Buffalo Recovery

Buffalo Recovery

No Fix - No Fee!

Our experts have extensive experience recovering data from external hard drives. With 25 years experience in the data recovery industry, we can help you securely recover your data.
Buffalo Recovery

Software Fault £249

2-3 Days

Mechanical Fault £349

2-3 Days

Critical Service £795

1 Day

Need help recovering your data?

Call us on 02890 961976 or use the form below to make an enquiry.
chat off
Chat with us
Monday-Friday: 9am-6pm
  • buffalo
  • d-link
  • iomega
  • lacie
  • netgear
  • synology

Buffalo LinkStation and MiniStation Recovery:

Buffalo LinkStation and MiniStation Repair Services:

Buffalo Technology is a well-known brand offering a wide range of network-attached storage (NAS) devices, like the LinkStation, and portable external drives, like the MiniStation. These devices are widely used for personal, small business, and enterprise-level storage needs. However, Buffalo LinkStation NAS and MiniStation external drives can experience hardware failures, software corruption, or mechanical issues that can lead to data loss. In such cases, professional repair and data recovery services are essential to recover your valuable data.

Common Causes of Buffalo LinkStation and MiniStation Failures

Buffalo storage devices can experience different types of failures, whether they are network-attached storage (NAS) devices like the LinkStation or portable external drives like the MiniStation. Below are the most common causes:

1. Hard Drive Mechanical Failure (LinkStation and MiniStation)

The internal hard drives inside Buffalo LinkStation NAS devices and MiniStation external drives can suffer from mechanical failures. This typically involves damage to the read/write heads, spindle motor, or platters.

  • Symptoms: Clicking, grinding, or buzzing noises; drive not recognised; drive fails to spin up.
  • Causes: Physical shocks, aging parts, poor handling, or excessive use.
  • Devices Affected: Both Buffalo LinkStation NAS (as it uses internal HDDs) and MiniStation external drives.

2. Logical Failure (LinkStation and MiniStation)

Logical failures affect the file system, partition structure, or RAID configuration, which may cause the data to become inaccessible despite the hardware being intact.

  • Symptoms: Files become corrupted, the device is no longer recognised by the system, or the drive appears unformatted.
  • Causes: File system corruption, accidental deletion, improper shutdown, or RAID configuration errors (LinkStation).
  • Devices Affected: Both LinkStation NAS (particularly RAID issues) and MiniStation external drives.

3. RAID Array Failure (LinkStation NAS)

Buffalo LinkStation NAS devices often use RAID configurations (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10) for data redundancy or performance. If one or more drives in the array fail, it can result in RAID array failure, making the data inaccessible.

  • Symptoms: RAID errors, multiple hard drives failing, the NAS failing to boot, or the array being degraded or failed.
  • Causes: One or more hard drives in the array fail, RAID controller failure, or improper RAID configuration.
  • Devices Affected: Buffalo LinkStation NAS with RAID setups.

4. Firmware Corruption (LinkStation and MiniStation)

The firmware is the software that controls the internal operations of the device. Corrupt firmware can prevent the NAS or external drive from functioning properly or being recognised by the network or computer.

  • Symptoms: The device is no longer accessible over the network (LinkStation), or the drive is not recognized by the computer (MiniStation).
  • Causes: Failed firmware updates, power loss during an update, or bugs in the firmware.
  • Devices Affected: Both LinkStation and MiniStation.

5. Electrical Failure (LinkStation and MiniStation)

Electrical failures can affect the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) of the drive or the power supply of the LinkStation NAS. Power surges or faulty power supplies can damage the device’s electronics, rendering it unusable.

  • Symptoms: The device doesn’t power on, there’s no spinning sound from the internal hard drives, or the system does not recognise the device.
  • Causes: Power surges, overheating, or defective power supplies.
  • Devices Affected: Both LinkStation NAS (often due to power supply issues) and MiniStation external drives.

Signs Your Buffalo LinkStation or MiniStation Needs Repair

Recognising early signs of failure can help prevent complete data loss. Common signs that your Buffalo LinkStation or MiniStation needs repair include:

  • Clicking or Grinding Noises: Indicates mechanical failure in the internal hard drive(s).
  • Drive Not Recognized: The NAS or external drive fails to mount or is not recognized by the system.
  • Slow Performance or Freezing: The device may slow down or freeze when trying to access files, which may indicate bad sectors or logical corruption.
  • RAID Array Failure (LinkStation): If your LinkStation is in a RAID configuration, degraded or failed RAID arrays can lead to data loss.
  • Firmware Issues: Failed firmware updates can prevent access to the LinkStation via the network or the MiniStation via USB.
  • Power Issues: If the LinkStation or MiniStation fails to power on, it may be due to electrical or power supply issues.

Professional Buffalo LinkStation and MiniStation Repair Services

When a Buffalo LinkStation NAS or MiniStation external drive fails, our professional repair and data recovery services can help recover your data and, in some cases, repair the device. Here’s how these services work:

1. Mechanical Repair for Hard Drives (LinkStation and MiniStation)

For internal hard drives experiencing mechanical failure, such as head crashes or spindle motor issues, the drives must be repaired in a clean environment to avoid contamination from dust or debris.

  • Head Replacement: Damaged read/write heads are replaced with parts from a compatible donor drive.
  • Spindle Motor Repair: If the motor fails to spin the platters, it can be replaced to restore drive functionality.
  • Platter Recovery: Data can be recovered directly from the platters if they are undamaged but other components have failed.

2. Logical Data Recovery (LinkStation and MiniStation)

For logical issues such as file system corruption, partition loss, or RAID configuration errors, professional recovery software is used to retrieve data from the failed NAS or external drive.

  • File System Repair: Logical corruption in the file system can be repaired to restore access to files.
  • RAID Recovery (LinkStation): Our technicians rebuild the RAID array in cases of RAID degradation or failure to recover the data.
  • Deleted File Recovery: Our advanced tools can recover data that has been accidentally deleted or lost due to formatting.

3. RAID Recovery (LinkStation)

For Buffalo LinkStation NAS devices using RAID configurations, RAID recovery is necessary when the array fails. Technicians can rebuild the array and recover data from degraded or failed RAID setups.

  • RAID Rebuild: Our technicians reconstruct the RAID array to restore access to the data.
  • RAID Data Recovery: Even if multiple drives in the RAID configuration have failed, data can still be recovered.

4. Firmware Repair (LinkStation and MiniStation)

If firmware corruption has caused the device to become unresponsive, technicians can repair or reflash the firmware to restore the device’s functionality.

  • Firmware Reflashing: The corrupted firmware is repaired or reinstalled to make the device functional again.
  • Firmware Updates: New firmware versions are installed correctly to prevent further corruption.

5. Electrical Repairs (LinkStation and MiniStation)

For PCB failures or power supply issues, professional repair services can replace or repair the affected components.

  • PCB Replacement: The faulty PCB is replaced with a matching donor board, and critical components such as the ROM chip are transferred.
  • Power Supply Repair (LinkStation): For NAS units with power supply issues, the faulty power supply can be repaired or replaced.

Contact Us

Tell us about your issue and we'll get back to you.

John Lyons Belfast

I run a local PC shop in Belfast and a client had a problem with a Buffalo Linkstation Drive. Your data recovery service is so quick and easy we often use it for several of our clients. 100% record so far in recovering data files from external hard drives, USB sticks, Laptops & Computers, to camera SD cards. You’ve never let us down and your communication is dead on. The best data recovery in the UK, bar none.

John Lyons, Belfast

Maggie Boyle Derry

I thought I had lost my final years university work when my Western Digital External Hard Disk stopped working and my boyfriend tried to fix it with a free data recovery software. I think my screams must have been heard all over Magee Campus when all appeared lost. Luckily Easy Recovery saved me from a nervous breakdown, and they sent me back a USB with my dissertation and all other data files fully recovered on it. A Professional service, highly recommended.

Maggie Boyle, Ulster University, Derry

Paul O Dowd Enniskillen

A HP Raid 5 Server that had two failed disks. The HP Proliant server contained critical data for a factory, partition recovery was completed over a weekend so that we could reopen factory on Monday morning. Great work from you guys, a thoroughly professional file recovery service

Paul O Dowd, Enniskillen

St Marys Primary School Newry

I am a teacher at St Marys and I dropped my Toshiba laptop that contained 5 years of teaching resources and was broken beyond repair with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. I searched on google for Data Recovery Services in the UK and found these guys. They removed the HHD and I’m pleased to report that they were able to recover all the data from the hard drive. I had it all back in my possession within 3 days, so a top, speedy service.

St Marys, Newry

Joan Waters Dublin

The hard drive on our Apple iMac contained pictures and video of our children and it just stopped working. Why are there no Apple Stores in Ireland! We found some so called Mac experts on Grafton Street but they could do nothing for us, but luckily they recommended Easy Data Recovery. What a breeze of a service, had it back in no time at all just as it was. Many thanks for recovering my iMac Data, what a brilliant service.

Joan Waters, Dublin

Nicola Ward Cork

What a brilliant data recovery service. I’m just after receiving the file data by courier today from genuine file recovery experts. Many thanks for recovering the data from our Small Business Drobo Server that stores pictures of our clients recent wedding day pictures. Data recovery software does not work, but you guys performed a miracle and I will forever be grateful.

Nicola Ward, Cork

Martin Flannery, London

You are a life saver, all of my business files were on the Dell PC computer and I was hit by a nasty malware ransomware virus. Thanks for keeping me calm and assuring me you could recover the data and stopped me trying myself at ransomware removal. I am so glad I trusted you, and I got my PC back data recovery free from virus with some great advice on future protection. A speedy service, 5 stars!!!

Martin Flannery, London

Ciaran, Cork

My company Finn McCool use Easy Recovery for all of our business needs. I highly recommend Tony and his team as they are the best data recovery service in the UK I have found. They have recovered valuable data on our Macs, and SSD Memory Cards. I cannot fault their services, particularly when they performed a business critical hard drive recovery. We recommend them heartily to all of our clients who also give glowing feedback.

Ciaran, Cork

Mina Gonzalez, London

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Other companies said all my valuable pictures had been lost, my wedding pictures, kids first steps, so many precious memories. But you managed to save most of it for me and I can’t thank you enough. I honestly cried when I thought it was gone, but your Easy Data Recovery Service really did exactly that, just posted off the hard drive and got it back on a USB stick. Did I say thank you enough?

Mina Gonzalez, London

Paul Duggan, Manchester

Well what Microsoft managed to lose quick enough in a windows 10 update, Easy Recovery managed to get it back. Communication was brilliant, and they let me know exactly what they had to do and how much it would cost. Absolutely outstanding quick and efficient service. Excellent data recovery service that saved me more heart ache than I could deal with. Top marks!

Paul Duggan, Manchester

Jason York, Liverpool

I was completely devo’d when I knocked my Seagate hard drive onto the patio and cracked the case. It just made loud noises and had some sort of bootup failure. So glad I shopped around at got quotes from a variety of companies. I thought I was taking a chance on Easy Data Recovery, but they were amazing. I simply sent it off to them, and had it back in under a week. Tony was great and kept me updated at every step of the process, but importantly recovered almost all of my 4TB Seagate External Hard Drive, completely restoring with all folders and file names intact. Best of all, there was no nasty surprise with the bill with it being exactly the same as the reasonable quote. Would use again.

Jason York, Liverpool

Patrick McAteer, Edinburgh

I’ve recently comeback from a holiday of a lifetime in New Zealand, and was absolutely raging when the camera memory card was not working when I tried to present them to the family. Instead of them seeing my 1000’s of pictures, all they saw was a black screen and an error message saying ‘SD card is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.’

I tried it on my laptop and it gave a different error message of ‘Read / Write error on SD card’, which my techy savvy bairn said it could not read from the device and I’d have to go back again. Aye right, ya gadge!

Lucky for him I found Easy Recovery and they were more useful and all I had to do is send it to them and it came back a few days later in the post, all my precious memories back again. Now I can show my pictures to the clan whenever they try to come round.

Patrick McAteer, Edinburgh

Rob Concannon, Birmingham

I stupidly deleted a very important folder on my PC when trying to clear some space and desperately tried to recover my files. I tried all sorts of free data recovery software but none seemed to fully recover it. I googled “how to recover deleted files” and tried everything I found with no luck and bit the bullet and sought assistance from a professional data service. Easy Recovery were brilliant and with full confidentiality got my computer back complete with restore deleted files. Could not be happier.

Rob Concannon, Birmingham

Eden Kinsombi, London

I run the IT department for a small financial business and use a RAID 6 with 4 HDDs. I thought this was adequately set up to take a two-drive failure but did not account for an expert hack to use our server to send phishing emails and add deceptive pages to all of our sites,. Of course they helpfully deleted all of my backups to stop me rolling back. My directors were not happy to see the big red google warning on all our sites, so to say I was under pressure to resolve it quickly was an understatement. Luckily Easy Data Recovery were able to extract some recent workable backups while I cleaned up my server to restore parity. A highly efficient and quick process., and I literally cannot thank them enough and they are without doubt the best data recovery company in the UK.

Eden Kinsombi, London
unied spacer dell spacer donoghue spacer edinbvrgh spacer uniab spacer glasgo spacer barclays spacer synery spacer bcla spacer cannon spacer dyson spacer fulhamcouncil spacer londonarts spacer mercedes spacer merton spacer neoedge spacer nhs spacer pinewood spacer singleshot spacer stalbans spacer sutton spacer fulhamcouncil vodafone spacer