Bracknell Data Recovery is Berkshire’s No.1 desktop computer data recovery specialist with over 25 years of experience. We focus exclusively on recovering data from desktop PCs (HDDs and SSDs), serving Bracknell and all of Berkshire. Our expert engineers use the latest techniques and ISO-class cleanroom labs to tackle every desktop data loss scenario – from deleted files and logical errors to mechanical drive failures. With a friendly, professional approach, Bracknell Data Recovery retrieves lost documents, photos, emails and more, minimising downtime for both home users and businesses.

Common Desktop Faults

• Hardware failure (42% of cases) – Physical faults in PC components are the leading cause of data loss. Failures of hard drives/SSDs, RAM, motherboard or PSU can make your data inaccessible. Bracknell Data Recovery handles all such faults (spindle, head, circuit or controller failures) and restores data in our lab.
• Accidental deletion – Deleting files (even emptying the Recycle Bin) is a very common error. Since Windows/Mac typically just mark file areas free, many deleted files can be recovered with special software or imaging tools if the disk isn’t overwritten.
• Drive or partition formatting – Reformatting or repartitioning a desktop drive by mistake (or reinstalling the OS on the wrong partition) wipes file system structures. We can rebuild or recover formatted partitions, reconstructing file systems and retrieving documents.
• Overwritten files – Saving new data over an old file makes the previous version lost. Unfortunately, as recovery experts note, once contents are overwritten the old data is gone. The only remedy is restoring from backups or recreating work from scratch.
• Ransomware and malware attacks – Malicious software (especially crypto-ransomware) can encrypt or delete desktop data. These viruses are increasingly common. Bracknell Data Recovery can isolate the infection, image the drive and attempt decryption or file carving to recover unencrypted portions.
• Other malware/viruses – Regular viruses and Trojans also delete or corrupt data. We perform secure scanning and use forensic methods to clean the drive and recover unaffected files.
• Software or OS crashes – System crashes, buggy updates or application faults (e.g. failed BIOS/UEFI or OS updates) can corrupt files or render the system unbootable. Experts report 13% of data loss comes from software malfunctions. In these cases we clone the drive and repair file system damage or reinstall system areas to access user files.
• Improper recovery attempts – Running repair utilities like CHKDSK on a failing drive can overwrite data and make recovery harder. Bracknell Data Recovery advises stopping normal use at the first sign of trouble and letting professionals image the drive to avoid further loss.
• Sudden power loss/surge – Unexpected shutdowns can corrupt files or even damage a disk’s electronics. Power spikes can fry the controller board. We safely power up drives with test setups and replace or reflash any damaged circuit board (transferring unique firmware) to restore access.
• Overheating and dust – Excessive heat (from clogged fans or hot environments) can cause drive failures. A clean, cool desktop is crucial for drive health. We always clean and cool components during service to prevent heat damage. (Bracknell Data Recovery also recommends surge protectors and routine cleaning as preventative measures.)
• Physical shock or vibration – Dropping or jarring a desktop tower can knock drive heads into platters (“head crash”). Clicking sounds are a telltale sign. Drives with mechanical trauma are handled in our cleanroom: heads or motors are replaced and platters imaged by our specialists.
• Liquid, fire or natural disasters – Spills, floods, fires or storms (though rare) can physically damage desktops. In 3% of data loss cases, catastrophes like these are the culprit. Even if other parts are destroyed, we often can transplant an affected drive into a working chassis or rebuild it in the lab to recover the files.
• Old age and wear – Drives wear out over time. Mechanical parts seize or disks develop too many bad sectors. If a desktop drive fails due to age, our team uses advanced imaging tools to copy all surviving data before a complete breakdown.
• Partition table or boot sector corruption – Damage to the MBR/GPT or bootloader can make an OS unbootable. We can rebuild or bypass these structures (for example via live mounts) to recover data from affected partitions.
• PSU or motherboard faults – A failing power supply or motherboard can intermittently cut drive power, causing disk errors. We can connect suspect drives to a known-good system and recover the data directly.
• SSD-specific faults – Issues like excessive bad blocks, NAND flash degradation or SSD controller failure prevent data access. (For instance, SSD wear‐out from write cycling is common.) We use chip-off and firmware-tools to extract data from failing SSDs whenever possible.
• Encryption lockouts – If BitLocker or other encryption was used and the key is lost, the data is effectively locked. While this is usually unrecoverable without the key, we always verify if any unencrypted partitions or shadow copies exist.

Supported Brands & Interfaces

Bracknell Data Recovery works with desktops from all major manufacturers. Industry data shows Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, Asus and Acer as the top PC vendors worldwideen.wikipedia.org. We routinely recover drives from these and other popular desktop brands, including:

• HP – Business and consumer PCs (EliteDesk, Pavilion, Omen, etc.)
• Lenovo – ThinkCentre, IdeaCentre desktops and workstations
• Dell – Inspiron, XPS, OptiPlex and Vostro PCs
• Apple – iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro (Desktop class)
• Acer – Aspire desktops and Predator gaming PCs
• Asus – ROG series and VivoPC desktops
• MSI – Gaming desktop systems (Trident, Infinite, etc.)
• Razer – High-end gaming PCs (Razer Tomahawk, etc.)
• Fujitsu – Business and compact desktops (ESPRIMO series)
• Corsair – Gaming desktops (Corsair ONE series)
• Alienware (Dell) – Premium gaming desktops
• Intel – NUC and small form-factor PCs
• Zotac – Mini PCs and ZBOX desktops
• Chuwi – Budget mini desktops
• CyberPowerPC – Custom gaming PCs (available in UK)
• Microsoft – Surface Studio all-in-ones
• Samsung – (Legacy) Series desktops and all-in-ones
• LG – Chromebase all-in-one PCs
• Medion – Value desktops (sold via retailers like Aldi, Currys)
• Gigabyte – AORUS gaming PCs and mini PCs

We also support every common storage interface found in desktops: SATA (HDD/SSD), NVMe/PCIe M.2, SAS and SCSI connections, USB and eSATA (external drives), and even legacy IDE/PATA drives. Whatever your desktop make or interface, Bracknell Data Recovery can handle it.

Hard Drive Faults & Solutions

Bracknell Data Recovery’s lab tackles all hard drive faults. We list some common failure modes and how our experts address them:

• Head Crash (HDD) – The read/write head touches the platter, causing scratches. A spinning clicking sound often accompanies this mechanical failure. We open the drive in a Class 10 cleanroom, replace the head stack or arm, then image the platter surface to rescue files.
• Stiction (HDD) – Heads can become stuck on the platter (especially if a drive sits unused). The motor won’t spin. In our lab we carefully disassemble the drive to free or replace the heads, then recover the data normally.
• Platter Scratch (HDD) – Physical scratches on the disk surface cause permanent data loss in affected areas. We bypass scratched sectors using custom imaging strategies, reading remaining undamaged data.
• Spindle Motor Failure (HDD) – The drive’s motor can seize up (due to wear or shock) so the platter won’t spin. Bracknell’s engineers replace the motor assembly under clean conditions and copy all data once the platters spin freely.
• Actuator Arm Fault (HDD) – The pivot or actuator mechanism may break. We replace bent or broken arms in the cleanroom, align them precisely, and image the disk.
• PCB/Controller Electronics Burnout – Power surges or electrical damage can kill the drive’s printed circuit board. Since modern HDDs store unique firmware on the board, our team swaps in an identical donor PCB and transfers the firmware image from the old board. This often immediately restores drive function.
• Controller Chip Failure (HDD/SSD) – The drive’s controller IC (like a mini-computer CPU) can fail. If only the controller is bad, we perform chip-level fixes or transplant the controller from a matching model.
• Firmware Corruption (HDD) – If the HDD’s internal firmware becomes corrupt, the drive won’t boot. As Desert Data Recovery notes, the drive’s “internal Operating System” can fail. Our lab engineers use specialized equipment to rewrite or restore the firmware area, making the drive readable again.
• Bad Sectors/Media Errors (HDD) – Over time, platter sectors can degrade. We use advanced imaging tools that re-read bad sectors (increasing timeouts, ignoring ECC errors) to salvage data.
• Thermal/Overheat Damage (HDD/SSD) – Repeated overheating can warp platters or fry chips. We cool and inspect drives, and if necessary replace heated components, then proceed with recovery on cooled hardware.
• Shock Damage (HDD/SSD) – A dropped drive may have internal flex cable tears, bent connectors or broken chips. Our lab can replace cables in HDDs or carefully reconstruct SSD boards in some cases.
• NAND Wear-out (SSD) – SSDs have limited write cycles. When flash memory wears out, blocks fail. Using chip-reading tools, we can often image even partially-degraded SSDs by extracting data directly from working NAND dies. This addresses “wear and tear” faults.
• Bad Blocks (SSD) – As Nexus notes, SSDs start with a few bad blocks and accumulate more. When the spare block pool is exhausted, pages become unreadable. We use manufacturer tools or chip-off recovery to read around bad blocks and reconstruct the file system.
• Electrical Overstress (SSD/HDD) – A power spike can corrupt flash cells or burn components. We mirror this with HDD PCB swaps (above) or SSD controller repairs, often recovering the device’s firmware and data by bypassing the damaged circuits.
• Controller/ASIC Failure (SSD) – The SSD’s controller chip may fail. In some cases we de-solder the controller chip, read out the NAND chips independently and reassemble the data on a healthy controller.
• Firmware Corruption (SSD) – SSD firmware bugs or failed updates can “brick” the drive. We reprogram SSD firmware (similar to HDD) or use vendor tools to restore functionality.
• Bad Capacitor or Power Regulator (SSD) – Power components on the SSD board can fail (especially on older models). Our technicians replace blown capacitors and reload firmware to recover the drive electronics.
• TRIM/LBA Mapping Loss (SSD) – Improper handling of TRIM can make deleted data unrecoverable on SSDs. We typically image SSDs at the chip level to ignore TRIM effects and recover any remaining files.
• SATA/NVMe Interface Fault – Rarely, the drive’s interface connector can fail. We might connect the drive via an adapter or perform chip-off recovery if the SMD connector is damaged.
• Power Connector Damage (HDD) – Bent or broken SATA power/data pins can prevent connection. We can re-solder or replace connectors, or transfer the drive to a working enclosure, to read data.
• Boot Sector/Partition Table Loss – A corrupted MBR/GPT means the OS won’t boot. We rebuild lost partition tables or manually recover partitions so the data becomes accessible again.
• Bad Firmware Update (SSD) – A failed firmware update can leave the SSD inaccessible. We re-flash factory firmware in our lab or use ‘bootloader mode’ to restore the original firmware and recover data.
• Circuit Board Chips Burnt (HDD) – Sometimes only a single chip (e.g. read channel IC) is damaged. We carefully replace burnt chips or bridge connections, then copy the drive.
• Mechanical Wear (HDD) – If drive bearings or motors wear from age, the drive may slow or seize. We perform low-speed imaging and use lubrication or motor swaps to spin the disk.
• Scratched Platters (HDD) – Severe scratches destroy data in those regions. We avoid using those regions and recover whatever remains, as any recovery tool will avoid unreadable sectors.
• PCB Firmware Mismatch (HDD) – Replacing a PCB with a donor board from a different revision can lead to no access. Bracknell Data Recovery experts ensure PCB firmware matches exactly by swapping memory chips if needed.
• Bad Flash (SSD) – Entire NAND flash dies can fail. We identify failed chips, replace or bypass them if redundant, and then reconstruct data from the remaining good chips.
• Connector Faults (HDD/SSD) – Damaged SATA/NVMe connectors or traces can break the connection. We trace-fix PCB traces or move the memory chips to a board with an intact connector to read the data.

Why Choose Bracknell Data Recovery

• Decades of Experience: With 25+ years in data recovery, Bracknell Data Recovery’s engineers have seen every desktop failure scenario. Our depth of experience means a higher chance of successful recovery.
• Expert Cleanroom Service: We use ISO-certified cleanrooms for all drives opened. This controlled environment lets us replace heads, motors or boards without contamination, following best practices.
• All Major Formats: We support Windows (NTFS/FAT/exFAT), Mac (HFS+/APFS), Linux (EXT/xfs) file systems and even RAID setups. Whatever OS your desktop used, our team knows how to retrieve the files.
• Quick Turnaround: Our lab is local to Bracknell, so we offer fast diagnostics and same-day imaging for many cases. We work around the clock if needed to get your data back.
• Secure & Confidential: Your data privacy is our priority. Drives are never opened or imaged outside our secure facility, and we comply with GDPR.
• Free Diagnostic Evaluation: Every case starts with a no-cost evaluation. We diagnose the fault and provide an assessment of recoverable data before any work or charges.

Call to Action

Don’t let desktop data loss disrupt you. Contact Bracknell Data Recovery today for a free diagnostic on your failed PC drive. Our friendly experts will explain the recovery plan and costs with no obligation. Reach out by phone or our website form – reclaim your data from desktop disasters with the UK’s trusted specialists in desktop data recovery!