Specialist · emergency recovery
When the server a whole Exeter firm depends on dies, a queue is no place for it. An urgent case skips to the head of the bench, is diagnosed the day it arrives, and images continuously through every working hour. What you won't get from us is theatre about a lab that never sleeps — just what urgent genuinely looks like.
Talk it over with an engineer
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| What's wrong | What it usually means | Step one |
|---|---|---|
| Your firm's central server or array is down | Multiple members need imaging and reassembly — automatically priority work | Open the call with 'business down' |
| A part-finished rebuild failed and everyone's backed away | Wise — every further attempt shrinks what's recoverable | Power down, then phone |
| A set date depends on those files | Tax return, hearing, submission — we schedule the work around that date | Give us the precise date |
| The only copy of the irreplaceable has died | Urgency isn't a business-only category — a family archive can qualify too | Expect a straight answer on its place |
| Ransomware is running right now | Cut it off, keep the evidence, recover after | Unplug the network; don't touch the power |
Your device is logged under its own case number the day it arrives. An engineer finds the fault, tells you plainly what stands a real chance of coming back, and writes you one fixed quote. Nothing is charged for that look, nothing obliges you, and paid work starts only when you say so.
The words 'business down', or the deadline you're facing, mark the case priority there and then — we arrange the courier and clear bench space before it arrives.
The day your device lands is the day it is diagnosed. From there it images without interruption through working hours, ahead of every other job, and a phone call gets you a progress report whenever you want one.
As soon as the recovered files match the list you called critical, the return is organised — secure transfer, courier or collection, whichever route has you running again first.
Before any fee falls due you see a full listing of everything recovered and approve it. Your files travel back on brand-new media, return postage on us, and the case stays open until you've confirmed everything opens on your own machine.
The arithmetic under every speed promise: recovery time comes down to five things — what broke, how big the drive is, what state the media is in, whether a matching donor can be had, and what was tried before we saw it. That's why you'll find opening hours here rather than a never-closed badge: priority work runs unbroken Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm, the diagnostic happens the day your device lands, and you get a real timeline the moment one can honestly be given.
Monday: the RAID under the booking system went down, with one botched rebuild already on the clock. Tuesday we imaged each member in turn; Wednesday the array came together virtually; by Thursday lunchtime a verified database was back in service. Priority scheduling, no drama.
With priority handling, a logical fault on a healthy drive can be turned round in one to two working days. Failing hardware and multi-disk arrays take longer — imaging speed decides that, not how hard anyone works. We give you a truthful timescale the day the diagnosis is done.
No, and treat labs promising round-the-clock mechanical work with caution. Our hours are Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm; an urgent case goes to the front and is worked solidly whenever the lab is open. That is fast, described honestly.
No honest lab fixes a date for a physical fault before diagnosis — the pace hangs on donor parts and how the media has fared. What you do get: front of the queue, a diagnostic the day the drive lands, and a plain answer the moment the timing firms up.
Yes — going priority means your job jumps every queue we have. You'll see the precise amount in the fixed written quote before committing, and the diagnosis is free whichever route you take.
Each power-up of a failing device takes more data with it. Open a case first — the look-over is free whichever way it goes.