Damaged hard disk (HDD)
The disk clicks, won't spin up, isn't detected in BIOS, or reads with errors.
See the solution →Data recovery Brno
Drive won’t read, it clicks, or data is gone? We get it back.
Switch the device off and do not write anything to it. In our own Brno-Židenice lab we find out what happened and give you a fixed price before we start. We have been doing this since 2008.
Initial HDD and SSD diagnostics are free in our Brno lab, recovery starts at 2 900 Kč and standard recovery carries no recovery fee if unsuccessful (apart from shipping). Phone/tablet diagnostics and non-standard cases cost 1 210 Kč incl. VAT (1 000 Kč excl. VAT), announced in advance — call +420 775 556 063, 24/7.
In person in Brno, by courier or parcel point.
Data recovery
What problem are you facing?
Select the device or situation — we'll guide you to a page with the procedure, success estimate, and price.
SSD disk or M.2
The system doesn't recognize the disk, writes incorrectly, or the firmware/controller has failed.
See the solution →External USB disk
The disk cannot be connected, it knocks, has been dropped, or pulled from the socket.
See the solution →RAID / NAS array
Two or more disks have failed, the array is degraded, or it cannot be rebuilt.
See the solution →USB flash / SD card / mobile
The flash isn't recognized, the card says "format", or the mobile won't start.
See the solution →Deleted or encrypted files
Accidentally deleted, reformatted, or attacked by ransomware.
See the solution →Before you try anything
Drive acting up? Do not try anything now.
Do
- Unplug the drive and leave it alone.
- Write down what happened (drop, clicking, power surge, water).
- Call us or fill in the form below.
Don't
- Do not keep powering it on to see if it comes back.
- Do not run CHKDSK, formatting or recovery software.
- Do not open or take the drive apart.
How it works
Three steps. You know what you get at each one.
- 01
Intake
Bring the drive to our Brno-Židenice lab (Viniční 3587/216, Mon–Fri 10:00–16:00) or send it: Zásilkovna is free (we e-mail you the label), courier pickup by arrangement. How to pack and ship a drive
What you get: a handover record with the device condition and what matters most to you
- 02
Diagnostics and quote
Initial diagnostics of a standard HDD or SSD (including external drives) are free. Non-standard cases (drive opened by another service, overwriting or formatting, complex analysis) cost 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT) — we tell you in advance.
What you get: what happened to the drive, what can be recovered and a fixed price. Nothing else happens without your approval.
- 03
Recovery and handover
Once you approve the price, we recover the data. You check the list of recovered files and pay for the recovery only after that.
What you get: your data on your own or a new drive, in person in Brno or by parcel
Who recovers your data
Our own lab in Brno-Židenice. Customer ratings: Google 5.0 ★ × 102 · Firmy.cz 4.9 ★ × 70 (as of 2 Oct 2026)
Similar real cases (anonymised):
- Western Digital (WD) Data Recovery — 100 % Recovered · Brno · HDD · recovered 100 %
- Recovery from a 20-drive RAID 6 in a NAS — a double failure · RAID · recovered 100 %
- Seagate ST2000DM001 2 TB — micro-scoring and bent heads (Grenada family) · HDD · recovered 89 %
Data recovery request
Tell us what happened.
A few clicks: what device, what happened and how urgent it is. Phone and e-mail are both required so we can reach you. We get back to you within one business day to agree the next step.
Urgent? Call 24/7 +420 775 556 063
18
years in business
95 %
success rate, faulty HDDs
18 +
media categories
Brno
own laboratory
- Confidentiality
- Standard drive recovery
- Fixed price upfront
- Own laboratory
- 18 years in the field
Quick Triage
Is it still recoverable?
60 seconds. We’ll tell you what to do right now, what definitely not to do, and where you’ll roughly land on price. No form, no spam.
- 1 Device type
- 2 What happened
- 3 First aid
Jak to funguje
Pět kroků, žádné překvapení.
01
Contact
Send an enquiry or call us. You fill in a short form — what happened and which data is critical.
02
Delivery
By courier (Zásilkovna, PPL) or in person in Brno-Židenice. We’ll advise how to pack the drive safely.
03
Diagnostics
Initial HDD and SSD diagnostics free, price quoted in advance. Phone/tablet and non-standard cases: 1 210 Kč incl. VAT (1 000 Kč excl. VAT).
04
Data recovery
After you approve a fixed price, we start the recovery. You get a list of files to preview.
05
Handover
In person in Brno or onto your / a new drive. Recovery is billed after checking; paid diagnostics remain payable if recovery fails.
Why ITHOPE for data recovery
Six things our reputation is built on.
Eighteen years of practice
Since 2008. Thousands of cases, two generations of technology — from mechanical HDDs to NVMe.
Discretion, no paperwork
Your data stays just between us — automatically, no paperwork. If you would like a written NDA for peace of mind, we are glad to sign one.
Clean room in Brno
Our own lab, not resale. We open the drives ourselves, in a controlled environment.
Free initial HDD and SSD diagnostics
We find out what can be recovered and quote before any work — you decide after that. Non-standard cases and phone/tablet: 1 210 Kč incl. VAT (1 000 Kč excl. VAT), announced in advance.
Diagnosis within 24 hours
We get back to you fast. When it’s urgent, we call you — so you can focus on other things.
A physical office
We’re not a mailbox or a virtual office. Come and see us in Brno-Židenice.
From our laboratory
Brno, not outsourcing.
An in-house laboratory with stereo microscopes, soldering stations, and a clean box. Thousands of recovered disks in the archive. No PR trip — this is what our work looks like every day.
Call: +420 775 556 063 (NONSTOP)
Do you have a problem accessing your data? Your PC is crying that there is no HDD? By mistake you deleted your important files? We can help you!
Free pickup and analysis
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Disk delivery costs (whole CZ) | FREE |
| Initial HDD and SSD diagnostics (RAID/NAS, USB, cards: may be free depending on complexity) | FREE |
| Personal handover in Brno | FREE |
Why choose ITHOPE for data recovery
The most valuable assets today are data and information. It could be your company’s know-how, research data, your crypto currency wallet, or family pictures from last vacation. Most of them are priceless and very important — so you have a problem when you can’t access them anymore. Professional data recovery service is the way out.
We are getting data back to life for more than 18 years (since 2008). Thanks to our professional equipment, we are always capable of telling you the source of the problem and the solution — if there is any — so you can access all your data, or as much as possible.
Before standard recovery of selected classic media, we perform initial HDD and SSD diagnostics free of charge and agree on the next steps. In non-standard cases (the drive was opened by another service, overwriting/formatting, complex analysis) diagnostics cost 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT) — we tell you in advance. Diagnostics of a mobile phone or tablet cost 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT); they are included in the final price of a successful recovery and charged separately if the customer does not go ahead or recovery is not possible. Targeted search for a specifically identified deleted file costs 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT), deducted from the total job price if successful; if unsuccessful, it remains payable for the work performed. Your data is our top priority. We follow the ethical code of data recovery and guarantee maximal discretion and security for your data. We always encrypt your data, so no other unauthorized person can access it.
The whole device is dead, not just the drive? Data first, repair second
Data recovery and repair are two different services with different prices — and with a dead device that holds important data they have a fixed order. We secure the data first, the repair comes after, so that attempts to revive the machine do not destroy what can still be read.
- Laptop or PC won’t turn on and you have no backup — we remove the drive and assess it separately; a healthy one gets copied, a failing one goes to the lab. The repair of the machine is arranged within the same job.
- Phone or tablet fell in water, won’t turn on — do not charge or switch it on; we reach the data through the original device.
- The NAS reports degraded or crashed — do not start a rebuild; assessment of the array and a price before any paid work.
How to tell repair from data recovery step by step: Not working and your data is inside? Repair or data recovery. If you only care about the device and your data is backed up, go straight to PC & laptop repair.
Data recovery — approximate price list
Every data recovery case is unique. The exact recovery price is calculated after diagnostics; initial HDD and SSD diagnostics are free, with the paid exceptions above.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Disk delivery costs (whole CZ) | FREE |
| Personal handover (Brno only) | FREE |
| Initial HDD and SSD diagnostics (standard working time) | FREE |
| Data recovery from HDD and SSD — damage level 1 | from 5 000 Kč |
| Data recovery from HDD and SSD — damage level 2 | from 6 000 Kč |
| Data recovery from HDD and SSD — damage level 3 | from 9 000 Kč |
| Data recovery from Flash disk, SD cards, mobile | from 4 000 Kč |
| Back-up of saved data for you | FREE |
| Ecological liquidation of medium after data recovery | FREE |
| Unsuccessful standard recovery of classic media (apart from any shipping; paid diagnostics excluded) | FREE |
Damage levels explained
- Level 1: deleted files, formatted drive, corrupted file system FAT/NTFS
- Level 2: damaged reading/writing heads, spindle, bearings, data layer, service part; file system different from FAT/NTFS (ZFS, btrfs, ext4, HFS+, APFS)
- Level 3: severe drive damage, combination of software and hardware damage, virtualized and encrypted systems
All prices are without VAT. The stated prices are informative. The exact price will be set individually after damage diagnostics. The exact price is affected by extent of damage, total medium capacity, time and material demands.
Data recovery — informative time demands
| Mode | Delivery |
|---|---|
| ECO mode | up to 7 weeks — 10 % from exact price w/o VAT |
| Priority mode | till 4 working days, + 50 % on exact price w/o VAT |
| Express mode | till 48 h, + 100 % on exact price w/o VAT |
Depends on availability of spare parts.
How do we do it
We use data recovery in cases of hardware or mechanical damage to data medium (HDD or SSD, SD card, flash drives, memory cards etc.). If the data medium doesn’t work and data recovery is not possible, we will always inform you about the next steps. After mutual agreement we proceed with, for example, exchange of the disk and we continue with the data recovery.
We do hardware data recovery from
- Internal and external HDDs (Samsung, Toshiba, Seagate, WD, etc.)
- SSDs (Samsung, Intel, Kingston, WD and others)
- USB Flash drives and memory cards (CF, SD, SDHC, SDXC and others)
- Mobile, tablet (Android, iPhone, Windows Phone)
- RAID arrays (0, 1, 5, 6, 10), Synology, QNAP, Drobo, enterprise NAS
If there is any software malfunction on physically working drive, we can get your data back
- Formatted drive
- Accidentally deleted files and folders
- Unsuccessful OS reinstallation
- RAW format
Categories of drive damage
- Software damage — deleting or rewriting files, corrupted files, broken file system, formatted drive
- Mechanical — mainly HDD issue, reading heads are scratching the data layer
- Electronics — damage to internal or external electronics of the data drive
Most common causes of data corruption
- External factors — drive exposed to liquids, dusty environments, high temperatures, physical shocks (e.g. fall)
- Software causes — application collapse, computer viruses, RAW format (MBR sector corruption)
- Electrical causes — sudden loss of power supply, short circuit, power supply malfunction
- Mechanical issues — problems with moving parts of HDD (platters, reading/writing heads, actuator arm, spindle)
How do I know my data is at risk
- I can’t access my data
- Previously openable file won’t open
- File can’t be moved, copied or deleted
- Operating system freezes or crashes often
- Folders are full of strange data
- Documents are corrupted
- PC doesn’t recognize the HDD/SSD
- The operating system crashes when opening a file
- PC or notebook makes strange sounds
- and many more
If you are experiencing one or more of the above, contact us and we will help. We will find the core of the problem and solve it. Upon your wish, your data will be backed-up to a chosen disk type.
Attention 1: Data recovery is a professional craft — please do not try at home. Non-professional data recovery attempts may cause permanent loss of all data.
Attention 2: Despite all our efforts, we can’t guarantee 100 % data recovery success.
After data recovery: so it does not happen again
You have your data back — now the goal is that the next failure means only a drive swap, not another recovery. Follow-up services are handled by our PC service, each under its own price list:
- A new drive instead of the faulty one — replacing the drive with an SSD, reinstalling Windows and transferring data (PC and laptop service, service price list).
- 3-2-1 backup at home — we set up automatic backups to an external drive, a NAS or the cloud (data backup).
- NAS — installation, replacing a drive in the array and a supervised rebuild for Synology and QNAP.
- Business — company data backup, a DR plan and restore testing (backup for businesses).
Contact
- Phone / WhatsApp: +420 775 556 063 (NONSTOP)
- E-mail: zachranadat@ithope.cz
- Office: Viniční 3587/216, 615 00 Brno-Židenice, Czech Republic
- Business hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–16:00
Real recoveries
This is how it turns out with us.
Three anonymized cases where the client got their data back — with recovery ratio and lab time.
USB
Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 — eMMC chip in undermold and chip-off for a sole trader
Case study: Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 32 GB USB drive, eMMC chip bonded to the PCB. Custom chip-off, decryption with the client's password, 85 % of the sole trader's accounting recovered.
Recovered
85%
Time
21 days
HDD
Seagate ST5000LM000 — SMR drive, mechanical failure
Case study: Seagate ST5000LM000, a 5 TB 2.5" SMR drive with a mechanical failure. Read head-stack replacement in a clean room, 94% of the data back in 6 days.
Recovered
94%
Time
6 days
HDD
Seagate 750 GB from a MacBook — weak head and incipient scoring in the service area
Case study: Seagate ST750LM030 from a MacBook. Weak head 0, damaged G-list, an incipient micro-scratch in the service area. 88 % of the data recovered in 10 days via the B2B channel.
Recovered
88%
Time
10 days
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much does data recovery from an HDD hard drive cost?
For logical faults (deletion, formatting, an unbootable system) from 2,900 CZK. For a mechanical fault requiring a head replacement in the clean chamber, typically 9,900–18,900 CZK. We tell you the exact price after the initial diagnostics — free for HDDs and SSDs. If the recovery fails, you pay nothing apart from any shipping costs.
How long does data recovery take?
For logical faults 1–3 working days. For mechanical faults 5–14 days depending on complexity and the availability of spare parts (donor drives of the same model). For RAID reconstruction 7–21 days depending on the number and condition of the member drives.
My drive is clicking. What should I do?
Disconnect it from power immediately. Every further power-on damages the platters and lowers the chance of recovery. Clicking is almost certainly a mechanical fault of the heads — no software will help; the drive needs to be opened in a clean chamber and the read mechanism replaced. Call us on +420 775 556 063 and we will diagnose it within 24 hours.
Can I use a data-recovery program from the internet?
Only if the drive is physically healthy and it is a logical fault (deletion, formatting). In other cases such programs harm the drive — they repeatedly try to access it, which worsens its mechanical condition. For serious cases, bring the drive straight to us instead; initial HDD and SSD diagnostics are free.
What about confidentiality? What happens to my data?
Before opening the device we sign a written non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Only we process your data; nothing is sent abroad. After we hand over the recovered data, we guaranteed wipe every copy from our stage storage (DoD 5220.22-M wipe).
Can you recover data from an encrypted drive (BitLocker, FileVault)?
Yes, provided you have the recovery key or password. Without the key, encrypted data is mathematically unrecoverable. That is why it is important to store the recovery key off the drive (a printout, a Microsoft account, a USB stick). Without it we can recover the structure, but not the contents of the files.
Can you handle a RAID 5 where two drives have failed?
Yes, in many cases. A RAID 5 with two failed drives is not reconstructable in the traditional way, but if the second drive has not died completely, some data can be recovered from it and the array rebuilt. Success depends on which sectors are readable on each drive. Contact us as soon as possible — do not clone the array yourself, as that complicates matters.
Where should I send or bring the drive?
Our premises at Viniční 3587/216, 615 00 Brno-Židenice. Open Mon–Fri 10:00–16:00. If you send it by post, use good packaging (the original box + bubble wrap + a cardboard box). We accept Zásilkovna and PPL.
What if I'm in a hurry and need it within 48 hours?
We have an express mode with a 50–100% surcharge. Tell us your deadline up front in the enquiry and we will say whether it is technically feasible to make it (for mechanical faults it often is not, because of the wait for a donor drive).
Is it really free if the recovery fails?
Yes, for standard HDD/SSD/RAID/NAS/USB cases with a mechanical, electronic, firmware or logical fault (deletion, formatting, ransomware) the no recovery — no fee principle applies. Initial HDD and SSD diagnostics are free; for RAID/NAS, USB and memory cards they may be free depending on complexity. Non-standard cases (drive opened by another service, overwriting/formatting, complex analysis) cost 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT), announced in advance. Phone/tablet diagnostics cost the same and are included in the final price of a successful recovery; a targeted search for a specific named file costs the same and is deducted from the job price on a successful recovery. See the following questions.
How much does diagnostics of a phone or tablet cost?
Diagnostics of a mobile phone or tablet cost 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT). If we then carry out a successful recovery, the diagnostics are included in the final price of the recovery. If you do not go ahead or recovery is not possible, the diagnostics performed are charged separately. Phones are generally more demanding for data recovery — we deal with chip-off, decryption and proprietary systems (Apple T2/M1/SE, Samsung Knox). Diagnostics include an initial assessment of whether your data can be recovered from the given model at all.
I need to find one specific file — how much does that cost?
If we are looking for a specific named file (e.g. 'presentation_final.pptx', 'tax return 2024.pdf', 'family holiday photo'), we charge 1 210 Kč including VAT (1 000 Kč excluding VAT) for targeted diagnostics and a targeted scan. On a successful recovery the amount is deducted from the total job price. If it is general data recovery from a deleted or formatted drive (without a specific file), the standard price list applies with no diagnostic fee and the no recovery — no fee principle. In both cases: write nothing further to the drive, as every write lowers the chances.