When a claim, dispute or investigation hangs on what a drive or computer contains — deleted files among it, the ones people assume are long gone — the data has to be lifted off without altering it. We capture a forensic, hash-verified image and recover whatever’s called for.
$ bdr image /dev/sdb → Device: Seized laptop HDD (1 TB) → Status: WRITE-BLOCKED — evidential image → Case: civil dispute · ref 2026-014 $ bdr engineer-working → Image hash: SHA-256 checked · confirmed against source → Deleted files: 4,210 recovered → Artifacts: metadata and timestamps kept intact $ bdr verify → ✓ documents — fully recovered → ✓ deleted items — carved and dated → ✓ findings — pulled back whole
The moment a computer or drive might be needed as evidence, the one thing that matters is not using it. Switch it on, open a file, run a recovery tool, and you rewrite the very data and timestamps at issue — potentially rendering findings inadmissible. Power it off, leave it untouched, and bring it in: we image it write-blocked first, work only on that copy, and recover what’s needed.
There are moments when the contents of a device carry legal or commercial weight, and must be taken off it without a single change — that’s what forensic recovery is for. The situations below are the ones that reach us most.
Working from a forensic image of a drive or computer, we recover and document evidence across a wide range — data the user swore was long deleted very much included. We report what’s actually there, plainly and without spin.
Hard drives and SSDs; servers and NAS; USB drives, memory cards and external units; and the computers, laptops and workstations themselves.
In forensic work, integrity counts as much as recovery: the point is to prove what comes back is exactly what was found. So we image behind a write blocker, do the recovering and analysis on that copy alone, and lay the findings out clearly.
Talk us through what’s in dispute and what you’re trying to establish; before any work, we settle the scope and say plainly what’s achievable.
Through a hardware write blocker — which lets nothing alter a single byte of the original — a bit-for-bit forensic image is captured, then checked against the source by cryptographic hash (MD5 and SHA-256): the fingerprint proving the evidence is untouched.
On the verified image alone, deleted files and fragments are carved back, and hidden or overwritten data and the system artefacts — registry hives, prefetch, LNK files, journals, the $MFT — are surfaced wherever they’ve survived.
Timestamps and metadata — event logs, the $UsnJrnl change journal, the $MFT — are drawn together into one timeline that shows what took place and when, factually and in a way any other examiner could repeat.
What was found is set out as an interactive browser listing, in plain English fit for HR, solicitors or court.
Throughout, confidentiality is maintained; the data is held securely and either returned or retained exactly as you instruct.
Off a write-blocked, hash-verified image we forensically recover from servers, computers, laptops and drives — bringing back deleted evidence and documenting the findings so they hold up to scrutiny.
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.
No hidden charges and no hard sell — a free assessment and a written quote before any work begins.
A few recent forensic recoveries, described only in the vaguest terms and kept strictly confidential.
The laptop was imaged behind a write blocker; we recovered the deleted documents plus a record of USB transfers, and wrote the findings up for the client’s solicitor.
Out of system logs and file metadata we built a factual timeline of access and edits, presented in a clear written report.
Traces of deleted data were recovered, and we confirmed what had gone and when, backing the insurer’s review.
Send the device in for its free assessment and tell us briefly what’s at issue; an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before anything starts.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
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.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
What people most often ask about forensic data recovery.
It means pulling data off a computer or drive in a way that keeps it sound as evidence. The original is never touched; the work is done on a bit-for-bit image captured through a write blocker and confirmed by cryptographic hash, and every step is written up so the results stand for HR, solicitors or a court.
They usually can. Until something overwrites them, deleted files and fragments tend to remain on the drive, and we recover them along with their timestamps and metadata. Since everything happens on a forensic image, the original device is left unchanged.
Because software run on the original writes to it, altering the timestamps and metadata that are themselves the evidence, and it can overwrite deleted data before anyone captures it — enough, forensically, to render findings inadmissible. We image behind a write blocker first and touch only the verified copy.
You will — a clear written report explaining what was found and how, in plain English suited to court, HR processes or solicitors. Where expert witness support is called for, we can talk that through.
Wholly. These matters are handled securely and discreetly, an NDA is no problem, and the findings reach nobody but you, or whoever you direct us to.
Only ones you’re entitled to have examined — your own or your organisation’s, or where you hold proper authority or a court order. We check that before we begin, and we won’t touch a device someone has no right to have examined.
Hard drives and SSDs, servers and NAS, USB drives, memory cards, external drives, and computers, laptops and workstations. Storage media and computers are our forensic remit — mobile phones we don’t handle.
Frequently. When a file was made, changed or deleted shows up across the file-system timestamps ($MFT created/modified/accessed), the $UsnJrnl change journal, event logs and other artefacts — and backdating gives itself away where those records contradict one another. We line them up into a timeline and report it plainly.
The first assessment costs nothing; from there it’s priced per case. A basic forensic recovery is a fixed £800 + VAT, moving with the number of devices, the scope, and whether you need a written report or expert testimony — and you get that quote in writing before any work.
Placed between the evidence drive and everything else, a write blocker allows reads while physically barring every write, so imaging can’t change the original — and hashing the image proves it matches the source. That’s what makes a forensic recovery defensible.
A free assessment, a forensic write-blocked image, deleted-data recovery and a clear written report. Talk to us in confidence today.