Data Recovery on Long Island — We Come to You for Lost Files and Photos
Deleted files, photos lost from a phone, an external hard drive not showing up, or a computer that will not start with years of files still inside. A technician comes to your home in Nassau or Suffolk County, or connects remotely, and tells you honestly what can be recovered before you spend more.
Stop using the drive, then call. $150 for the first hour in your home ($100 for members). Same-day service when available — call before 10 AM.
Data Recovery Near You, Without Mailing Your Drive Away
If you are searching for data recovery near me, you have probably just had the sinking feeling: the photos folder is empty, the external drive will not appear, or the computer will not start and everything was on it. Long Island Home Tech Help does data recovery on Long Island in your home or over a secure remote connection, so your drive does not have to leave the house to find out what can be saved.
David Ramroop, the owner, is the technician. He sits down at your computer, works out what actually happened, and gives you a plain answer: this can be recovered here today, this can be recovered remotely, or this needs a specialist lab. Most lost files are not destroyed. They were deleted, hidden, synced somewhere else, or stuck on a drive the computer can no longer read, and those cases are often recoverable without a lab.
Lost Files or Photos? Stop Using the Drive First
A deleted file usually stays on the drive until something new is written over it, so what you do in the first hour matters most. Before you call:
- Stop using the computer, drive or memory card. Do not save anything to it or install a recovery program on it.
- If a hard drive is clicking, grinding or beeping, turn it off now. Unplug an external drive. A failing drive can get worse every minute it spins.
- Do not reformat or “repair” anything. If the computer offers to format or initialize a drive, say no.
- Do not open it up or put it in the freezer. Internet tricks can turn a recoverable problem into a lost one.
- If it got wet, do not power it on. Leave it off and call. Water and fire damage are lab work.
Then call or text 516-448-6221 and describe it in everyday words. If it can wait for a visit, we book one; if it is already lab work, we tell you on the phone.
What Data Recovery We Can Do in Your Home or Remotely
You do not need to know the technical name for what went wrong. These are the everyday data recovery jobs we handle at your kitchen table or over a remote connection, on Windows computers, Macs, external drives, USB sticks, memory cards and cloud accounts.
Recover deleted files and photos
Emptied the Recycle Bin or deleted the wrong folder? We look everywhere a copy might still live: File History or Time Machine, OneDrive, iCloud or Google Drive, then the drive itself with recovery software, saving results to a separate drive so nothing is written over what we are still looking for.
Photos lost from a phone or tablet
Photos lost after a phone upgrade or a tap in the wrong place are often still in iCloud or Google Photos. We check with you, including Recently Deleted, and bring them back.
External hard drive not showing up
An external drive or USB stick that does not appear is often a cable, a port, a missing drive letter, or a drive formatted for a Mac plugged into a Windows computer. If it is detected but unreadable, we copy what it can still give us before any repair.
Hard drive restoration when the drive still spins
A drive that powers up quietly but will not open, or says it needs formatting, usually has a damaged file system rather than a broken motor. We copy the readable data first, then rebuild from the copy, never from the only original.
A computer that will not start
When Windows or macOS will not load, the files are often fine. We copy your documents and photos to a safe drive first, then look at whether the computer is worth fixing (see computer repair).
Restoring from a backup you already have
Many people have a backup and do not know it: a Time Machine drive in a drawer, a Windows backup, an old laptop, or a cloud account. We find it, restore what you need, and check that it opens.
What We Cannot Do — and What We Tell You Instead
Honest data recovery starts with knowing the limits. We are a tech-help company that comes to your home, not a recovery laboratory, and these jobs are beyond what can be done at a desk:
- Clicking, grinding, beeping or silent drives. These have a mechanical or electronic fault. Fixing one means opening it in a clean room, which we do not have.
- Water, fire and drop damage. A laptop that went in the pool or a drive from a house fire needs a specialist lab.
- A phone that will not turn on. If the photos were never synced to a cloud account, getting them off a dead phone is lab work, if it can be done at all.
- Files deleted from an SSD some time ago. Solid-state drives often wipe deleted files on their own. Sometimes there is simply nothing left to recover, and we will say so.
We never guarantee a recovery and we do not quote success rates. When a job is beyond us, we tell you straight away, point you to a professional recovery lab, and leave the decision to you. When the lab sends your files back, we can put them on your computer and set up a backup.
How a Data Recovery Visit Goes
Leave the computer or drive as it is until we arrive, and have any old drives or account passwords handy if you can find them.
What Data Recovery Costs on Long Island
Data recovery is billed at the same published rates as every visit, listed on our pricing page. We never promise a fixed price for a recovery we have not seen; you are billed for the actual time, and we tell you before continuing past the first hour. If your files cannot be recovered, the visit is billed for the time like any visit, with the first hour as the minimum, and we tell you what is realistic before you spend more.
- In-home visit: $150 for the first hour, then $50 per additional 30 minutes. The first hour is the minimum.
- Remote session: $110 for the first hour, then $45 per additional 30 minutes, paid when you sign up.
- Travel: the first 30 minutes each way is included; beyond that, $30 per additional 30 minutes, disclosed before you book.
- Annual membership ($199 a year): $100 first in-home hour, $45 per additional 30 minutes, remote at $75 for the first hour, 45 minutes of travel included each way, and priority scheduling.
- A drive to copy onto: if your files need a new external drive to live on, we tell you what it is and what it costs before we buy anything.
- Lab work: if a drive needs a recovery lab, the lab quotes and bills you directly, and you decide whether to go ahead.
Pay by debit card, cash, check or Zelle with no fees. Credit cards carry only the card processor’s cost, never more than 3%, shown before you pay.
After Data Recovery: A Backup So It Never Happens Again
Getting files back once is a rescue. The real fix is never needing data recovery again. Once your files are safe, we can set up a backup that runs on its own, in the cloud, on a local drive, or both, and test a restore in front of you.
How we choose between cloud, local and hybrid backup for a household is explained on our home data backup services page. If the computer itself was the problem, see computer repair; for quick check-ins afterwards, remote tech support is often easiest.
Data Recovery Across Nassau and Suffolk County
We come to homes all over Long Island. In Nassau County, that includes Hempstead, Garden City, Mineola, Levittown, Hicksville, Plainview, Syosset, Massapequa, Wantagh, Merrick, Freeport, Rockville Centre, Valley Stream, Great Neck and Oyster Bay. In Suffolk County: Huntington, Commack, Melville, Farmingdale, Amityville, Babylon, Bay Shore, Islip, Hauppauge, Smithtown, Stony Brook, Port Jefferson, Patchogue and Brookhaven. If your town is not listed, ask; it almost certainly counts.
The people who call us about lost files are homeowners with years of family photos, people who work from home, small offices, and older Long Islanders and the sons and daughters who help them. Calling for a parent? Our senior tech help page explains how we keep those visits patient.
What Customers Say
Real reviews from our Google Business Profile, word for word.
“Dave was super competent, couldn’t have had a better experience working on my stuff...He was great!”
David C., Google review
“Mr David Ramroop was very professional and extremely knowledgeable. A true gentleman.
Great customer service”Justine A., Google review
“He handled everything efficiently, treated my father with respect, and completely resolved the problems. He fixed every single issue and gave me total peace of mind.”
Adam C., Google review
“Great service!!! Our new tech guy!!!! Thank you”
Phil G., Google review
Data Recovery Questions
Can you recover files I accidentally deleted?
Often, yes, if you stop using the computer as soon as you notice. We check the Recycle Bin or Trash, File History or Time Machine and your cloud account, then the drive itself. Files deleted from a solid-state drive (SSD) are the hardest case, and we tell you honestly if they are gone.
My external hard drive is not showing up. Can you help?
Often the cause is simple: a cable, a USB port, a missing drive letter, or a drive formatted for the other kind of computer. If the drive is detected but will not open, we copy what it can still give us before any repair. If it clicks, beeps or is not detected at all, it needs a recovery lab.
My hard drive is clicking or grinding. Can you fix it?
No, and please turn it off. A clicking or grinding drive has a mechanical fault, and running it can damage the disk your files are on. It needs a professional recovery lab with a clean room, which we are not. We tell you that plainly and can put the files back on your computer once the lab returns them.
Can you guarantee you will get my files back?
No, and nobody honest can before looking. It depends on what happened to the drive and what has been written to it since. What you get is a straight answer early on about what is possible at home, remotely, or only in a lab.
What if you can’t recover my files?
The visit is billed for the time, like any visit: the first hour is the minimum whether or not the files come back. We tell you what is realistic early, before you spend more, and if it sounds like lab work we say so on the phone.
How much does data recovery cost?
The same published rates as any visit. In your home: $150 for the first hour, or $100 for members, then $50 per additional 30 minutes ($45 for members), billed for the actual time with the first hour as the minimum. Remote: $110 for the first hour, or $75 for members. The full rate card is on the pricing page.
Do you have a lab or a clean room?
No. We recover data in your home or remotely, from drives that still work. A drive that has physically failed has to be opened in a clean room by a specialist lab, and we point you to one.
Can you get back photos that were on my phone?
If they were syncing to iCloud or Google Photos, usually yes: we sign in with you, check Recently Deleted and Trash, and bring them back. If you are locked out of the account, we help you get back in (see password and account help). Photos that were only ever on a phone that no longer turns on are lab territory.
Can you come today?
Same-day service when available — call before 10 AM. Until then, stop using the device.
Lost Files? Call Before You Try Anything Else
Stop using the drive, then call or text David at 516-448-6221, book an in-home visit, or start a remote session if the computer still gets online. Same-day service when available — call before 10 AM.