When the engine can no longer open a database, recovery means lifting your data out of it regardless. Every job runs on a copy of the files — the originals are never touched — while we mend the internal structure page by page, or rebuild the database straight from its data file when the log is gone. SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and Access all come back the same way: your tables and records, extracted and verified.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/db → Database: SQL Server · MDF · 220 GB → Status: SUSPECT — log damaged, will not mount → Client: confidential · Guildford GU2 8XH $ bdr engineer-working → MDF + LDF: copied read-only → Pages: repaired · checksums fixed → Database: online · tables intact $ bdr verify → ✓ tables — 220 GB → ✓ records — all back → ✓ database recovered — data back
A database that’s corrupt, stuck in Suspect mode or refusing to mount needs to be left alone — resist the urge to fire off repair commands that permit data loss, to restore on top of it, or to keep writing to it. Any one of those can turn a recoverable problem into a permanent one. Take a copy of the files as they stand, jot down what happened, and let us assess it first: the safest recovery always begins from an untouched copy.
Corrupt MDF files, dropped tables, Suspect-mode databases, lost or damaged transaction logs, and databases stranded on failed storage — the list below covers the database problems that reach us most, from page-level corruption right through to storage that has given way beneath the data.
No database engine is out of scope — SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Access and everything alongside them — whether the files are corrupt, objects have been dropped, or the whole thing is sitting on a failed drive or array. Which engine you run decides the method, not whether the data comes back.
MySQL and MariaDB (InnoDB, MyISAM), Microsoft SQL Server (MDF, NDF, LDF), Oracle (DBF), PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access (ACCDB, MDB), Exchange (EDB), SQLite and MongoDB · corrupt files, suspect databases, dropped objects and failed underlying storage.
The route is fixed: work only from a copy, repair the database at page level or rebuild it from the data file when the log is missing, then extract and verify your tables. Where the storage under it has failed, that gets recovered first.
Tell us the engine and version, which files you have and what went wrong; an engineer assesses it and sends a written quote back, usually inside 48 hours.
A read-only copy of the files — MDF, NDF, LDF, IBD, DBF or EDB — is taken first, so every step runs against the copy and your originals stay untouched.
If the drive, RAID or server under the database has failed, we repair and image it or rebuild the array first, so there are clean files to work from before the database itself is touched.
Repair happens at page level — corrupt pages, checksums and headers are mended — and where the transaction log is gone or damaged, the database is rebuilt to a consistent state without it.
Tables, records, schema and stored procedures are pulled out — into a live database, SQL scripts or CSV — including data lifted from pages the engine had already written off.
Recovered tables and records are checked for readability and consistency — row counts, key data and structure — before any of it is handed back.
You get the database back ready to attach, or your data as exports — whichever fits how you need to bring it back into service.
SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and the rest — brought back by repairing corrupt files at page level and, where the storage has gone too, rebuilding that first.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
Straightforward tiered pricing for database recovery — always with a free diagnostic and a written quote in hand before any work begins.
A handful of recent database recoveries spanning corruption, Suspect mode, dropped tables and failed storage. Identifying details stripped; every result verified.
The log was holding the database offline. We rebuilt it to a consistent state without that log and recovered every table.
MySQL refused to start behind a damaged ibdata file. We repaired the InnoDB tablespace and extracted the databases.
The rows were still resident in the data file. We carved the dropped table out of the pages and put it back.
A stretch of blocks had turned unreadable. We mended the datafile at block level and recovered the schema and data.
A damaged file header was the entire fault. We rebuilt the header and recovered the tables and forms.
Two disks had failed under the database. We rebuilt the RAID 5, repaired the database on top, and recovered it.
Send the database files in for a free diagnostic with the engine, version and what happened; an engineer assesses them and confirms the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
Getting your data back starts with getting the database files — or the failed storage holding them — to us. Send them safely, tell us the engine and version, and once we've run the free diagnostic we confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the database engine, files and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
The questions we field most often about recovering databases.
Usually. Suspect mode almost always means SQL Server couldn’t recover the database from its transaction log at startup — not that the data has gone. Working from a copy, we repair the pages and rebuild the database to a consistent state, with or without the original log.
Yes — it’s the heart of what we do. Corruption is mended at page level (pages, checksums and headers) across SQL Server, MySQL/MariaDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL and Access, and your tables and records are extracted to a working database or exports.
Often, provided you move quickly. A dropped table or deleted rows generally stay in the data file until something overwrites them, so stop writing to the database and we can carve the records back out of the pages.
Usually, yes. A SQL Server database can be rebuilt from the MDF (and NDF) alone, and MySQL from its InnoDB or MyISAM files — even with the logs gone we repair what remains and pull the data out.
Pricing is tiered: repairing from readable files starts at £500 + VAT, and where the drive, RAID or server underneath has failed as well it starts at £800 + VAT. Either way you get a free diagnostic and a written quote before anything begins.
On most jobs, yes. For database repair and any storage recovery we take a deposit against the quote and the balance only falls due on a successful recovery — a free diagnostic and written quote always come first.
All of them — Microsoft SQL Server (MDF/NDF/LDF), MySQL and MariaDB (InnoDB, MyISAM), Oracle (DBF), PostgreSQL and Microsoft Access. Whatever the version, we repair the files and extract the data.
Yes, and we deal with both halves. The failed drive is repaired and imaged, or the RAID array rebuilt, to produce clean database files first; the database itself is then repaired on top and your data extracted.
It depends. Strong modern encryption on a database can’t be reversed — no one can do that honestly without the key. What we can recover are earlier backups, unencrypted copies, or database files the ransomware missed, so it’s always worth asking.
Most finish inside a few working days. Very large databases, severe corruption, or an underlying storage failure that has to be rebuilt first will push that out.
Send the database files on a drive or USB, or where the storage has failed, send the drives or server. Post it fully insured to our Guildford address, or drop it off Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
A free diagnostic, tiered pricing from £500, and no fix no fee on most jobs — every database engine covered, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and the rest, files and storage alike. Begin your recovery today.