Open a Recovery Case
Tell us what failed, what symptoms you are seeing, and whether another recovery attempt has already been made.
Ship your failed hard drive, SSD, RAID, flash media or other storage device to Aesonlabs for professional evaluation and recovery. We accept cases from across Canada and worldwide, including previously attempted and complex recoveries.
Tell us what failed, what symptoms you are seeing, and whether another recovery attempt has already been made.
Protect the device from static, impact and movement. Keep RAID and NAS members clearly labelled in their original order.
Use a tracked shipping service. International customers should arrange sender-paid duties, taxes and brokerage wherever available.
Your shipment is matched to the recovery case and moved into our technical evaluation workflow. We then contact you with the next steps.
You do not need to be local to use Aesonlabs. We receive failed storage media from individuals, businesses and organizations that cannot bring the device to us in person.
Whether the problem is mechanical, electronic, firmware-related, logical or the result of a previous recovery attempt, the first step is getting the media to us safely.
We accept recovery cases that have already been examined or worked on elsewhere.
That may include drives that have been opened, undergone head replacement or firmware work, suffered platter damage, or been partially imaged during a previous recovery attempt.
Tell us what has already been done and include any previous diagnosis or recovery notes you have. That history can affect the next recovery strategy and helps us avoid repeating procedures that were already attempted.
Submit a Second-Chance CaseSome recoveries require much more than routine software or component replacement. Mail-in service is suitable for advanced cases involving severe hard-drive damage, firmware and Service Area problems, SSD and NAND failures, monolithic flash, complex RAID systems and board-level faults.
What matters is getting the media to the appropriate technical environment without creating additional damage in transit.
Shipping a failed device to a recovery laboratory should not feel like sending it into a black box. Once your package arrives, the media is matched to your recovery case and moved into the appropriate evaluation workflow.
The shipment is received and matched to your submitted recovery case.
The media and the symptoms reported in the case are reviewed before the appropriate evaluation path is selected.
The device is evaluated using the workflow appropriate to its failure type and storage technology.
We contact you with the findings and the appropriate next step for the recovery case.
Use a rigid corrugated box with enough cushioning to prevent the device from moving inside the package. Hard drives should be protected from static and impact.
Avoid thin envelopes, lightly padded mailers and damaged boxes.
Place bare hard drives, SSDs and exposed electronics in appropriate anti-static protection.
Use enough padding to protect the media from impact and prevent movement inside the box.
RAID and NAS members should be labelled with their original bay or drive position before shipment.
Use a shipping service that provides tracking and retain the tracking number.
We accept recovery cases from around the world.
International customers are responsible for incoming shipping, customs, duties, taxes, brokerage and carrier clearance charges. Where available, select the option to prepay those charges or bill them to the sender.
Aesonlabs does not accept unexpected customs, duty or brokerage charges on incoming shipments.
Clicking, scraping, repeated spin-up attempts or disappearing media can indicate a failure that may worsen with continued use.
Unless advised otherwise, do not remove a drive from an external enclosure, rearrange RAID members or initialize the media.
Include symptoms, previous recovery attempts, accidental damage and any earlier diagnosis that may affect the recovery approach.
If a drive is clicking, scraping, repeatedly disappearing or showing signs of mechanical failure, stop powering it on. Continued attempts can increase damage.
Yes. We accept second-opinion and previously attempted cases. Include any previous diagnosis, findings or information about procedures that have already been performed.
Unless we advise otherwise, keep the device in the form in which it failed. Some external drives rely on the original USB bridge electronics for encryption or access.
Label each member by its original bay or slot position and keep the order unchanged. Do not initialize, rebuild or rearrange the array before shipping.
The sender is responsible for incoming international shipping and any customs, duty, tax, brokerage or carrier-clearance charges.
Yes. Aesonlabs accepts mail-in recovery cases from Canada and internationally.
The return method depends on the amount of recovered data, destination and case requirements. We will confirm the appropriate return method with you as part of the recovery process.
Start by telling us what failed and what happened. Once your recovery case has been submitted, package the media securely and ship it using a tracked service.
If the device has already been attempted elsewhere, include that history when submitting the case.
Already shipped? Send us the carrier and tracking number so the shipment can be matched to your case.