There is no charge for preliminary diagnostics. We will evaluate the condition and recoverability of your data free of charge regardless of the time and complexity involved.
In our day to day data recovery operations we meet a wide range of different media problems, from simple to the most complex. As a result, there is a price variation due to the differences in time to do recovery and expenses for reparation parts.
Our diagnosis is free, regardless of whether you decide to proceed with data recovery or not.
No data, no charge - 100% result based
No Hidden Charges.
There is only one price - the price for the data recovery. There are no additional service charges beyond our estimate. We stand behind this to ensure that your final price will never exceed the amount quoted.
No Data, No Charge.
Our No Data, No Charge policy guarantees that we do all in our power to recover your data. It also means that there is no risk when using our services. We do not charge you unless you receive back your lost data. You will only pay for the result you have expected.
How Much Does Data Recovery Cost?
There are two kinds of data loss situations: logical corruption and hardware failure.
It's important to know that hardware failure can also cause logical corruption.
When assessing the price of data recovery, you need to be aware of the difference between software recovery for formatted and deleted files and more complex work done by real data recovery engineers.
If you are simply looking to retrieve a few erased files, partition starts showing up in Windows as RAW, or you think that your hard drive is fully intact and just not working right, the cheapest way to recover lost files is Data Recovery Software.
We recommend using
Active@ Data Recovery software products.
Remember that software can recover data from working drives, but it should be avoided on failed, failing or degraded drives! Data recovery software is often misused and can only aggravate the problem. For example, the space taken by deleted files will be marked as free by the system. OS does a lot of reading and writing in the background, thus overwriting erased files located on the system drive, which will ultimately make the recovery impossible.
It is preferable that you contact us before you do anything out of panic. In the case of physical hard drive crash, the software recovery can actually damage the hard disk platter and make recovery more complicated. In many situations data recovery software is inadequate and a lot of manual work is required. For example, finding very important files with no common signature, manually assembling video files, or finding files with lost file entry.
If you have a physically failed drive or RAID array you may want to get your data back without taking any risks. Bad sectors, firmware faults, failed controllers, translators, motors and heads require experienced data recovery engineers and equipment. This is why you must absolutely contact a fully qualified data recovery lab.
Vital Data Recovery's service pricing is based on several factors. The main one is the time required to repair the drive to get it into a working condition, to then rebuild it and verify the logical file structures in a safe manner.
Other factors include:
Parts and equipment are required to rebuild the drive (when necessary)
What is desired turnaround time
Whether there were any previous attempts to recover the data
The quantity of hard drives and configuration of the drives (when more than one ie. RAIDs)
Prices for different cases can vary a lot since there is a different amount of work involved. Some simple cases can be solved in as quick as an hour, while other more complex cases demand days of work. That is why data recovery companies providing low flat rate pricing are frowned upon. Will these guys do whatever it takes to recover all cases or will they just recover easy ones? Do they use proper equipment or do they practice the approach that if recovery fails it is simply "too bad"?
How Does Vital Data Recovery Compare To Other Companies?
Pricing is one of the major factors when choosing a data recovery company. Obviously, paying extra for the same service is not desirable. Everyone wants to reduce their spendings.
To complicate the picture, there are many offerings on the market. I understand how hard it is to choose the right data recovery company.
At Vital Data Recovery, we don't particularly focus on what other companies are doing. Although we regularly receive feedback from our customers who have experienced other data recovery services.
Some companies are cheaper and some are more expensive, but you can pretty much eliminate any company that says they can recover your data within a range of $100-300. Be aware that not all data recovery offerings are the same. There are a lot of companies which advertise data recovery prices that are too good to be true. They do so to attract as many clients as possible and then recover the easiest cases and declare the rest unrecoverable. If the case can easily be recovered, they do the work; if not, then you are out of luck.
Hard drives are extremely complex, and there is no way that these prices reflect the time and resources spent on a successful recovery. These companies also usually charge additional fees such as diagnostic or attempt fees on every case they get their hands on. If your data isn't recoverable (which it likely won't be), they will regardless pocket the upfront charge. Remember that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is! Also, just because a company may have hundreds of praising reviews, it doesn't necessary mean those reviews are real, so pick and choose with caution.
On the other hand, there are companies that overcharge for their work even in the simple cases.
A client's of ours shared his experience with one American company in the following review:
When my computer would not start up and I got a blue screen, I thought I might have a problem. So I took it to a repair shop.
There I was told that my motherboard was fried and needs to be replaced, as well as the CPU because they couldn't fit the old CPU on the new motherboard and the RAM memory, all of that for the cost of $ 600. Since all I wanted was to have access to my data I told to do it. The next day they said that my hard disc had failed as well and I needed to get a new one. So their initial diagnostic was wrong, it was not the motherboard but the HDD that had failed. I got my computer back without changing the motherboard and went to see an IT specialist. He checked my computer, assured me that my motherboard was fine and that only the HDD would not start up but he was confident that through some programs that he had he could recover all my data. The next day him too raised up his arms saying that he was unable to. He referred me to a firm that specialize in data recovery, gave me the address where to send it to and told me that he worked with them before, they are the best in the industry and he had no doubt whatsoever that they can recover my data. So I sent my HDD to them by courier and was delivered to their address last Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm. Little did I know that this was only a drop off location. From there the following Monday my HDD was send to Cleveland OH where their lab is located. I got an email diagnostic that my data are recoverable and a quotation of USD 1650 which is equivalent to CAD 2145 to get the job done. I found this amount exorbitant, I refused the quotation and I asked for my drive to be send back to me. They then offered me to negotiate, if I was not in a harry they would ask one of their engineers to work during his off hours and would do my job within the next 10 working days or so. I got this funny uneasy feeling that they were trying to milk me for the most they could so I refused again and insisted that mt HDD is returned by UPS freight collect. One more day went by, to be told that they did not have a UPS account. I had to print the UPS waybill and email it to them, and I also called UPS to go to their place to pick up the package. So eventually I got it back. The same day I found out about VITAL DATA RECOVERY through the original local computer repair shop that I had gone too. So I called them. After a brief conversation Vitali assured me that their lab was located in Montreal,
that the cost for this service would be between CAD 400-1400 depending on the size of the HDD and work required and that the job would be completed within 2-3 days at the most. So I packed my disc again and couriered it to him. This is when things started turning around. The following morning I received a call that my data were recoverable and the cost would be CAD 650. I agreed to that. The same afternoon he sent me by email the list of files and folders that he was able to recover, which was all of them, I went to see him and gave him a new portable HDD to transfer my data into. Vitali told me that he would also keep my data in storage as a temporary back up for the next 20 days, just to make sure that I do not have any problems with the transferring from one storage device to another. Overall I was extremely satisfied with Vitali's professionalism, efficiency, speed and reasonable price in executing this operation and recovering my data. I will use his services again if I have a similar problem and would wholeheartedly recommend his data recovery services to anyone.
You always receive what you pay for. Low prices can be attractive, but remember that they reflect the quality of the service. Be wary of companies that promise to recover a head crash for a low price. It will most probably not be recovered or firms will simply use a "bait and switch" tactic and you may end up having to pay a $2000 bill. I have heard many such stories.
Really have to give it to these folks, professional, friendly and very very very competitive prices. Other places had quoted me more than 2.5x what Vital Data Recovery charged. Not to mention he saved all my info, including the hard drive I dropped.
12 nov 2015
Caster Parham
We started off as a company offering one the best technical capabilities in the world for data recovery.
Due to our high success rate, we are able to offer affordable data recovery pricing options as well. In fact, clients are often surprised by our competitive prices. Clients still receive the same or better quality service.
It's not a great feeling when you realize one day that your external hard drive suddenly is not working and is giving you this stupid clicking sound! Especially if you are like me and have backed up nowhere and all your important files are on it!
I did a lot of research for all possible places in Montreal and even Toronto! Vital data was the first place that did the diagnosis for me and guess what...I came back to them after giving my drive to a few other places because they offer a great service with the best price!
5 aug 2010
Sahar Homami
Of course, files can be relatively easily retrieved in some cases. In more difficult cases, it can take a lot of time and effort to recover data. The prices can vary a lot between these extremes.
You can always depend on us as a reliable and trustworthy data recovery service provider.
Your hard drive recovery quote is determined by the severity of your drive failure, rareness of the problem and the required procedures for recovery. There are no hidden costs associated with drive capacity, brand, type, operating system, interface, or parts; the quote is firm.
Our 20+ years of experience definitely helps to reduce the costs of data recovery which translates into lower pricing to our customers.
Our pricing and process are straightforward and completely transparent. The rate is pre-determined, and agreed upon with you, before we start recovery.
A successful recovery means we actually recover the data you need, not just few arbitrary files.
There will be no surprises when recovery is completed and it's time to pay the bill.
So what does data recovery cost? Below you can find some guidance on data recovery prices on different types of storage devices.
Why do you need my drive for estimation?
Truthfully, no legitimate company has the ability to provide an accurate quote or diagnostic of the problem without evaluating the drive in the first place.
If you contact a data recovery company and they give you a quote and diagnosis before they see the drive, run from this company!
Usually these firms attract customers with low prices, but they will either significantly increase these prices after receiving your hard drive or they are only capable of recovering simple cases.
In order to explain why the damaged hard drive needs to be physically evaluated to provide an exact quote, I will provide you with a real-life example:
I remember two gentlemen calling me to explain their hard drive failures.
Their individual descriptions of the crashes made it seem that they were referring the same problem. When they finally brought their drives in and I examined them, it turned out that the real problems had absolutely nothing to do with their explanations. Both cases had indeed similar symptoms, which was what threw me off track. However, additional symptoms that I have not been made aware of have enabled me to find the root of each individual problem.
You now understand why phone estimates can be extremely misleading.
Hard Drive Data Recovery Prices
From $400 CAD
$400 - $600 CAD Simple logical damage (formatted drive, deleted files and corrupted partitions with preserved file structure)
$600 - $1200 CAD Complex logical damage (file structures are badly damaged after formatted drive, deleted files and corrupted partitions)
$600 - $1200 CAD Simple hardware damage (Damaged Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Firmware corruption, System area damage, Bad Sectors/ I/O Errors, Broken USB/SATA port)
$1200 - $3000 CAD Complex hardware damage (Damaged Heads, Damaged Motor (Buzzing), Serious system area damage, Stiction (heads stuck on platters with some damage to platters), Fire and Liquid Damage)
RAID, NAS, SAN and Servers Data Recovery Prices
from $800 CAD
Take note that for complex configurations the cost of RAID data recovery can easily be a few thousand dollars.
The data recovery costs of RAID and NAS systems depend on the number of volumes to be examined, the nature and severity of the damage, the complexity of the RAID level. As a rule of thumb, raid data recovery price a range can be calculated by multiplying the basic hard disk malfunction cost with the number of disks in RAID.
SSD Data Recovery Prices
From $400 CAD
$400 - $600 CAD Simple logical damage (formatted drive, deleted files and corrupted partitions with preserved file structure)
$600 - $1200 CAD Complex logical damage (file structures are badly damaged after formatted drive, deleted files and corrupted partitions)
$800 - $3000 CAD Electronics or firmware damage (e.g. damage to the SSD controller, memory chips or microprogram)
USB stick and SD card Data Recovery Prices
(All NAND based small memory cards from a camera or a mobile phone, etc.)
From $400 CAD
$400 - $600 CAD Simple logical damage (re-format, deleted files and corrupted partitions with preserved file structure)
$400 - $1200 CAD Complex logical damage (file structures are badly damaged after being re-formatted, deleted files and corrupted partitions)
$600 - $2000 CAD Electronic damage (e.g. damage to the memory controller or memory chips)
Special Data Recovery Lab Prices
The tampered drives will most likely go to the special data recovery lab.
An example of this would be a hard drive that has been opened before it came to our lab.
In many such cases, there are a lot of added damages. Usually such cases demand extensive cleaning and are much harder to recover as the original problem was aggravated by damaging the platter/head.
We regularly recover data from hard drives declared unrecoverable by other data recovery labs. Of course, these problems cannot be easily recovered, seeing that these cases are very demanding.
Recovery can take many days, may need extra research and development and may require many expensive spare parts. Pricing will be based on these factors in such cases.
Price may exceed given ranges for extremely complicated cases, emergency jobs, encrypted file systems, as well as specialized or unique devices.
In any case we always give you the quote and ask your approval before proceeding further. If your media is unrecoverable, you will not pay for our data recovery service.
