G-Technology made its name with fast, slim external drives for Mac users, and they are everywhere in news, film and music production. They hold huge edit, audio and video files and work hard all day, which is exactly why data loss on them is so common. Plenty of the G-DRIVEs that reach Kensington Computer Repairs come from Soho.
Stop using the drive as soon as files go missing. Do not copy anything new to it, do not let your Mac initialise or reformat it, and do not run repair utilities. Eject it, unplug it and get in touch.
How files go missing on a G-DRIVE
Most of the cases we see come down to one of a handful of causes.
- A file or folder deleted by accident
- A drive that is no longer recognised by the computer
- An external drive that does not show up on the Mac
- A file transfer that was interrupted part way through
- An unexpected restart or shutdown while copying between the drive and the Mac
- A corrupted folder on the drive
- A virus on a G-DRIVE SSD or hard drive
Can data be recovered from a faulty G-DRIVE SSD or hard drive
Very often, yes, but it is a job to hand to someone with the right equipment. When you delete a file from a hard drive it is not erased. The space it occupied is marked as ready to be overwritten, and the data stays put until something new lands on top of it. Leave the drive alone and the odds stay in your favour.
SSD models are less forgiving. Many solid state drives clear out deleted data in the background, so the window for recovery can be shorter. Unplug a G-DRIVE SSD the moment you notice something is missing. Our SSD data recovery page explains how these drives differ.
Media drives are also trickier than an office disk. One project can involve hundreds of file types, and recovering them in a usable state takes a proper understanding of files and file structures as well as good software. We use specialist recovery tools that scan deep into the drive to locate lost files, and we have other methods for when software alone is not enough.
Drives with a physical fault are opened only in our ISO Class 5 (Class 100) clean room. G-RAID and G-SPEED Shuttle units hold several disks working as one, so keep the disks in their original order and do not rebuild the array yourself. See RAID data recovery for more.
What happens when you get in touch
The initial consultation is free. Tell us the model, what happened and what you need back first, and we will give you a firm quote. If we cannot recover the data, there is no charge.
We collect and return free of charge, or you can drop the drive in at 68A North End Road in West Kensington. For a deadline that will not move, a senior technician is on standby around the clock on 020 3026 0184.
Confidentiality
Unreleased footage, client projects and anything else on your drive stay completely confidential. We serve individual users and businesses on the same terms.
Guide prices for G-Technology recovery
Every job is quoted individually, and the price quoted is the price charged. These guide figures come from our data recovery price list.
| Job | Guide price |
|---|---|
| Initial consultation | Free |
| Logical recovery (deleted files, standard hard drive, up to two hours’ work) | £99 + VAT |
| Clean-room diagnostic for a physically failed drive | £79 + VAT (you supply the donor drive) |
| Physical recovery on a single drive | £450 + VAT (labour plus donor drive if needed) |
| SSD recovery (firmware or electronic board repair) | £450 + VAT to £650 + VAT |
| RAID 0 array | £650 + VAT |
| RAID 5, 6 and 10, depending on the number of drives | £850 + VAT to £1,500 + VAT |
Four habits that keep a G-DRIVE healthy
We would rather you never needed us. These four habits prevent most of the corruption and lost files we are asked to fix.
- Scan the drive regularly with up-to-date anti-virus software
- Always use Eject or Safely Remove Hardware before unplugging. Pulling the cable out can corrupt the disk and leave it inaccessible
- Keep several backups of anything essential, so one failure cannot take the only copy
- Check twice before you delete. The file binned in a hurry at shutdown tends to be the one somebody asks for the next morning
G-Technology drives we recover data from
Kensington Computer Repairs recovers files from all G-Technology drives and storage systems, portable and desktop. G-Technology was a Western Digital brand, so much of what we say on Western Digital data recovery applies to the drives inside these enclosures too.
Portable solid state drives
- G-DRIVE Slim SSD USB-C
- G-DRIVE mobile Pro SSD
- G-DRIVE ev RaW SSD
- G-DRIVE mobile SSD R-Series
Portable hard drives
- G-DRIVE Mobile USB-C
- G-DRIVE ev RaW
- G-DRIVE Mobile
- G-DRIVE ev ATC
- G-DRIVE Mobile with Thunderbolt
- G-DRIVE ev ATC with Thunderbolt
Desktop solid state drives
- G-DRIVE Pro SSD
- G-SPEED Shuttle SSD
Desktop hard drives and RAID systems
- G-DRIVE USB-C
- G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3
- G-SPEED Shuttle with ev Series Bay Adapters
- G-DRIVE with Thunderbolt 3
- G-RAID with Thunderbolt 2
- G-SPEED Shuttle XL with Thunderbolt 3
- G-DRIVE USB
- G-SPEED Shuttle with Thunderbolt 3
- G-SPEED Shuttle XL with Thunderbolt 2
- G-DRIVE with Thunderbolt
- G-RAID Removable
- G-SPEED Shuttle XL with ev Series Bay Adapters
Most of these are formatted for macOS out of the box. If the drive was part of a wider Mac setup, our Mac data recovery page may also help.
Questions people ask
My G-DRIVE is not showing up on my Mac. Is the data lost?
Not necessarily. A drive that does not appear can still hold all of its data. Unplug it, do not let the Mac initialise or reformat it, and let us examine it. The initial consultation is free and there is no charge if nothing can be recovered.
Can you recover files deleted from a G-DRIVE SSD?
Sometimes, and speed matters. Many solid state drives clear deleted data in the background, so the window for recovery can be shorter than on a hard drive. Stop using the drive and unplug it as soon as you notice the files are gone.
Do you recover G-RAID and G-SPEED Shuttle systems?
Yes. These units hold several disks working as one, and we recover data from failed RAID devices as well as single drives. Keep the disks in their original order and do not try to rebuild the array yourself before we have seen it.
How can I stop my G-DRIVE losing data again?
Scan it regularly with up-to-date anti-virus software, always eject it before unplugging, keep several backups of anything essential and check twice before deleting. None of that is glamorous, but it prevents most of the problems we see.
What does it cost if you cannot get my files back?
Nothing. The initial consultation is free, you receive a firm quote before any work begins, and if the data cannot be recovered there is no charge.