Howards communication was very good, he provided real time updates and promptly investigated the issue in hand, providing comphrehensive feedback. Unfortuantly the DVD-R was not able to be recovered.... See more
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See what reviewers are saying
I have had a prompt and expert solution, on two occasions now, to a data recovery problem that I had thought was likely to be insoluble. Apex were brilliant - quick, reasonably priced and completely s... See more
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My 10 year old Lacie 2 Big Quadra, external hard drive with RAID 1 setup kept shutting itself down and restarting. I should have realised it was heading for a problem but continued using it until my W... See more
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I had an Old Amsoft CF2 disc with my 1987 University Thesis and I couldn't find anyone in Australia who could convert this to a CD format - preferably in Word. Retrieving the thesis was really impo... See more
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Company details
Written by the company
Data Recovery, Disk Transfer and File Conversions. for Raid, NAS, Video, Hard Disks. Disk Transfer from old MO Optical ZIP JAZ Syquest disks. Reverse Engineering old Filesystems and file conversions,
Contact info
54, CW11 2ND, Sandbach, United Kingdom
- 01785 336300
- help@apextechnology.co.uk
- apextechnology.co.uk
Very Good Customer Service
Howards communication was very good, he provided real time updates and promptly investigated the issue in hand, providing comphrehensive feedback. Unfortuantly the DVD-R was not able to be recovered. However Howard tried everything to get it to work. Thanks again.
February 6, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Many thanks for sending in the DVD-R. After several hours I eventually got the disk recognised in my system, and it shows half full.The Disk reports 956863 LBA which is correct with the visual inspection which shows the disk should be about half full.
The disk looks visually in excellent condition, however no sectors are readable.
So obviously some corruption has happened.
Common causes are
1. Exposure to sunlight or heat.
2. Data was poorly written when the disk was first used( I don't know if it worked when new or not?)
3. Previous recovery attempts trying to correct the disk by formatting or initialising it in a drive that did not realise data already exists on it (so recorded over original data and corrupts the video)
4. Bit rot - this is becoming more frequent as these disks are aging. It was something that was not foreseen when the disk were originally sold.
Without detailed knowledge of the history of this disk and how it was stored, it is difficult to say which is issue caused it to become unplayable.
I would just like to thank you very much for your valuable time to leave a review, despite the recovery not being a success. Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Used twice (5 years apart )to recover…
Used twice (5 years apart )to recover business critical hard drives to get info and get the computers running again. In my opinion this is a real specialist company who you can trust. Good communication through out. Thank you
May 17, 2024
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Many thanks for the great review :) The hard drive controlled some industrial machinery, and after a series of power cuts, it failed to boot up or be recognised by the Computer BIOS or Windows. The plant could still run without the computer, but processes could not be stopped or started until it was online agiain, so we worked overnight to get the repair done. It was a spinning drive 500GB 2.5 inch laptop style disk. We managed to clone the operating system, data and files to a new disk and when re-inserted in the original machine it booted up just like the original.
It was nice to know it worked out ok for you and thanks very much for your time to write the review. Kind regards, Howard Atherton
This is the second that I have sent dvd…
This is the second that I have sent dvd holiday dvds to Howard, and again another great job done, and communication was 5 star all the way, and kept upto date with the progress, and that was important, as one of the 9 dvds was a issue getting the data recovered, but Howard managed to that.
Well done and thank you, sorry for the late review, but I explained that I'm.my email to you, I would highly recommend and will certainly use Howard again later this year to do some more dvds for us
April 4, 2024
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Gary,
Many thanks for your kind review :)
The DVDs had been recorded years ago on a domestic recorder on a mixture of disks - mainly DVD+RW DVD-R DVD-RAM. The disks were showing signs of degradation due to age which despite the advertising hype when the disks wre new, is actually a serious issue for all recordable CDs and DVDs from that era. The video clips were extracted and saved to USB memory stick for easy backup and playback on Apple MAcs, Smart phones, TVs Windo PC computers etc.
Many thanks for choosing us again - it is always appreciated. Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Lacie 2 Big Quadra (RAID 1) data recovery
My 10 year old Lacie 2 Big Quadra, external hard drive with RAID 1 setup kept shutting itself down and restarting. I should have realised it was heading for a problem but continued using it until my Windows 10 laptop said a file was corrupted and gave me the option to repair it. The "repair" unfortunately deleted most of the data on the Lacie drive. Howard at Apex recovered all the data and at a cost which was significantly less than any other organisation. He kept me updated on progress of the work through the bank holiday weekend. Recovered data was placed onto a new USB drive which he supplied at a very competitive price. Five star service. Thank you.
August 26, 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Ian,
Many thanks for sending us the Lacie USB drive for recovery.
During cloning of the disks we found a number of bad sectors in the file system areas. These were repaired, and allowed access to the data. Following that we copied the files and folders to a new USB drive for return to you.
Many thanks for taking the time to write us a great review, and hope you have a great week now that you are reunited with your missing files.
Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Errors with BackupAssist backups
I had some BackupAssist backups on an external, portable hard drive which I sent to Howard (to extract the data).
I had the valid encryption key for these backups, but, having tried BackupAssist’s software, it kept failing.
As a last resort, I tried Apex Tech and the drive came back to me within a couple of days fully restored!
Thanks again.
March 13, 2022
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Robin,
This was an interesting data recovery on Backup Assist encrypted zip files. You had been using BackupAssist for a few years, but suddenly it stopped opening the files so you no longer had access to your saved data.
When you wrote to us, you used the Subject Line "Data recovery from encrypted zip folder", and commented that we would have the initial reaction of, “we can’t fix that...” ... which was correct!
I think the fact that we managed to locate the error in the file and repair access was as much of a surprise to you as it was to us.
Anyway many thanks for your kind words on our service, and have a great evening.
Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Rapid response to original enquiry
Rapid response to original enquiry. Gave clear pricing structure. Spent more time than usual recovering corrupt cd. Also recovered dvd. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Other companies should take a leaf out of Apex's customer service and apply it to their company.
November 14, 2022
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Dave,
Many thanks for taking the time to leave a fantastic review. It is really appreciated.
On arrival the Fuji Photo CD read as ‘’corrupt’ when inserted in the computer and the Sony DVD would not read at all by the PC. Both disks were showing signs of suffering bit-rot which is affecting many older CDs now and causing them to loose their data. Both stored photos, the DVD was successful recovery, and the CD was much more tricky but still a partial recovery, fortunately you have similar photos to those on the CD so it was not as critical. Great to know the recovery was ok for you and thanks again for the stars :) Kind regards, Howard
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello Stacey,
Thanks for taking time to leave us a review.
For this data transfer, the floppy disks were from an Amstrad PC 1512 and had to be converted to a modern format ie. Microsoft Word saved on a USB. The disks were a mixture of 3 inch and 3.5 inch floppies.
Great to know it worked out ok for you. Have a good weekend.
Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Apex technology did a great job
Apex technology transferred some Amstrad discs to electronic files for me. There were fast and efficient both on doing the transfers and also in all their communications. A complete joy to work with.
February 9, 2021
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello Joe,
Thanks for sending the Maxell CF2 that needed coverting to Microsoft Word. The floppy drive for the old 3 inch discs are no longer made, but it is surprising how many customers still have data from the old Amstrad computers - often books, play manuscripts, letters or diaries from the 1990s.
Really appreciate you taking the time to leave us a great review - thanks!
Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Great, fast service
Great, fast service from Howard transferring data from some very old optical disks. All data secure - thank you Howard!
February 5, 2021
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello Matt,
Many thanks for sending in the 230mb optical disks which were Mac Formatted for file transfer to USB. Despite their age the MO disks red very well. Also thanks for leaving us a great review - always appreciated :)
Kind regards, Howard
Helpful and efficient
Howard at Apex has helped me more than once with taking documents off old unuseable discs. Always helpful and friendly to interact with, always quick and will answer any follow up questions. I would recommend using his service.
January 28, 2021
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello Frances,
Many thanks (again) for leaving a review and choosing us for recovering the data from the CF2 discs and converting them to Microsoft Word. Enjoy your day! Kind regards, Howard
Very helpful, directing me to a more appropriate specialist for my particular issue.
Whilst it is true that I have no actual experience of their Data Recovery services, I was very impressed with not only their level of service, but also that they did not try to sell me a service on false pretences, instead they were very helpful (and rapid with their communications), finally directing me to another company, which should be able to help me, when it became apparent that my issue was outside their scope.
January 4, 2021
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Good Morning Rip,
First many thanks for your time to leave us a great review :).
For this job you had a 1TB WD My Passport external Hard Disk that needed recovery. It no longer appeared as a valid drive when plugged into a USB port, The Windows Disk Management had started showing the USB drive as unallocated, but eventually you had found it did not appear at all.
This latter part tells me it is degrading quite rapidly and really needs some expert help. While there are many companies on the internet for this type of work, some simply act as agents for other companies, or worse, they simply start issuing invoices for work it is difficult to prove has been undertaken (scam).
Good luck with your data recovery and feel free to ask me any questions along the way. Have a great day! Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Very helpful
I asked Apex for help on the basis of the reviews left by others on Trust Pilot. I sent details to Howard, who within a day responded and said that he was not able to help me in my case but recommended some reputable firms to try instead. In a world where it seems easy to be bamboozled when it comes to things like this, it was refreshing to have such a helpful response, even if it didn't result in some work!
December 15, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello Iain,
Many thanks for taking the time to leave a review - we all live busy lives so it is appreciated. You had a 500GB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive for data recovery. The disk had failed some time ago since the unit became inoperable when it was knocked over while it was backing up. It would not allow access. Since it was likely it had internal mechanical damage it is not an area we get involved in, however there are some companies that are better at handling this, and there are some companies who simply scam people, and it is difficult to know which is which. Good luck with the recovery and Merry Christmas to you! Kind regards, Howard Atherton.
"You are an absolute star
"You are an absolute star. My client will be very grateful as the information held is really important to him. " Kind regards Cheryl
November 6, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Cheryl,
Many thanks for sending the Syquest disks. These disks had an unusual file system callled DATA×PAK even though they had been used in an Apple Mac and should have had an HFS partition. Also the disks were without their factory labels showing capacity - fortunately the red Write protect button gave it away - meaning 44mb. For 88MB this would be yellow, and 200mb would be beige colour. Anyway the files were saved to USB to return the data.
Many thanks for leaving us a great review - have a good weekend!
Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Fab and friendly service
I was moving a HDD in my PC when the SATA data connector snapped. The drive contained about 8Tb of data that I thought I might have lost forever. Never having used a data recovery service before, I was unsure if the connector could be repaired or the data recovered. I contacted Apex (this was on a Sunday evening) and within an hour, Howard replied to say he thought it could be repaired and the data recovered, and asked for photos of the damage.
These were sent and Howard replied with a quote for doing the work. He also advised that there would be a delay of 10 days before they could look at it, and to feel free to go elsewhere if I needed it sooner. I decided to stick with it as Howard had been thorough and upfront, and I had a lot of confidence in what he was telling me.
I obtained a new HDD for the data to be copied over to and sent this with my drive to Howard. He kept in touch throughout the process, letting me know when it arrived, that they had repaired the connector and were successfully retrieving the data from the drive. Once they had done this, they were able to strengthen the SATA connector so I am able to use the drive as a backup (no guarantees with it, but it's pretty robust now!)
The drives arrived back with me today and I have all my data back - thank you to Howard and Apex for saving my data! Is been a pleasure dealing with you - your knowledge and expertise are second to none, I would have no hesitation recommending you.
September 5, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Paul,
Many thanks for your very detailed review - it is appreciated.
You had a WD 10TB USB3 hard drive which have a USB to SATA adapter which automatically encrypts the data on the disk. You had removed the WD Elements case so the hard drive could be used inside your desktop Windows PC, but while moving it, the sata connector broke off and needed repair.
I recall that you had approached some other companies but did not feel confident in their quotations or what they were telling you, so it was nice to hear you felt confident for us to undertake the SATA repair.
We normally only repair the drive sufficiently to get the data off (you sent a Toshiba 12TB hdd to save the recovered data to, but we also created a more sturdy connection to allow it to bve used as an emergency backup disk.
These WD external hard disks do create an extra layer of complication by encrypting the data - we can decrypt it if the circuit board becomes damaged, but it can be a slow process (currently 2 days per 1TB!) .
Thanks for taking your personal time to leave a review to help others decide to use us for their SATA or USB connector repair. Kind regards, Howard Atherton
Hard Drive Data Recovery
Howard got back to me very quickly and although wasn't able to help, gave me some advice of who might be able to assist with the problem. Should i ever need the service that Apex do offer, i will not hesitate to get in touch.
September 1, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Paul,
This was data recovery from a hard drive that had already had parts replaced by another company. Unfortunately very few companies will touch a hard disk that has already had such extensive data recovery attempted, however there are a few who may give a second opinion. Good luck with recovering the data and thanks very much for the 5 star review. Kind regards, Howard Atherton.
Great Service - Lacie 4TB Rugged
Great Service and very friendly on email.
From the moment I started a communication with Howard I was put at ease. I felt I was putting my Lacie 4TB Rugged external hard drive into good hands. The drive had stopped connecting to my Mac and was full of important photos. Unfortunately Howard was unable to get the files off the drive which is a shame but he sent it back to me and recommended some alternative companies to try. Thanks Howard.
August 27, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi James,
Thanks for sending us the Lacia USB drive. In this case I suspect the head had become stuck to the platters - so called stiction. This prevented the drive from spinning, but did allow it to show as a USB device when connected (incorrect capacity shown in disk utility). In simple cases (1 head) this is quite easy to solve, however in the cae of a 4TB drive with multiple heads and platters, it is not a trivial case. Therefore I suggested some companies who are better able to assist. There are many companies out there who claim to do this data recovery, but not many who can handle it correctly. Even when handled correctly there is a risk of further complications and that is why I suggested some alternatives.
Many thanks for taking your personal time to write us an excellent review - it is always appreciated. Have a grerat day.
Kind regards, Howard Atherton.
WD MyBook Studio Data Recovery for Apple Mac
Recently my Western Digital External Hard Drive ceased to connect to my Apple iMac. Although it would still attempt to power up, it would make an unusual noise and the usual light on the front would not illuminate. Up to now what had been a very reliable drive for many years was suddenly...and out of the blue...struggling to initialise and connect to my computer, nor any other computers I tried it with so I had no access at all to any of my data which was approx 2TB worth. Howard at Apex Technology re-assured me that there was still a good chance that the data could be recovered. Although I was sceptical and feared the worst, Howard did manage to decrypt all the data on the broken drive and was able to hand me back 100% of my lost data on a brand new drive. Needless to say I was delighted! My recovered data appeared on the new drive just the way it was prior to the old drive breaking down. Throughout the whole process communication was excellent, Howard kept me very well informed on where things were at and was honest and re-assuring the whole time. He clearly understood the value of the data to me and genuinely wanted to successfully recover it for me. Apex Technology offers a truly superb and professional service! I would recommend them to anybody who finds themselves in a similar situation to myself. From now on my backups will more regular but thanks to Apex Technology I didn't lose a thing. Howard, many thanks for recovering all of my data, I am truly grateful!
July 26, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Dear Adam,
Thank you very much for taking the time to review and for the 5 stars :).
This was an interesting recovery. Even though you did not set a password for the drive, the WD My Book still encrypts the data on the hard disk which makes recovery unnecessarily complicated. In fact many WD USB3 drives automatically encrypt the data without the user's knowledge or direct request to do so. The drive then has 2 stages to go through, 1. to get it physically working, and 2. to decrypt the data, adding more time and cost to a job than would usually be required to retrieve and copy the files. Thank you for the fantastic write up on our service - this really helps our business. Have a great weekend. Kind regards, Howard.
Great, professional and friendly service
Great service. Howard was very professional and friendly and kept me informed throughout the process Unfortunately my data could not be extracted due to the drive being too old but I was provided with options and enough information to make an informed decision.
Hopefully I won't need to use their services in the future, but if I do, I will know where to go.
July 8, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hello George,
Many thanks for sending us your External USB Hard Drive for recovery and for taking the time to leave us an excellent review. The Hard Drive inside the caddy case was a WD 2TB model number WD20EACS with 2061-771698-R02 AA pcb that would not boot up and allow access to the data. We are sorry the recovery was not possible so there was no charge, but thanks for trusting us with the work. Have a great evening! Kind regards, Howard
Excellent service
May 6, 2020
Unprompted review
Reply from Data Recovery by Apex Technology Ltd
Hi Nigel,
Thanks for choosing us to transfer your 5 1/4 inch discs from an old BBC micro. The floppy disks were madels 3M DS,DD Maxell, Verbatim 2S2D, Nashua Beebug Soft, Tandy SS,DD disks. Disks formatted Single Sided 40tracks, 10 sectors per track, and BBC 80 track 10sectors/track and that is often the problem with the BBC micro - it was such a flexible machine with so many thrid parties offering different formatting oiptions, that the first task is identifying which actual format each disk is. This was solved, and Files were downloaded / emailed back. The discs included Acorn DOS Boot Disc, BBC Master 512 disc. Anyway - many thanks for leaving us a great review and 5 stars :) Kind regards, Howard Atherton
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