Client Challenge

A business client approached us after experiencing a sudden failure of their QNAP NAS, which contained two Seagate 3.5” 4TB hard drives. Both drives had become completely inaccessible—there was no spinning or vibration, making the data appear unrecoverable. The client urgently needed access to a critical project folder.

Diagnosis & Findings

Our recovery specialists carried out a detailed assessment and confirmed a hardware-level fault. Both drives were undetectable due to a short circuit on the PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly), which prevented them from powering up. There was also concern that the drives may have been encrypted, which could have complicated recovery if a password was unavailable.

Recovery Process

Despite the challenges, our engineers successfully repaired the drives, allowing data extraction to begin. Fortunately, no encryption was present. We successfully recovered 100% of the client’s data, preserving the original folder structure intact. An online data verification session was conducted, after which the client confirmed their satisfaction and relief. The recovered data was then securely transferred to a new hard drive purchased by us for future backup.

Key Takeaway

This case highlights the importance of safeguarding encryption keys and passwords. For self-encrypting drives, data is automatically encrypted as it is written to the drive. Without the correct recovery key, decryption is virtually impossible. We strongly advise businesses not to attempt a DIY fix, as it may compromise the stored recovery keys or passwords on the storage device. Please do not risk your business data. It is a direct financial, operational, risk, compliance, and legal cost.

Need Data Recovery?

If your business relies on critical data stored on NAS systems or encrypted drives, our team has the expertise and tools to help. Contact us today for professional data recovery services.