IBM Hard Drive Data Recovery

Old IBM Deskstar or Travelstar drive? We recover data from legacy IBM drives, including hard-to-find models.

Recovering data from legacy IBM drives

IBM stopped making hard drives in 2003, but its drives are still found in old computers, laptops and servers – often holding files that were never copied anywhere else. Legacy drives need care: the right donor parts are harder to find, and the firmware differs from modern drives. Our engineers have the experience and parts contacts to handle them.

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IBM drives we recover

Deskstar desktop drives (including the IC35L series), Travelstar laptop drives (including the IC25N series), and IBM SCSI drives from servers and workstations. See also SCSI hard drive recovery and Hitachi drive recovery, which covers the later models.

Prices

Highest success rates in hard drive data recovery

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Common faults

Head crashes and clicking – some Deskstar models were known for head and media failures.
Degraded platter surfaces after many years of use.
Failed electronics on drives that have been stored for a long time.

Our approach

After a free initial consultation, we run a clean room diagnostic and source a matching donor drive if parts are needed. The drive is imaged slowly and carefully to recover as much as possible from worn surfaces.

Prices

Initial consultation: Free – tells you whether the fault is physical or logical and the best recovery method. Doesn’t include opening the drive in a clean room or any recovery attempt.
Clean room diagnostic: £79 + VAT – the drive is opened in our clean room to identify the damaged parts.
Physical data recovery on a single drive: £450 + VAT – labour, plus the cost of a donor drive if required.
Deleted files on a standard hard drive: £99 + VAT – includes up to two hours of work.

All prices exclude VAT. See our full data recovery price list.

Frequently asked questions

Is it too late to recover a very old IBM drive?

Usually not. Magnetic data lasts for many years. Success depends on the physical condition of the heads and platters, which we check at diagnosis.

Do you recover IBM server drives?

Yes, including SCSI drives and drives from IBM server RAID arrays.

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Book your free consultation

Call 020 7394 2529, email [email protected] or visit our lab at Unit 1, The Willows, 80 Willow Walk, London SE1 5SY (Monday–Saturday, 9am–6pm, free customer parking). You can also book a pickup or request a quote online.

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