Cardiff Data Recovery is proud to be Wales’s No.1 laptop and notebook data recovery specialist, with over 25 years of hands-on experience. We provide expert-level recovery for all laptop brands, models, and operating systems, whether you’re dealing with logical corruption, physical damage, or failed internal storage devices.
Our advanced tools and techniques allow us to recover critical files from even the most severely damaged laptops — quickly, securely, and professionally.
💻 Services We Offer – Laptop Data Recovery
We offer complete recovery solutions for all types of laptop and notebook data loss scenarios, including:
- Failed hard drives and SSDs (SATA, NVMe, PCIe)
- Crashed operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS)
- Corrupted partitions and formatted volumes
- Deleted files and lost documents
- Water-damaged or physically impacted laptops
- Unresponsive or dead laptops
- Recovery from encrypted and password-protected systems
- Emergency 48-hour critical data recovery service available
Our recovery process begins with free diagnostics, followed by a non-destructive, forensic-grade data extraction from your device.
🖥️ Supported Laptop Brands & Top Models in the UK
We recover data from all major laptop and notebook brands. Below are the top 20 selling laptop brands in the UK along with their best-selling models:
| Brand | Popular Laptop Models |
|---|---|
| HP | Pavilion, Envy, Spectre x360, EliteBook, ProBook |
| Dell | Inspiron, XPS 13/15, Latitude, Alienware m15 |
| Lenovo | ThinkPad X1 Carbon, IdeaPad 3/5, Yoga Slim |
| Apple | MacBook Air (M1/M2), MacBook Pro 13″/14″/16″ |
| ASUS | VivoBook, ZenBook, ROG Zephyrus, TUF Gaming |
| Acer | Aspire 5, Swift 3, Predator Helios, Nitro 5 |
| Microsoft | Surface Laptop 4/5, Surface Book, Surface Go |
| Samsung | Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book2 Pro |
| Razer | Blade 15, Blade Stealth |
| MSI | GF63, Prestige, Katana GF66, Modern Series |
| Huawei | MateBook D14/D15, MateBook X Pro |
| Toshiba (Dynabook) | Satellite Pro, Tecra Series |
| LG | Gram 16, Gram 14 |
| Medion | Akoya, Erazer Beast X10 |
| Panasonic | Toughbook CF Series |
| Fujitsu | Lifebook U Series, A Series |
| Honor | MagicBook 14/15 |
| Xiaomi | Mi Notebook Pro, RedmiBook |
| Pixelbook Go, Pixel Slate | |
| CHUWI | HeroBook, GemiBook |
💽 Supported Storage Interfaces & File Systems
Interfaces we recover from:
- SATA (Serial ATA)
- PATA (IDE)
- NVMe / M.2 PCIe
- eMMC (embedded storage)
- USB-C / Thunderbolt external boot drives
- SCSI / SAS (for workstation laptops)
File systems we support:
- NTFS (Windows)
- APFS / HFS+ (macOS)
- exFAT / FAT32
- EXT3 / EXT4 (Linux)
- ReFS (Windows Server)
- Btrfs / XFS (for advanced Linux builds)
⚠️ Top 30 Laptop Hard Drive Recovery Issues & Technical Solutions
We recover from all major storage-related laptop faults. Here are the most common issues and how our engineers resolve them:
| Issue | How We Recover the Data |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Drive Failure | Heads replaced in cleanroom, then disk imaged sector-by-sector. |
| SSD Controller Failure | Controller emulation or chip-off recovery to access raw NAND. |
| Overheating Drive | Stabilisation and imaging before thermal breakdown worsens. |
| Accidental File Deletion | Metadata recovery and carving before file sectors are overwritten. |
| Accidental Formatting | Partition and volume structure rebuilt using sector boundary analysis. |
| Logical File System Corruption | NTFS, APFS, or EXT structures repaired and content reassembled. |
| Firmware Corruption | Reflashed or bypassed using vendor-specific tools. |
| Laptop Won’t Boot | Drive removed and imaged externally; user data recovered safely. |
| Bad Sectors | Imaging tools read unstable sectors multiple times for best possible copy. |
| Read/Write Errors | Blocks skipped and reconstructed from surrounding valid data. |
| Partition Table Corruption | GPT/MBR manually rebuilt and verified. |
| Water or Liquid Damage | Internal drive removed, cleaned, dried, then imaged. |
| Power Surge or Electrical Damage | PCB components repaired or swapped, then imaging resumed. |
| Encrypted Drive Failure | Recovered with password or decryption key; imaged before unlock. |
| Dropped Laptop | Drive components repaired; heads aligned and cloned in cleanroom. |
| Clicking/Grinding Drive | Mechanical failure suspected; recovered using donor heads in cleanroom. |
| BIOS Doesn’t Detect Drive | Often due to PCB or firmware fault; ROM and controller tested and repaired. |
| SSD TRIM Command Data Loss | Partial recovery possible if TRIM delay exists; carving used. |
| eMMC Chip Corruption | Desoldered and read directly using flash recovery tools. |
| Drive Freezes Computer | Hardware stabilised and data cloned in safe imaging environment. |
| Data Overwritten During Reinstall | File fragments extracted from sectors that weren’t overwritten. |
| Virus or Ransomware Infection | Files extracted from unencrypted or unaffected sectors. |
| File Transfer Interrupted | Incomplete files recovered with header reconstruction. |
| Unsupported File System Detected | RAW imaging and cross-platform recovery applied. |
| BIOS or OS Update Corrupted Drive | Boot structure rebuilt; user files recovered separately. |
| Lost Dual-Boot Partition (Windows/Mac) | Volume maps analysed; missing OS volumes reconnected. |
| Bent or Damaged USB Ports (Boot Drive) | Interface bypassed and device accessed via adapter or repair. |
| Hidden Recovery Partition Failure | Shadow data from recovery partitions rebuilt for user data recovery. |
| Failed OS Upgrade | Prior snapshots and files recovered from recovery or hidden volumes. |
| No Power to Laptop | Internal drive removed and connected externally for data imaging. |
🧠 Why Choose Cardiff Data Recovery?
- Over 25 Years’ Experience recovering from all major laptop brands and configurations
- In-house Engineers – no outsourcing, full control over every recovery
- Cleanroom Facilities – for safe handling of physically damaged drives
- Free Diagnostics – no obligation, expert advice included
- Support for Every OS and File System – Windows, macOS, Linux, and more
- High Recovery Success Rates – thanks to advanced tooling and training
- Emergency 48-Hour Recovery Service – available for urgent cases
Whether you’re a student with a broken laptop, a business user facing drive failure, or an IT team managing damaged hardware — we’re your trusted data recovery specialists in Cardiff.
📞 Contact Cardiff Data Recovery for a Free Diagnostics Today
If your laptop has failed, crashed, or is showing errors — don’t delay. Continued use may risk permanent data loss. Power it off and contact Cardiff Data Recovery immediately.
Our recovery experts will guide you through the next steps, provide a free diagnostic, and explain your options clearly and professionally.