Welcome to Cardiff Data Recovery, Wales’s most trusted provider of ibm data recovery services. With over 25 years of specialist experience, we recover lost, deleted, corrupted or inaccessible data from all models of IBM and Hitachi HGST hard drives, regardless of the fault or storage interface.
Whether your IBM drive has stopped working, suffered firmware failure, or isn’t recognised by your computer, our recovery specialists are equipped with the tools and expertise to retrieve your critical data.
🛠️ Services We Offer – Complete IBM HGST Hard Drive Recovery
We recover data from:
- IBM/Hitachi/HGST hard disk drives (HDDs)
- IBM SSDs used in laptops, desktops, servers, and external enclosures
- Drives used in personal systems, business servers, RAID configurations, SAN and NAS arrays
- Formatted, corrupted, or physically damaged storage
Our recovery solutions support both legacy IBM hardware and modern HGST drives (a division of Western Digital), across all file systems and storage protocols.
🔗 Supported Interfaces
We recover data from all IBM/HGST drive interfaces, including:
- SATA (Serial ATA)
- PATA/IDE (Parallel ATA – legacy drives)
- NVMe (PCIe-based solid state drives)
- SCSI (Small Computer System Interface – server-grade)
- SAS (Serial Attached SCSI)
- PCIe (high-performance SSDs)
- M.2 Interface drives (commonly used in laptops)
- U.2 and eSATA for enterprise storage devices
💽 Top 20 IBM/Hitachi HGST Hard Drive Models We Recover
We successfully recover data from the most popular IBM/HGST models, including:
- IBM Deskstar 120GXP
- IBM Deskstar 180GXP
- HGST Deskstar NAS 4TB
- HGST Travelstar 7K100
- IBM Ultrastar 73LZX
- HGST Ultrastar 7K4000
- HGST Travelstar Z5K500
- HGST Ultrastar He10 (10TB Helium Drive)
- HGST Deskstar 7K1000
- IBM Ultrastar 36Z15
- HGST Travelstar 5K1000
- HGST Ultrastar 15K600
- HGST Ultrastar DC HC510
- IBM DTLA-307030
- HGST Endurastar J4K50
- HGST Deskstar T7K500
- HGST Ultrastar SN200 (NVMe SSD)
- HGST Ultrastar 7K3000
- IBM IC35L040AVER07-0
- HGST Ultrastar C10K1800
We support all IBM-labelled Hitachi or HGST drives including internal, external, enterprise, and legacy formats.
⚠️ Top 30 IBM Hard Drive Recovery Problems – With Recovery Overview
| Problem | Recovery Process Summary |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Failure | Drive imaged after head replacement; platters read using specialised tools. |
| Bad Sectors | Slow-read imaging with ECC correction to salvage intact data from failing areas. |
| Firmware Corruption | Firmware modules reloaded using vendor tools; translator and adaptive data restored. |
| Logical Corruption | File system rebuilt; journal entries and allocation tables reconstructed. |
| Drive Not Recognised by BIOS/System | ROM diagnostics and PCB testing; hardware access via direct SATA/NVMe interface. |
| Accidental File Deletion | Metadata analysis; file recovery using MFT signature scanning and structure repair. |
| Power Surges / Electrical Failure | PCB replaced; ROM chip cloned; drive stabilised before imaging. |
| Head Crash | Damaged heads replaced; platter scanned sector-by-sector. |
| Platter Damage | Optical platter inspection; damaged areas avoided; stable regions imaged first. |
| SSD Controller Failure | Controller bypassed; NAND chip read directly; ECC logic used to reconstruct files. |
| NAND Flash Wear / SSD Degradation | Wear-mapped areas recovered using chip-level NAND extraction. |
| Drive Appears as RAW | Partition structure restored; file system rebuilt from low-level signatures. |
| Partition Table Corruption | MBR/GPT repaired; data extracted from raw volume if required. |
| Overheating & Sudden Shutdown | Thermal logs reviewed; drive cooled and imaged before further degradation. |
| PCB (Printed Circuit Board) Failure | Donor board installed; ROM transplanted to maintain drive ID and firmware compatibility. |
| Accidental Formatting | Partition headers restored; file carving performed from affected volume. |
| BIOS Not Detecting Drive | Drive accessed through alternate host; firmware reinitialisation performed. |
| Encrypted Drive Failures | Encryption software emulated; data decrypted using user password or keyfile. |
| SSD Freezing / Unresponsive | Controller analysed; slow-read imaging mode used with voltage regulation. |
| Corrupt Boot Sector | Boot block rebuilt; volume mounted in safe environment for extraction. |
| Drive Not Mounting | Volume structure analysed; file system repaired; data copied to new media. |
| File System Error (NTFS/HFS+/EXT) | File allocation tables rebuilt; logical structure restored from metadata. |
| RAID Member Drive Failure | Array recreated virtually; parity reconstructed; IBM drive imaged individually. |
| Vibration or Shock Damage | Read/write heads aligned; platter scanned for stable sectors. |
| Firmware Lock from Manufacturer | Unlock sequence applied via vendor tools; data recovered after module reset. |
| Multi-Sector Read Failures | Imaging using adjusted read delay; sectors reconstructed using redundancy logic. |
| Legacy IDE Drive Failure | Accessed using stabilised voltage supply; low-speed imaging for deteriorating drives. |
| SCSI Drive Not Spinning | Spindle motor tested; PCB swapped; drive manually initialised. |
| SSD Overwritten or Trimmed | Residual data extracted from unallocated space where possible. |
| “Drive Needs to Be Formatted” Message | Partition analysed; structure rebuilt using backup headers and content verification. |
✅ Why Choose Cardiff Data Recovery?
- 25+ Years of Expertise in IBM and HGST Drive Recovery
- Support for legacy IDE, modern SATA, NVMe, SCSI, and enterprise SAS drives
- Specialist recovery from encryption, firmware, and SSD controller failures
- Emergency 48-hour data recovery service available upon request
- Free diagnostics and no-obligation evaluation
- Trusted by businesses, individuals, and IT professionals across the UK
📞 Contact Cardiff Data Recovery Today
If your IBM or HGST hard drive is no longer working, unreadable, or has experienced physical, logical, or firmware failure, do not risk further damage by continuing to power the drive or using software tools.
Contact Cardiff Data Recovery today for a free diagnostic. Our expert engineers are ready to recover your data quickly, safely, and professionally.
We’re Wales’s trusted experts in ibm data recovery – restoring critical data from even the most severe drive failures.