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HDR / The work we take on / Asus recovery

Asus laptops · VivoBook to ROG

Asus recovery in Hull. No boot device, a card that drops out when hot, a locked volume — most still reads.

One badge fits onto four totally different machines & what's underneath the keyboard is determined by the range you purchased & when. The three types of jobs sent to us from around Hull, as the card or drive on its own, are: a VivoBook whose firmware doesn't list a drive, an ROG with two cards showing up as one volume with half of it missing now, and a laptop asking for a BitLocker key (that nobody ever saved). We don't take on thin ZenBooks or budget X-series laptops if their flash is soldered down. If you don't know which type of computer you have, ring us first. The job costs will be determined by the type of computer you're holding, so that will be identified before anything else is quoted. All tools used after copying the card/drive read only will only see this read only copy of your storage.

Only pay if we recover your data, on most jobs Free to look at, then one fixed price Parcels come in from Beverley, Grimsby and Skegness

An engineer will take the details
0800 6890668

Putting a name to the symptom.

Nothing similar? Go to the triage →
What you seeWhat the fault isWhat to try
No bootable device, black screenFirmware did not find any bootable deviceGet a quote first, then remove the card and send the card only
Only one ROG card can be foundHalf of striped volume disappeared, other half won't read aloneGet a quote first, then send both cards with slots clearly marked
Slow tick or knock from budget X-seriesHeads are in contact with platterDo not turn power on again
Windows wants BitLocker recovery keyThe system is encryptedFetch the key before sending the drive
Flash on the VivoBook is soldered in placeThe storage is located within the mainboard.We don't take on this type of unit. If you are unsure which type you have, call us before sending.
Reinstall/reset initiatedWindows will write over your original files when installed.Stop now and call us.
Send it to us: get a quote first, either over the telephone or via our online quote form. Then carefully package it to prevent damage in transit, insure it for its full value and post the package using a trackable service to the Leeds intake laboratory; alternatively you may drop it off there (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed). For laptops, PCs, Macs and recorders, we require only the drive unit itself (storage soldered to the board is not taken on; if you're not sure which kind you have, ring us first); for RAID arrays and servers, we just need the individual disks, labelled by their respective bays; for a NAS, send the drives if you can remove them, but if not, please include the entire NAS device. A single external drive goes whole, with its cable and power adapter. We pay for return postage. If you would like an engineer to inspect the packaging prior to taping the box closed, please give us a call first. Further information is available on our sending page.

Four Asus ranges, four different jobs.

ZenBook, the thin oneThese units have the memory soldered onto them (as well as being very thin), and they have a single M.2 slot holding a shorter card (typically a 2230 or 2242) instead of the standard 2280 pictured in many tutorials. Accessing the M.2 card inside requires removing the entire bottom of the unit, which is far beyond the average DIY repair, so if you would rather not do it yourself, a professional repair centre can remove the card in a few minutes. We want the M.2 card itself not the computer.
VivoBook and the X-seriesYour average everyday computers. Some larger computers use both an M.2 card and a separate 2.5in disk drive, allowing you to unplug and send us the storage after we provide a quote. The least expensive versions of these units solder their flash memory directly into the motherboard, and because of this, they are not taken on. If you do not know what type of unit you have, please ring us first.
TUF, the one that gets carriedThey were built to withstand being dropped or bumped around and generally they do. The drives that come to us are from either laptops that got damaged due to a "hard drop" and now tick, or laptops that were left cooking in a bag all summer and started dropping their card during a session. In either case neither condition will improve by restarting the unit.
ROG, and the heat it makesMost gaming laptops run hotter than other laptops, and they also typically include dual M.2 slots, sometimes even using both slots together as a single volume right from the box. Most commonly we see an NVMe controller that simply stops functioning while the laptop is still running, comes back online when the laptop cools down, but goes away again when the fans start spinning. These types of failures are best read in short cold sessions starting with the easiest areas first.

From the box arriving to the files going back.

01

A case number first, then a free diagnosis Free

Every piece of gear that shows up receives a case number on the very same day it arrives. An engineer examines it and determines what is really wrong with it and there is no charge for this. We give you straight language about which files we will be able to copy from the disk and which ones we won't be able to. Then we provide you with a single price quote, in writing, based upon these findings. We don't begin working on anything until you agree to the quoted price.

The diagnosis is freeOne price, put in writingNothing to pay yet
02

The card is read first

We don't put a laptop in front of us to see if it boots again. We plug your M.2 card (or your 2.5 inch hard drive), never the whole laptop, into a write-blocked port here. Within a few minutes we'll know if the problem lies with the laptop or the internal storage.

Read on our own portLaptop or card, told apart
03

Copied cold, in short runs

All work will happen on the duplicate (clone), not on the M.2 card you sent in. If the heads are damaged on an older X-series hard drive, we remove the damaged heads and replace them with matched donor ones. If an NVMe controller is overheating, we perform short reads to allow for cooling down after each. Any difficult areas will remain for later.

Donor parts for platter disksCards read cold, in bursts
04

Read through before it leaves

Nothing leaves our lab on our say-so alone. All recovered data will be opened here (photos, docs, mailboxes, etc.) and the folder structure will be checked against what you told us was how they were organised. Additionally, we will check every single byte of anything you said was "critical".

Files opened, not countedThe folders you named first
05

You sign it off, then it comes back

You will not be charged while you think about this. First, you receive a list of everything that was recovered from the drive. Once you have seen the list and given us the go-ahead, the bill comes next. Files are returned to you on media purchased specifically for this job and we cover the return postage as well. Your job is kept open by us until you can view them on your personal computer.

You approve the listing firstCopied onto new mediaReturn postage at our cost

What turns up most often

  • The message does not blame anything: it simply states that the firmware cannot find a bootable item. A loose connection, an unresponsive controller and/or incorrect storage configuration settings all look the same on this screen.
  • Short cards, not the ones pictured: thin ZenBook/VivoBooks may use a 2230/2242 M.2 card which may reside on a bracket within a larger length slot. The label rarely indicates if the card uses SATA or NVMe. Please tell us which card came out and where it lived.
  • There are times when two cards make up one volume: some ROG laptops were delivered with two cards that were configured to provide a striped volume using Intel's RAID. Therefore, one card would contain half a file system and reading either card alone would result in nothing being readable. Never let either card be reinitialised.
  • BitLocker turns itself on: laptops with Microsoft accounts can automatically encrypt their drives without anyone intentionally doing so. The BitLocker keys will then be stored in the user's Microsoft account. Obtain those keys before posting the drive.

Where does this one stop? Soldered flash is not taken on at all; if you are unsure which type you have, ring us first. A striped pair with one card properly dead has a hard edge: what survives is only part of every large file and no more. That is not withheld from you: it will be stated at the free diagnosis before you pay for anything.

One case from the casebook.

HU · HUL-2026-0851LOGGED ✓

The ROG card that dropped out whenever the fans came up

The device came from a joiner's office in Goole: a ROG with two cards, the second card containing a year of site photographs & quotes. When this was disappearing from Windows twenty minutes into each session but coming back the next morning, this indicated a controller had got too hot rather than the disk wearing out. Each reboot to check spent some of what remained. Here the card was put onto a write-blocked port under a fan & read in runs of a few minutes separated by cool down time between them. The easy regions were completed first, then the slow ones left until last. Three passes filled almost every gap left behind by the first. There was a short run of sectors that never responded at all (the report says where these fall). The three folders he had asked for were opened on the bench so we could look through them, instead of counting off a list.

Three of three folders backWhole card copied before anything

Before you box it up.

Do these first

  • Turn the device off now & unplug charger
  • Word for word, copy the message on screen
  • Identify which range you have: ZenBook, VivoBook, ROG, TUF
  • Before sending the card, get a quote & send it alone in an antistatic bag

What not to do

  • Reboot again to see if this clears this time
  • Run Asus recovery image over top of system
  • Let chkdsk loose on clicking drive
  • Writing new data to the failing flash card

Asked most weeks, answered here.

The Asus says there is no bootable device. Is the drive gone?

Not necessarily. This just indicates that the firmware was unable to locate a bootable device, which can occur for several reasons including a card becoming disconnected from the board or failing to respond as expected (as well as a card that is nonfunctional). Disconnect power rather than cycling power repeatedly, remove the card from its socket and note the socket number, then get a quote first, either by telephone or with our enquiry form, and post the card alone (tracked and insured) to the Leeds intake lab, or drop it off there (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed). We will determine whether the card works within minutes.

My ROG has two SSDs showing as one drive, and half of it has failed.

The two cards are then "striped" and some ROG systems were sold with the stripe configuration intact from the factory via Intel's RAID. Each card contains part of every large file, therefore neither card can be read alone, and neither should be reformatted. Contact us for a quote first, either by telephone or using our enquiry form, and post the two cards together (labelled with the original slot location), tracked and fully insured, to the Leeds intake lab. You may also deliver them personally to the Leeds intake lab, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. No prior appointment necessary. We will let you know at the diagnosis if one of the cards is actually dead. What you get back in that case is typically everything stored on the surviving stripe(s), usually many smaller files.

Windows is asking for a BitLocker key nobody has.

This occurs when a laptop has been configured with a Microsoft account. In such cases, Microsoft has automatically enabled BitLocker encryption. Your recovery key is stored in that account: simply log into another PC and go to Devices. On company-owned equipment, the IT department likely holds the key. As long as you do not provide access to the recovery key, an encrypted volume cannot be read here. Find the key before you post anything.

The VivoBook's storage is soldered down. Is that it?

With us, yes: on the lower cost VivoBook & X-series models, the flash is soldered onto the motherboard, nothing unplugs and soldered storage is not taken on. If unsure which type you have, ring us first.

What people read after this.

A stopped server → Western Digital drives → Locked up by ransomware → Everything we take in →

A drive left switched off loses nothing more.

Leave it off. There are only a few start attempts left in your failing drive and each attempt uses up a little more of what remains. Our complimentary diagnosis will determine what files are readable.

0800 6890668

Have it looked at How to post it to us