The order it goes in
How your case runs. The stages, the ownership check, and the two points where you decide.
Every BitLocker job runs through the same stages, in the same order, and you decide at two of them: whether to send the drive, and whether to accept the figure. Before any drive is read we check proof of ownership, because we recover BitLocker drives only for their owners. Nothing chargeable happens before you accept, and the original drive is never decrypted, repaired or written to, everything is done on a sector image. What follows is each stage as it actually runs, including the honest free look that tells you, before you spend anything, whether recovery is possible. Single-disk decryption is £800 + VAT, split 50% non-refundable on acceptance and 50% no fix, no fee.
Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
0800 6890668
The order it goes in, end to end.
The price and the split, in full →The form
You tell us the make and model, what the recovery screen says, what happened just before it, and whether you have or can retrieve your key. Two minutes, read by an engineer.
Find your key first
For most lockouts this is the whole job, and it is free: we point you to where your key is escrowed, your Microsoft account or your organisation's directory, and entering it opens the drive. You only go further if the drive has failed or the key is genuinely lost.
Posting details and the ownership check, by email
If the drive must come in, back comes the posting address, the nearest of ten drop-off points, the proof of ownership we need, and a booking sheet to print. The address is not published; it arrives in reply to the form.
Arrival, and proof of ownership checked Free
Logged and matched to your enquiry by the booking sheet inside, and your proof of ownership checked before anything is read. A drive with no proof of ownership is returned unread. The drive is then examined read-only; nothing is decrypted on it.
The free look, and the honest answer
Whether the drive is healthy behind a lost key, or failed behind a known key, is settled, and whether what you want is possible. You get a straight account and one price. On a drive that cannot be opened, you are told so with nothing to pay.
You accept, and the split applies
If you go ahead, 50% of the £800 + VAT is taken then and is not refunded, covering the forensic effort; the other 50% is on a no-fix-no-fee basis. Nothing chargeable began before this point.
The work, on a clone
The drive is imaged at the sector level behind a write blocker, a failed drive recovered first; the image is decrypted with your key, or the key recovered from memory or a password attacked; damaged metadata is rebuilt with repair-bde onto a clone. The original is never decrypted or written to.
The files, home
Your data is listed for you before the balance is due, then sent home on fresh media. We never send the key and the data by the same route. The original drive is returned, or securely destroyed at your request.
How long each stage takes.
| Stage | Usually | What stretches it |
|---|---|---|
| The form to a reply | The same working day | A form sent late on a Friday |
| Finding your key | Minutes, if it is escrowed | Working out which Microsoft account |
| Posting | Next working day, tracked | A parcel sent second class |
| The free look | About 48 hours from arrival | A failed drive to stabilise and image |
| Decryption with the key | Within the bench time | A very large drive, or a slow attack |
| A password attack | Hours to days, or not at all | A strong password; the odds are set at the look |
| Files home | Next working day after approval | Very large recoveries copying to new media |
What to have ready
- Your recovery key or password, if you have it; it turns almost any job into a routine one.
- Your proof of ownership, a receipt, device serial, company letter or written authorisation, with photo ID. We check it before anything is read.
- The make, model and the key ID from the recovery screen, which identifies the right key.
- Anything you remember about a forgotten password, which is the biggest factor in whether it can be recovered.
What stays at home: the computer itself, unless the SSD is soldered in. Take the drive out and send the drive; whole laptops and desktops are not accepted otherwise.
The questions that come up first.
Do I have to accept the figure?
No. The free look is free and gives you an honest answer; if you decline, the drive comes home and nothing is owed. Only once you accept is the non-refundable half taken.
Why do you check proof of ownership?
Because we recover BitLocker drives only for their owners, and recovering an encrypted drive for someone who cannot show it is theirs would be neither lawful nor right. The check is a condition of the work and keeps it on the right side of the Computer Misuse Act.
Is my drive ever decrypted directly?
No. The drive is imaged and all decryption and repair is done on the image. The original is never decrypted or written to, which protects it absolutely, especially if it is failing.
What comes back, and how?
Your recovered data on fresh media, and the original drive, sent separately from any key material. We never send the key and the data by the same route. The original is returned or securely destroyed at your request.
Can you tell me the odds before I commit?
Yes. The free look gives you an honest read of whether recovery is likely, and if it cannot be done, you are told so with nothing to pay, before the non-refundable half is taken.
It begins with the form, and often ends with your key.
Two minutes on the quote page, and for most lockouts we point you to your key and you are done, free. If the drive has failed or the key is lost, the free look tells you honestly what can be done.