Kroll Ontrack Extending $500,000 Data Recovery Service Donation

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Kroll Ontrack, LLC is adding emergency drop off locations in Florida and will be donating data recovery services to those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated Eastern Texas, Hurricane Irma paved a wide path of destruction in the Caribbean, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.

Last week, Kroll Ontrack, part of the KrolLDiscovery Group, deployed a team of data recovery experts to Houston to help residents and businesses recover critical data from damaged media. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the firm is adding emergency drop off locations in Florida and will be donating data recovery services to those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Expert data recovery specialists will be available at specific locations in Houston and Florida and offering in-person consultations and evaluations of damaged media. Residents in any of the affected areas who cannot travel to a drop off location can call 800-872-2599 to arrange for free shipping of their media. Individuals will receive free data recovery service. Businesses impacted by flooding, loss of power or other damage due to the hurricanes will receive a discounted flat fee for recovery of any single desktop, laptop or HDD/SSD.

“Individuals and businesses in the paths of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma have lost so much and need help to start rebuilding,” said Chris Weiler, president and CEO, KrolLDiscovery. “With data recovery labs across the United States, we are in a unique position to help families throughout the areas impacted recover cherished photographs and important personal data and help businesses of all sizes recover vital information. Our hearts go out to those affected and we want to do everything we can to reduce the amount of loss suffered as a result of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.“

For drop-off locations and more information on this offer

Kroll Ontrack advises the following safe-handling steps
for storage systems which have lost data due to a power outage:

Stop using the system immediately. Power down the system to avoid overwriting data.
Restore any backups to a different volume; this ensures that all important files are good on the backup before possibly overwriting data on the active volume.
If there is a RAID problem, test the backup by restoring it to a different location or image each drive from the RAID before attempting a rebuild.
Do not use file recovery software unless you have a validated backup and know your drives are not physically damaged. Using file recovery software on a faulty HDD may destroy what was otherwise recoverable data.
Do not create any new files on the disk needing recovery or continue to run VMs until the important data is recovered.
Call a professional data recovery service for further assistance.

Kroll Ontrack recommends that people fearing loss of their vital information
consider the following before assuming that the damage is permanent:

Never assume that data is unrecoverable, no matter what it has been through
Never attempt to plug in or turn on water-damaged devices
Do not shake, disassemble or attempt to clean any HDD or server that has been damaged; improper handling can make recovery operations more difficult which can lead to valuable information being lost
Never attempt to dry water-damaged media by opening it or exposing it to heat, such as from a hairdryer
Do not attempt to operate visibly damaged devices
Do not attempt to freeze-dry media
Do not use common software utility programs on broken or water-damaged devices
For mission critical situations, contact a data recovery professional before any attempts are made to reconfigure, reinstall or reformat