Each line below states what we do and where the limit is. Boundaries matter more than promises.
| Symptom | What it usually means | Recoverability |
|---|---|---|
| Deleted / quick-formatted | File system damaged, data area intact | Often recoverable if not overwritten |
| Clicking, buzzing, dropped drive | Head or motor failure | Depends on platter condition after head swap |
| Not detected, 0 bytes, garbled model | Firmware / translator damage | Usually addressable at firmware level |
| SSD shows 1–2 MB or safe-mode name | Controller in safe mode / FTL loss | Chip-off reading may succeed |
| RAID degraded, rebuild failed | Redundancy lost or second disk failing | Image all members first, then reassemble |
| BitLocker / ransomware | Encryption, key-dependent | Without keys, generally not recoverable |
Platters scratched by repeated power-on, TRIM-reclaimed cells, overwritten areas, missing encryption keys, and physically destroyed media are not recoverable — no lab can change that. We say so before you pay.