague, you really do have a choice. In the rest of the country, usually not
Search for „external drive data recovery Prague" and the results will include companies with genuine facilities in Prague—an address, a clean environment, and people who can open the drive. That is exceptional within the Czech Republic. Elsewhere, a headline bearing a city’s name often leads to a collection point or simply to a courier service taking the drive two hundred kilometres away.
So, plainly and without pretending otherwise: our laboratory is in Brno-Židenice. We have no facility in Prague. Prague is just over two hundred kilometres from us via the D1 motorway—around two hours by car, depending on traffic, or just under three hours by direct train.
This article is therefore not about claiming that we are nearby. It explains when sending a drive two hundred kilometres away makes sense—and when visiting a lab two streets away is the more sensible option.
One point upfront, because it causes the most confusion: sending a drive to a laboratory is not an order for a repair. It is an order for a diagnosis. Only that diagnosis can determine whether the problem is a faulty USB bridge costing a few hundred crowns or whether the drive must be opened in a clean environment at a cost of tens of thousands. Anyone giving you a binding price before that is guessing.
When to stay in Prague and when to send the drive to Brno
| Situation | Where to take the drive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The drive is clicking or was squealing, and you can hand it over in person this afternoon | A laboratory in Prague | With a mechanical fault, an extra day does not matter—the number of spin-up cycles does. If you can hand it over immediately, there is no reason to ship it. |
| The drive is not detected but does not click, and you have the same data elsewhere | Anywhere that provides a fixed price after diagnosis | There is no risk in waiting. The terms and price matter, not the distance. |
| It contains the only existing copy of company data | Deliver it in person—either in Prague or to us in Brno | The carrier covers the value of the hardware, not the value of the data. Only ship media containing data you also have elsewhere. |
| You received a price without a professional diagnosis, or only a „starting price" | Get a second diagnosis | A binding amount can only be determined after diagnosis. A range with no upper limit is not a quote. |
| The first laboratory failed to recover the data or declined the job | A second laboratory, even outside Prague | A second opinion only makes sense if it involves different equipment and different expertise. The procedure is described below. |
| An external SSD that is no longer detected | Somewhere equipped to work with controllers and memory chips | This is not a software problem. Most ordinary repair shops outsource cases like these. |
In one sentence: sending a drive to Brno makes the most sense when it has already been examined once in Prague and you need a different perspective, different equipment, or a fixed price before intervention. If the drive has just failed and you have a car, start with the laboratory around the corner.
Price: why quotes for the same job can differ tenfold
Call five laboratories about the same drive and you will receive five figures with almost nothing in common. This is not random—it reflects what each company actually does under the label „recovery." One runs recovery software and can do nothing more. Another opens the drive in a clean environment, replaces the heads with parts from a donor drive, and reads the platters one head at a time. A low price for a difficult case usually means that nobody has examined the case yet.
Then there is the second, more expensive part of shopping around: each attempt costs you more than time. A failing mechanism or worn flash memory does not have an unlimited number of start-up cycles. Every additional „free diagnosis" means spinning up the same damaged surface again and, on a drive with bad sectors, spending another several dozen minutes reading exactly where the damage is. Three diagnoses at three facilities are not three free opinions; they are three additional start-up cycles.
The rest comes down to how the price is presented. A „starting price" is a floor without a ceiling; a range has both limits. Our ranges look like this:
| Type of work | What is actually done | Our price range |
|---|---|---|
| Logical recovery (deleted data, RAW drive, reinstalled system) | sector-by-sector image and reconstruction of file-system tables | 2,900–5,900 Kč |
| Faulty electronics and firmware | transfer of adaptive data, work on the service area and translator | 5,900–9,900 Kč |
| Heads, platters, motor | replacement using a donor in a clean environment, reading one head at a time | 9,900–18,900 Kč |
| External SSD, controller firmware reconstruction | work on the controller and memory, reconstructing data from the chips | 9,900–24,900 Kč |
The practical conclusion: compare only the amounts provided to you in writing after diagnosis and before work begins. Anything given earlier is an estimate—whether from us or anyone else. Our article on how much drive data recovery costs explains what these figures are based on.
What „no recovery, no fee" really means
Free diagnosis is now standard in the industry and says nothing by itself. The differences are in the small print—ask us and anyone else the following questions:
- What exactly counts as success? If 80% of the files are recovered but the accounting database will not open, do you still pay the full price?
- Will I see a list of the recovered files before I pay?
- Who pays for the storage medium to which the data is written? For a four-terabyte job, that costs thousands of crowns, not hundreds.
- Are express diagnosis, storage, or return shipping charged separately?
- What happens to the original device, and how long do you retain the copy after handover?
Our diagnosis of HDDs, SSDs, RAID arrays, and USB media is free. You approve a fixed price before work begins, and if recovery is unsuccessful, you pay 0 Kč apart from shipping. The only exception is a targeted search for one specifically named file, which carries a flat fee of 1,000 Kč; if the search succeeds, this is deducted from the final price. If you do not feel comfortable deciding what to do with your drive, leave it to us—our data recovery process begins with an enquiry, after which you receive a free collection label by email. Once we call you with the diagnostic results, you are free to say no.
A second opinion: six questions for the first laboratory before moving the drive
This is the most common reason a drive eventually travels to us from Prague—and also the point at which the most damage can be done. Before collecting the device and taking it elsewhere, request these six pieces of information:
- A written diagnostic report. Ask what was specifically measured or found, not merely for a sentence saying „the drive is mechanically damaged."
- Was a sector-by-sector image created, and can I have it? If a complete image exists, the second laboratory can work from it without returning to the original drive at all. This is cheaper, faster, and—most importantly—avoids further strain on the failing mechanism. Bring your own empty drive for the copy.
- Was the device opened, and how many times? Every time a drive is opened outside a clean environment, particles are introduced onto the platter, where they act like an abrasive when the drive next spins up.
- Were the heads replaced, and which donor was used? Another replacement requires another donor drive from the same family with a compatible preamplifier. Donors for older models are finite, and knowing what has already been used can save days of searching.
- Was anything written to the service area? Rewriting firmware modules, the translator, or the bad-sector list is an intervention that can make restoring the original state difficult or impossible if no backup was made—the second laboratory must know about it in advance.
- Which tools were used for logical recovery, and was anything written to the original drive?
Then follow one rule: choose one second laboratory and let it see the case through. A third or fourth round will not improve the odds; it will merely use up more attempts. Telling us at intake that the drive has already been examined elsewhere does not count against you—it is information that can save us half a day and sometimes save the data. Concealed attempts are worse than the attempts themselves.
External drives: what really pushes up the price
The brand on the enclosure tells you less about the price and turnaround time than three things inside it.
Capacity and recording method. Portable 2.5-inch drives with capacities of four or five terabytes are 15-millimetre units based on SMR—at five terabytes, this is typically the Seagate ST5000LM000. Their tracks partially overlap, and the drive maintains its own internal map of where data is physically stored. Standard logical addressing remains visible externally, while the firmware translates it into physical locations. That translation is precisely what complicates laboratory reading when the firmware is damaged. Reading damaged areas is slower, and creating a sector-by-sector image of such a drive can take several days rather than an afternoon.
The enclosure. On some portable WD My Passport drives—the design varies by specific model and revision—the USB interface is integrated into the drive’s own circuit board. You will not find a SATA connector, and hardware encryption is often tied to that controller. Moving the platters from such a unit into another enclosure therefore makes no sense. Depending on the model, however, a laboratory may be able to repair the electronics, transfer the adaptive data, or reconstruct the required part of the controller. Desktop 3.5-inch enclosures, by contrast, usually contain a standard SATA drive with a separate USB bridge board in the enclosure—a failed bridge caused by an overvoltage from the power adapter is one of the cheapest faults to resolve. Be careful with WD My Book devices, however: they also contain a standard SATA drive, but on some models the encryption resides on the bridge. Without it—or without laboratory repair or reconstruction of it—the data on the platters cannot be accessed. Send the complete device, including its cable and power adapter, rather than removing the drive from the enclosure.
External SSDs are not simply „faster drives." A well-documented example involves second-generation SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro portable SSDs. Some users found that their devices suddenly stopped being detected in 2023. The manufacturer released a firmware update in May 2023, but it only helps prevent future failures—it does not restore data that has already been lost. Western Digital is facing class-action lawsuits in the United States over the issue. What matters to owners is that these are not merely „deleted files": wear levelling distributes the data across the chips, and the controller encrypts it. Without a working—or reconstructed—controller, a raw read of the memory is just noise. Our dedicated article explains why SSD recovery is more difficult than HDD recovery.
Before doing anything, follow the safe sequence of steps in external drive not loading or not detected. For a mechanically noisy drive, there is only one rule: switch it off and do not turn it on again. See what to do when a drive clicks.
Shipping from Prague: one business day each way
After you submit an enquiry, we will email you a Zásilkovna shipping label, and collection is free; we also accept deliveries through PPL. There are three packaging rules: use an antistatic bag or at least aluminium foil, provide at least five centimetres of soft cushioning on every side, and use a sturdy cardboard box rather than a padded envelope. If anything moves when you shake the packed box, it is not packed correctly. You can hand over the device in person at Viniční 3587/216, Brno-Židenice, by prior telephone arrangement on 775 556 063 (data recovery operates NONSTOP).
Allow one business day in each direction. The type of fault, however—not the distance—determines the overall turnaround time. Creating a sector-by-sector image of a large drive takes just as long in Prague as it does in Brno.
One more thing that most people discover too late: the carrier compensates you for the value of the device up to the agreed limit, never for the value of the data. Limits and supplementary insurance terms change, so check them when shipping. If the drive contains the only copy of your accounts or project documentation, get in the car—two hours on the D1 motorway costs less than a damaged parcel.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have a branch in Prague? No, and we do not claim otherwise. Our laboratory is in Brno-Židenice, and drives from Prague reach us through Zásilkovna collection, another carrier, or personal delivery by the customer. Unlike other regions, Prague does have genuine data recovery facilities, so you really do have a choice.
There are laboratories in Prague. Why should I send my drive to Brno? For a second opinion, different equipment, and a fixed price before intervention. If the first attempt failed or you received only a „starting price" without a professional diagnosis, it makes sense to have someone else assess the case. If the drive has just failed and you have a car, start with the laboratory around the corner—an extra day does not matter with a mechanical fault, but the number of spin-up cycles does.
Will you accept a drive that another laboratory declared unrecoverable? We will accept it for a free diagnosis and tell you the result. Sometimes the original verdict was correct—a scratched platter and an unavailable donor mechanism can genuinely mean the end of the road. In other cases, the first facility simply lacked the necessary equipment. Promising a result in advance would be dishonest; giving you an honest answer free of charge after diagnosis is not.
Will a second diagnosis reduce the chances of recovering the data? Practically not with a logical fault, but it can with a mechanical one—every additional start of a damaged drive may increase the risk of further degradation or contact between the heads and the platter surface. Ask the first laboratory whether it created a sector-by-sector image and, if so, request a copy. The second facility can then work from the image while the original drive remains untouched.
How much will I pay if the data cannot be recovered? Nothing apart from shipping. Diagnosis of HDDs, SSDs, RAID arrays, and USB media is free, you approve the price before work begins, and there is no charge if recovery fails. The only exception is a targeted search for one specifically named file, which carries a flat fee of 1,000 Kč; if the search succeeds, this is deducted from the final price.