If you are reading this page, chances are you are in a genuinely difficult situation right now — a critical deadline, irreplaceable memories, or an entire business workflow hanging on data you cannot access. Whatever has happened, we want you to know this: most data is recoverable if you act quickly and stop using the device now. At Mojoo Limited, we have been recovering data from failed drives, corrupt devices, and urgent situations since 2000. Our first piece of advice is this: before you do anything else, call us on 07958 468 173 and let us talk you through the safest next steps before the situation gets worse.
When You Need Emergency Recovery
Emergency data recovery is not just about speed — it is about protecting data that is genuinely at risk of being permanently lost. Here are the situations we help with most urgently:
- Business hard drive failed with no backup — operations have halted, staff cannot work, and every hour of downtime is costing money.
- Ransomware attack has encrypted company files — your entire network or server has been locked, and the attackers are demanding payment. Do not pay — call us first.
- Wedding, birthday, or event photos accidentally deleted — the photographer or videographer has lost the footage and the event cannot be repeated.
- Laptop dropped and won’t boot — work deadline tomorrow — a fall has physically damaged the drive and your work is inaccessible with hours to spare.
- USB drive with critical documents not recognised — the device has failed at the worst possible time and the files are needed urgently.
- Server failure at a critical business moment — a RAID array, NAS device, or business server has gone down and your data is unavailable. Visit our RAID and NAS recovery page for more detail.
- External drive containing irreplaceable family photos or videos damaged — a dropped drive, a power surge, or an accidental format has put years of memories at risk.
What to Do Right Now (Before You Call Us)
The steps you take in the next few minutes can make the difference between a full recovery and permanent data loss. Please follow these carefully:
- Stop using the device immediately — do not try to copy files off it, save new files to it, or run any programmes from it. Every write operation risks overwriting the data you are trying to recover.
- Do not run CHKDSK, format, or any repair utilities — Windows and macOS repair tools are designed for healthy drives, not failed ones. Running them on a failing drive can destroy the very data structures that make recovery possible.
- If the drive is making a clicking or grinding noise, turn it off now — a clicking drive has a failing or failed read/write head. Every second it runs risks scoring the platters inside the drive, which can make recovery impossible even for specialist engineers.
- Do not panic — most data is recoverable — the vast majority of data loss situations we see have a positive outcome, provided the drive is not used further after the failure is noticed.
- Call us on 07958 468 173 — our engineers will talk you through the situation immediately and advise you on the safest way to get the device to us as quickly as possible.
Our Emergency Recovery Options
Priority Same-Day Service
If you can bring your device to our West Bromwich workshop before 11am, we will prioritise your case above our standard queue and aim to have your files recovered and returned to you the same day. This service is available for logical failures and many physical faults — our engineer will assess your device on arrival and confirm whether same-day recovery is achievable before any charges apply. A surcharge applies for same-day priority; see our data recovery pricing page for full details.
Next-Day Priority Recovery
If same-day is not possible — either because of the nature of the fault or because you cannot reach us before 11am — we offer next-day priority recovery for devices dropped off or posted to us. We fast-track your case and aim to have results within 24 hours of the device arriving with us. This is ideal for situations where you need your data urgently but have slightly more time than an absolute same-day emergency. We will keep you updated throughout the process.
Emergency Courier Collection
If you are unable to travel to West Bromwich and cannot wait for a postal service, we can arrange a tracked courier collection directly from your address anywhere on the UK mainland. Once collected, your device is transported securely to our workshop and the recovery assessment begins the same day it arrives. This service is particularly useful for businesses experiencing server or RAID failures where the equipment cannot easily be moved without assistance. Call us to arrange — we will book the courier while you are on the phone.
Emergency Recovery Pricing
All emergency recovery starts with a free diagnosis. You will see a full written quote before any work begins, and our No Data, No Fee guarantee applies to every job regardless of the urgency level.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard recovery (1–5 days) | From £80 |
| Priority recovery (24–48 hrs) | Standard price + £80 |
| Same-day emergency (where possible) | Standard price + £150 |
| Emergency courier collection | £25 collection fee + recovery fee |
For a full breakdown of all recovery pricing across every device type, please visit our data recovery pricing page. Our standard hard drive recovery and main data recovery hub pages also contain more detail on what affects pricing.
Why Acting Fast Matters
It might be tempting to take a little time to think things through or try a few things yourself before calling a professional. We understand that instinct — but in data recovery, time genuinely is one of the most critical factors. Here is why:
When a hard drive begins to fail, the read/write heads that hover nanometres above the magnetic platters can drop onto the surface. Every rotation of the drive after this point risks scoring the platters — the physical discs where your data is magnetically encoded. Once a platter is scratched, the data in that area is gone permanently, even in a professional clean room. A drive that makes a clicking noise is a drive in crisis. Turning it off immediately and leaving it off is the single most important thing you can do.
For ransomware attacks, time is critical for a different reason. If the infected device reconnects to the internet or to your network, the ransomware may continue to encrypt further files, delete shadow copies, or spread to other devices. Disconnect the device from all networks immediately, do not attempt to pay the ransom, and contact us for advice. In some cases, earlier versions of files can be recovered from unaffected sectors of the drive even after encryption.
For accidental deletion or formatting, the data is not gone — it is simply invisible. The drive marks that space as available for reuse. Every new file you save to the drive, every application you run, every Windows update risks landing on exactly that space and permanently overwriting the files you need. Stop using the device, call us, and give your data the best possible chance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you really recover data the same day?
Yes, in many cases. Same-day recovery is most achievable for logical failures — accidental deletion, formatting, or file system corruption — where the drive hardware is intact and we can work with specialist software to retrieve your files. Physical failures such as head crashes or seized motors may require longer, but we will always tell you honestly what is achievable on the day. The key is getting your device to us at our West Bromwich workshop before 11am and calling ahead so we can prepare.
What if I’m outside West Bromwich — can I still get emergency recovery?
Absolutely. Customers across the UK can use our emergency mail-in service by sending their device via Royal Mail Special Delivery (next working day guaranteed) or by arranging our emergency courier collection service, which we can organise while you are on the phone to us. Customers across the West Midlands — including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, and Halesowen — are often able to drive to our workshop within the hour for immediate assessment.
My drive is making a clicking sound — is it too late?
It is not too late, but you must act immediately. A clicking drive is one that has a failing or failed read/write head — a physical fault that requires specialist intervention. The critical thing right now is to turn the drive off and leave it off. Do not turn it back on, do not connect it to another computer, and do not run any software on it. The moment you call us, we will advise you on the safest way to get it to our engineers. Physical head failures are recoverable in many cases, particularly if the drive has not been run for extended periods after the fault developed.
I’ve been hit by ransomware — can you help?
Yes, and this is an area where fast action is especially important. First, disconnect the affected device from all networks and the internet immediately — do not pay the ransom. In some ransomware cases, unencrypted file versions can be recovered from sectors of the drive that the ransomware has not yet reached, or from shadow copies that have not been deleted. The outcome varies depending on the specific ransomware variant and how quickly the device was isolated, but we assess every case individually and give you a clear picture before any work begins. Contact us on 07958 468 173 for urgent advice.
How do I contact you outside business hours?
Our standard hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, and during those hours you will always reach a person when you call 07958 468 173. If you are calling outside of these hours because of a genuine emergency, please leave a detailed voicemail — your name, a brief description of what has happened, and a contact number — and we will return your call first thing when we open. The most important thing you can do in the meantime is to leave the device switched off and unplugged.
Do Not Wait — Call Us Now
Every hour matters when data is at risk. If you are facing a data emergency right now, the single best thing you can do is call us before taking any further action. Our engineers will give you immediate, honest advice at no cost, and we will do everything possible to get your data back as fast as we can.
Call Mojoo Limited now: 07958 468 173
Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. For out-of-hours emergencies, leave a voicemail and we will call you back first thing. Alternatively, fill in our contact form and mark it as urgent.