Update 3/8/14: MacMedics now charges $399 for our famous Data Recovery One service. However, we do now include a free 500GB USB hard drive to return your data to (if you send or bring us a bare hard drive), or it can be used as your future Time Machine backup hard drive so you NEVER have to go through the data recovery process again. See our website for more info: http://www.macmedics.com/recovery.htm
MacMedics Frequently Asked Macintosh Service Questions: Time Capsule Data Recovery
Where do I go for data recovery service for a dead or failed Time Capsule?
Here at MacMedics we see a number of Time Capsules that have failed or have lost their ability to access the data stored on the internal hard drive. In most cases we can easily rescue the lost data and copy it onto another hard drive for you. You can also buy a hard drive from MacMedics that we can copy your recovered data on to.
Time Capsule data recoveries usually are performed for our Tier-1 Data Recovery fee of $399. This covers disassembly of your Time Capsule, the rescue of all of your data to a hard drive that provide, and we’ll put it all back together again so it can be sent back to Apple (if you are able to do this). No two data recovery cases are the same, so depending on your hard drive’s situation, pricing could be higher if we have to spend extra time with your data. Sometimes the the Time Capsule’s hard drive is so sick, we have to rescue and recover the data, then repair it to make it useable again.
If your Time Capsule’s hard drive has “failed” we can replace it for you with a new hard drive.
Don’t forget that data that is stored on a Time Capsule that is NOT on your computer or elsewhere is NOT backed up. Having your data stored off your computer might reduce the risk to your data slightly, but it does not mean that data is fully protected. The Apple Time Capsule is based on a single hard drive, so there is no system for data redundancy in the system. Please ensure you data is always in two places at once. Also, Time Capsule and Time Machine hard drives live a hot and hard life, so it’s important that understand they will not last forever, and that their life might be shorter that what you might expect from your Mac’s hard drive. See our web site http://www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info.
Also, if your Time Capsule is still under Apple’s 1-year warranty or AppleCare, we can help recover the data and assist in getting your Time Capsule replaced under warranty.
Questions? Just give us a call at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS or send us an e-mail.