Recovery from Systems

Identifying the Type of System

CONTENTENGINEER has considerable experience in recovering data from different types of electronic systems. The actual recovery method employed will depend on the embedded devices within the system, from hard disk drive to memory card; from smart card to DVD read/writer no one system is the same, and in many cases the format of the data held on the device will be unique.

Digital Camera	Apple iPOD	Television Recorder
Holds images and/or video clips on internal memory or memory cards	Holds music, files, videos and other personal assets	Holds digitised "video" of live television on hard disk
Laptop	Sony Playstation	Server
Holds files, email messages, access logs, internet logs and databases on hard disk and removable media	Holds images, games, music and other data on memory cards and also on various media	Holds large volume of files (for workgroup/department) plus databases and access logs on large/many hard disks
Telephone	PDA	Mobile
Holds call details and phone books on embedded memory	Holds email, messages, call details, phone books, documents and databases on large memory cards	Holds messages, pictures, call details and phone book(s) on memory cards

Back to top

Manufacturers

There are a wide variety of manufacturers of complete electronic systems and it would be impractical to list every manufacturer that includes an embedded computer or similar electronics that process data. However, the majority of data recovery requests come from computer, telecommunications or digital asset recorders. This includes computers or laptops from Acer, Packard-Bell, DELL, Gateway, EMC, HP, IBM, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Sun; plus specialised embedded computer based equipment including CCTV Recorders and TIVO Television Recorders.

From a mobile telephone perspective it includes: Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, and from a personal digital assistant perspective it includes: HP, Motorola, Nokia, O2 (XDA) amongst others. And not forgetting the broad range of MP3? players, in particular the Apple iPOD.

Next Steps

For the majority of systems, the data recovery process will involve the removal of the accessible data storage devices. To determine the type of actual device, please consult the next pages on hard disks, memory cards and media. For computers, laptops and other similar systems, the Client will usually undertake this work; but the Group can provide onsite assistance for this part of the process. For mobile phones, PDAs and MP3 players, these must be returned intact due to the fragility and often very customised packaging that actually protects the device in transit.

FOR SENSITIVE MATTERS INCLUDING CRIMINAL OR CIVIL LITIGATION it is important that data recovery undertaken as part of a forensically sound process needs to be managed in line with recognised incident management guidelines.

Back to top