Frequently Asked Questions

ATP requires all communication with our customers via email. While we have a phone number, we do not allow our customer service team to discuss our service over the phone. We have an 8-business hour response time for all emails so you can be sure that if you have a question, we’ll provide a quick response. Our support@atpdataservices.com email is monitored Monday – Friday 8AM – 5PM CT.

Data Recovery is the process of obtaining usable data from inaccessible or corrupted storage media. ATP does not repair your damaged device. Our proprietary recovery process extracts data from the damaged device and copies your recovered files to new return media (per your quote), password-protected for secure return.

Included with our Evaluation and Recoverability Report is a quote for service. Our price quotes are firm and will not change during or after the recovery process. We’ll never surprise you with tricks or hidden fees and every quote includes our customer promise for date of completion and an honest assessment for the expectation of recovery of your data. We call this our customer promise and if we fail to meet our promise, we will issue a full refund of our recovery fees. Our VeriScan technology provides details regarding your recovery to support our Customer Promise.

Making the right decision starts with getting the best information. Our service uses an evaluate-and-quote model so you can decide the best course of action for your situation.

For a separate, non-refundable fee, you receive a customized Evaluation and Recoverability Report. Experienced recovery engineers prepare the report. It covers the root cause of your data loss, recoverability (% chance of success), and our specific recovery plan. Reports are typically available 3–5 business days after we receive your media in our lab.

Included with the report is a firm Quote for Service. Quotes do not change during recovery, and we do not add hidden fees. Every quote includes our Customer Promise: an honest assessment of recovery and a completion date. If we fail to meet our Customer Promise, we issue a full refund of our recovery fees per the terms of your quote.

All Quotes for Service include a 10% discount on recovery fees for Seagate customers. The discount is applied automatically as a line item; you do not need a promo code. Discounts are not extended to replacement parts, return media, shipping, the Evaluation and Recoverability Report, or any upgrade offer.

After you approve the quote, we send a payment link for the full invoice amount. Recovery begins within 24 business hours of your paid invoice. When recovery is complete, we notify you and provide a VeriScan link to review results. After you approve your results, we ship your recovered data. Your recovered data is password protected; we send the password with your shipping confirmation.

Your Evaluation and Recoverability Report and Quote for Service include your Customer Promise completion date. Recovery begins within 24 business hours of your paid invoice. When recovery is complete, we email you a VeriScan link so you can review and approve or decline the results. After you approve, we ship your recovered data. Your recovered data is password protected; we send the password with your shipping confirmation.

You will need to prepare your drive to be sent to our lab. Please send your device to the following address:

ATP DATA SERVICES

611 Hundred Oaks Drive Suite 140

Edmond, OK 73013

 Please be sure to include a copy of your evaluation confirmation email and include it with your shipment. If possible, please include your order number on the exterior of your package.

We recommend a non-static wrapping material to protect your drive from ESD (Electrostatic discharge) damage. All drives should be wrapped in bubble wrap or foam and placed in a box that is large enough to fully contain your device. The shipping box should have enough room for both the media and the packing material. It is very important that the packing eliminates all movement of your drive while in transit.

Please do not include power supplies or other cables for your device. We carry an extensive inventory of all types of cables and power supplies for your device. If possible, please remove your drive from the laptop, desktop, or other like devices, we only need the storage device to perform recovery services.

Our preferred shipping partner is USPS but you are free to use any carrier of your choice. We accept shipments from ALL carriers.

Our customized Evaluation and Recoverability Reports are in-depth diagnostic reports are composed by experienced recovery engineers with decades of experience in recovering lost data on all brands and all formats of storage media.

We do not attempt to repair the drive or recover data at the evaluation stage. Our evaluation process includes a full diagnostic assessment of your case. These evaluations are necessary to determine the recovery strategy and resources required for a successful outcome in your case.

Our Evaluation and Recoverability Reports contain findings from a proprietary suite of tests that include VMI, Electrical (CPOT), Device Initialization and SMART Analysis. If during the evaluation process physical damage is observed or suspected, the drive will be moved to our cleanroom for a full internal examination of the heads and media. All findings in our evaluation process are documented and photographed as part of your Report.

Click the link below to view a sample Evaluation and Recoverability Report:

https://reports.atpdataservices.com/987654321abc/sampleeval.pdf

Within 24 business hours of receiving your drive in our lab our team will begin assessing the extent of the damage to your device and determine the best course of action for recovery of your data. We strive to have your Evaluation and Recoverability Report completed and delivered to you within 3-5 business days from receipt of your drive in our lab. We will contact you with our evaluation results and a firm Quote for Service.

Some devices require an irreversible or enclosure-damaging step before we can continue evaluation or recovery. We never take that step without your clear permission.

Sealed / helium drives: Some modern drives, including helium-filled models, are sealed at the factory. To reach the parts that hold your data, our engineers may need to open that sealed enclosure in our cleanroom. Opening a sealed drive is like breaking the factory seal on a vacuum-sealed package — once open, it can’t be resealed the way it left the factory. We can close the drive afterward, but it will no longer be factory-sealed. This step can’t be undone.

USB / plastic enclosures: Some devices arrive in an external plastic enclosure that must be removed to access the drive inside. Removing the enclosure often damages the plastic shell only — not the storage device itself or your data. We still ask first.

If we need your OK, we’ll email you with Approve and Decline options (and you can reply APPROVE or DECLINE). If you approve, we proceed and continue your evaluation or recovery; your schedule picks up from the date of your approval. If you decline, we won’t take that step and can’t continue that work; tell us whether to return your device as-is or securely destroy it at no additional cost. As noted at checkout, the evaluation fee is non-refundable.

Questions: support@atpdataservices.com

If we do not hear from you regarding your case in more than 60 days — after we have completed an evaluation and quote, after we have provided a quote for service, or while we are waiting for your VeriScan review — we will consider the case abandoned. We will securely destroy your device if we do not hear from you within 48 hours of our abandoned-case notice. Reply to that email or contact support@atpdataservices.com if you want to continue the case or request return of your device.

Quotes remain good for 30 calendar days; the 60-day abandoned-case rule applies when there is no response about the case.

Our recovery fees depend on the type of device and severity of the damage. Most HDD recovery fees are around $500 (including the Seagate discount), and typically fall between $300 and $1,000. Recovery fees are fully refundable if we are unsuccessful in recovering your data per the terms of the quote. If your recovery requires replacement parts, the cost of those parts is added as a separate line item. Parts costs are non-refundable.

You are responsible for all fees, tariffs and taxes associated with your shipment of your case to our lab. We will not be able to accept the shipment and complete the evaluation of your case until the invoice is paid. If the invoice remains unpaid for 48 business hours, we will ask the carrier to return to sender. Please let us know if you have questions.

Your quote is good for 30 calendar days from the date of your report. If you decide to decline the quote; the evaluation report is yours to keep. For what happens if we do not hear from you about your case, see “What happens if I don’t respond about my case?”.

If you decline the quote, notify us and we will return your device. Your device will be shipped within 24 to 48 business hours. We will send tracking information as soon as it is available. We can safely and securely destroy your device at no additional cost if you prefer that instead of a return. The evaluation report is yours to keep. As noted at checkout, the evaluation fee is non-refundable. Contact support@atpdataservices.com with questions.

If you are not satisfied with your recovery, you may request a full refund of your recovery fees within 30 days of service completion, per the terms of your quote. Return our equipment undamaged with your recovered files, and we will review the drive’s data logs. If your files have not been copied or moved to another device, we will refund your recovery fees in full. We cannot issue a refund if recovered files have been copied or moved off our equipment, and items marked non-refundable on your approved quote are not included.

We do offer financing options to help those on a tight budget. Shop pay as well as PayPal’s “Buy Now Pay Later” offers several term options for you to consider. Here is additional information regarding this service.

https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/ways-to-pay/buy-now-pay-later

Your Quote for Service includes return media with a copy of your recovered files and return shipping. Capacity is based on the size of the original media. Upgrade options for return media and shipping priority are listed on your Evaluation and Recoverability Report and Quote for Service. Shipping details and tracking are sent when your package ships after you approve VeriScan results.

ATP will return your original media upon request. We also offer options to securely and safely destroy your drive at no additional charge. If you want us to help with destruction and disposal of your device, simply ask one of our knowledgeable Customer Service agents to include that option for your case.

ATP uses proprietary software called VeriScan that allows our customers to review the results of their recovery. VeriScan provides statistical analysis of our recovery results. This tool provides verification of our results as outlined in the Customer Promise included in every Evaluation and Recoverability Report. VeriScan reports show “Good” files and “Bad” files in our recovery results in a browsable format like Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. The report highlights “Bad” files in red and provides a total file count and other file statistics tracked in an easy-to-read format. VeriScan ensures you have a clear, honest understanding of the reliability of the results of our recovery.

Click the link below to view a sample VeriScan report:

sample VeriScan report

ATP provides a proprietary software solution that allows our customers to see the results of our recovery attempt. VeriScan provides verification of our recovery results to support the Customer Promise included in every Evaluation and Recoverability Report and quote for service. VeriScan reports show “Good” files and “Bad” files in our recovery results in a browsable format similar to Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. The VeriScan report shows files recovered with “Bad” files marked in red with file count and size statistics tracked at the bottom.

With VeriScan, a file marked as “Bad” means we detected read errors in that file during imaging. More specifically, this means that part of the file was stored in an area of the drive affected uncorrectable errors or was even physically damaged, preventing us from reading the original data completely. In some cases, the damage may be minor, and a file marked as “Bad” may still open or appear mostly intact.

However, to provide the most accurate and transparent results, we use a strict good/bad methodology rather than relying on whether a file happens to open. A “Bad” designation reflects confirmed read errors at the storage level and a “Good” file is certified as being error free and fully recovered with no errors. VeriScan ensures you have a clear, honest understanding of the file’s reliability and the results of our recovery. VeriScan is simply another way ATP provides peace of mind by providing fully transparent results of the recovery of your data.

When recovery is complete, we email you a VeriScan link to review your results. VeriScan is listing-only: you approve or decline before we ship. If you approve, we ship your recovered data on password-protected return media within 24 to 48 business hours and send tracking when available; the password arrives in a separate email with the shipping confirmation. If you decline before we ship, we refund refundable items per your quote (we process within 48 business hours; the payment processor can take up to 10 business days) and ask whether to return or securely destroy your original device. Items marked non-refundable on your approved quote (such as replacement parts) are not included.

If you decline after we have already shipped our return drive with your recovered data, please return that drive to us undamaged so we can complete your refund. Do not copy or move files off the drive — copying makes the refund unavailable under our Refund Policy. After we receive the drive, we review its data logs. If the recovered files have not been copied or moved to another device, we process your refund of refundable items per your quote within 48 business hours. It can take up to 10 business days for the payment processor to return the funds to your original payment method. We will email return instructions separately. Full details: see “What is the ATP Refund Policy?”

Windows (BitLocker)

1. Insert the drive into a USB port on your PC.
2. Open the Start menu and search for Control Panel.
3. Go to System and Security → BitLocker Drive Encryption.
4. Select your drive and click Unlock drive.
5. Enter your password and confirm.

Mac (FileVault)

1. Insert the drive into a USB port on your Mac.
2. Open Finder and locate the drive in the sidebar.
3. Control-click the drive and select Decrypt.
4. Enter your password and confirm.

Keep in mind the encryption is only compatible with the operating system you selected when you submitted your case (Windows or Apple).

Yes, our customers have several options regarding encrypted data. 1) the customer may provide ATP with the password so that we may verify results at the end of the recovery process OR 2) ATP will recover the data in an encrypted format and the customer can access the recovered files using their password after we have returned the recovery to the address on file. Yet another we offer security for our customer’s precious data.

Yes, ATP can recover your data even if you don’t have a password for your device. ATP will recover your data in an encrypted format and return the data to you. You can then decrypt the data when you are able to find the password. These types of cases are called “Image Recoveries”. Image recoveries are not eligible for a VeriScan Report, but ATP will still honor Refund terms per the Quote for Service.

Yes, ATP can recover data and return it to you in an encrypted format. These recoveries are not eligible for a VeriScan Report, but ATP will honor Refund terms per the Quote for Service. You will be responsible for decrypting the data following recovery.

Yes, ATP can recover data from ALL brands and formats of storage devices. We specialize in Seagate and Western Digital devices, but we are capable of recovering data from any type of device including phones, tablets, storage tape, zip drives, and many others.

Yes, ATP can recover data and return it to you in an encrypted format for gaming consoles and DVRs. These recoveries are not eligible for a VeriScan Report, but ATP will honor Refund terms per the Quote for Service. You will be responsible for decrypting the data following recovery.

ATP will recover an image of your data and return the data to you. You can then decrypt the data when you are able to find the password or plug the device into DVR or console that holds the encryption key. These types of recoveries are called “Image Recoveries”. Image recoveries are not eligible for a VeriScan Report, but ATP will still honor Refund terms per the Quote for Service.

Operating systems use a file system to store metadata and track which portion of the disk is used and which is empty. Windows defaults to the NTFS (New Technology File System) file system but also has FAT, ExFAT, and ReFS file systems.  Apple defaults to APFS (Apple File System) currently but has created and used HFS+.  Each file system handles data differently but uses the same core concepts. There is a file table that keeps and maintains all information about the file. This is the Master File Table on Windows and the Catalog on Mac.  Information kept includes the files name, folder location, time stamps, permissions and most importantly the location of the data belonging to that file.

Data recovery primarily focuses on imaging data from a broken or malfunctioning device to a new device. In some cases, unreadable sectors are encountered during the recovery process. We attempt to reread them in different modes but sometimes read errors can be located where the filesystem is stored.  Every error in the file system leads to between 1 and 4 files losing their attribute(s) and location information. Many read errors in the file system leads to not only many files not being listed and located but it breaks the folder structure too. Part of a folder chain can be orphaned from the root directory, so the file system no longer know where it belongs. Some recovery cases have most, or all of the file system stored on that damaged surface meaning most or all of the file structure and file names are now lost.

Recoveries including raw files are not ideal but are the only way to recover these orphaned files. We do our best to organize these files to make them easier to locate and browse. Fully orphaned files with no reference in the file table are sorted by file type. This structure would for example be “Extra Found Files\Graphics and Pictures\JPEG Digital Camera\0000023.jpg” The top level or root folder “Extra Found Files” refers to the contents being made up of fully orphaned files with no reference in the file system on the drive. Graphics and Pictures organizes these orphaned files into categories. Other categories include Archive, Documents, Spreadsheets, Audio, and Video. Within those category folders you find folders for each extension under that category.  The folder “JPEG Digital Camera” has all jpg files that have camera metadata in the file.  This is the most useful way we can find to organize these files to make them easier to browse and digest.

In other cases, there is partial folder structure information, and the file metadata is preserved. This is ideal because the file location is known and its name. These will also appear under Extra Found Files. Since the folder chain is disconnected from the root or base folder, it is placed under Extra Found Files but in its own folder chain instead of a file category. These can also be challenging because it is hard to know where the file came from. This is the best result in the circumstances because it will be a complete file due to the full location on the disk being known. It is easier to sort because the names, dates, and other attributes were preserved.  The combination of orphaned files and broken folder structure is expected for a recovery with a high amount of read errors.  We avoid raw results, when possible, but it is critical to present all of the data recovered and let you decide what data you wish to keep.

Hard disk drives (HDDs) store data on spinning platters. Mechanical failures such as scratches, corrosion, or physical damage to these platters can render the data unrecoverable. If the damage is severe enough, it may not be possible to read the data from anywhere on the platter. In addition, a head crash occurs when the read/write heads of an HDD make physical contact with the platters. This can lead to damage to both the heads and the platters, making data recovery impossible. The severity of the head crash influences the chances of successful recovery.
While mechanical failures in storage devices are common reasons for data loss, non-mechanical issues can also pose challenges to successful data recovery. There are numerous non-mechanical reasons why data recovery might not be successful:

If new data has been written to a storage device after it has been deleted or made inaccessible, it can overwrite the sectors containing the lost data.
If data loss resulted from file corruption rather than deletion, this also means certain sections of the data were overwritten by incorrect data. Data corruption can occur due to software issues, power outages, unstable write heads, or another non-mechanical factor.
Encrypted data adds an extra layer of complexity to the recovery process. If the data is encrypted, the recovery service needs access to the correct encryption keys to decrypt and recover the files. Here too, corruption might damage certain areas on the device needed to correctly decrypt data.
Damage to the file system structure, for example, the master file table (MFT) on NTFS file systems, can make it difficult or impossible to locate and recover files. This is especially true for heavily fragmented files.
Problems with the firmware of a storage device can impede the data recovery process. Firmware issues may prevent the drive from functioning correctly or cause it to misinterpret the data, leading to difficulties in accessing and recovering the lost files.
For flash-based storage devices such as solid-state drives (SSDs), SD cards, or portable USB drives, physical damage to the storage chips such as cracked or severely overheated chips will sever its extremely small, internal connections. After the manufacturing process, it is no longer possible to access these electrical connections, making the data unrecoverable.

If recovery is unsuccessful, we refund refundable items per your quote. We process that refund within 48 business hours. It can take up to 10 business days for the payment processor to return the funds to your original payment method. Items marked non-refundable on your approved quote (such as replacement parts) are not included.

Your original media will be shipped within 24 to 48 business hours. We will send tracking information as soon as it is available. We can safely and securely destroy your media at no additional cost if you prefer that instead of a return.

For why a recovery can fail, see “Why was my data recovery unsuccessful?” Questions: email support@atpdataservices.com.