I highly recommend Stentorian for data recovery. Here's why: I got slammed with a double whammy -- my C drive failed, so I had to replace it and re-install my OS and programs. I keep all data backed up on a different drive. But I make the stupid mistake of letting my data be only on that backup drive for a couple of days while I backed up some other data from a laptop onto it. THEN I was going to pull all of the data back over to my new C drive and keep it in two places again. Guess what? My data drive went down too as luck (or Murphy's Law) would have it. I was pretty darned sure the data drive issue was not physical, but rather a drive mapping/table file issue. I'd been using it for years and never had any signs of physical damage and had nearly 0% fragmentation. My local repair shop (Cornerstone Computers) attempted to boot the drive in various OS's, but alas, the drive mapping was screwed up and the drive wouldn't mount on anything. They recommended an enterprise recovery service in Novato, near the San Francisco area (Drive Savers). Excellent place if you are a corporation and can afford it, but too rich for my situation. After researching other, lower priced options, I found a high probability of "bait and switch" tactics based on reviews. I am located in Eureka, CA and decided to search for an outfit exactly like Stentorian -- a company in Portland, OR or maybe Seattle, WA (avoiding the CA Bay Area) that was less corporate oriented and more "independent contractor" who would actually really care to do a good job and not charge a fortune for it -- or use a low cost as bait. Steve @ Stentorian proved to be EXACTLY what I was looking for! After calling several prospects, and speaking with him for 10-15 minutes, I knew he was the diamond I was looking for. I described my scenario with the drive and he concurred that there was a pretty good chance that I was correct. I sent my drive to him, and he delivered exactly as he described and for the cost advertised. Steve was very thorough in understanding what my needs were, confirming that they were met, and completely proficient in actually recovering the data. Obviously, I hope to never need a data recovery service again, but if I ever do find myself in such a situation again, I will be calling back on Stentorian Data Recovery for sure! read more

Incredible service! Here's what happened.... I had a disk failure (see previous review) that was handled with professionalism, speed and competence. But that is not what this review is about.... I also purchased a new backup drive and software to manage the backups from Stentorian. The cost was below what I could have gotten on sale from Fry's or other similar big box joints. But... even that isn't really the story... About 9 months after I had put my shiny new backup drive into service I received an email from Steve of Stentorian. He told me they had detected an unusually high failure rate in the type drive they had sold me. He was concerned I could be at risk of another drive failure. Further, he wanted to give me a brand new drive of larger capacity for free in order to insure I didn't suffer another loss! How many companies that make a living from recovering lost data from failed drives proactively replace customer drives BEFORE a failure occurs because in his words" it's the right thing to do"!!! I received the new drive along with instructions on how to transfer all of my existing data onto the new drive and set it up as my new backup drive. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes! I have to admit, I was a slug about returning the first drive and other than a couple of gentle reminders Stentorian was as patient with me as could possibly be expected. No, far more patient actually. They don't get to recover any monies until they return the drives... so they had fronted me an expensive new drive and patiently waited to recover the money THEY had already put out. I don't know when I've dealt with a more professional, honest and customer focused business. If all businesses were run like Stentorian does life would be a whole lot less frustrating when dealing with any type computer issue! I stand in amazement that this level of customer service still exists for bargain basement prices for the services offered. And no, I have no affiliation with this business, I am a simple Quality Engineer who believes exceptional businesses deserve exceptional praise. You can engage Stentorian for your data/drive/loss recovery needs with complete confidence. read more

After my hard drive crashed, I took it to my usual computer repair company and after three days, they told me they couldn't recovery my data. I called Steve and he actually came to my house to pick it up! He called me the next day to tell me he would be able to recover my data no problem. He then came back to my house to help me transfer it to my new computer. After many years of frustration with my PC, I finally bit the bullet and bought a Mac. While he claims he's not a "mac guy," Steve was able to negotiate my new computer effortlessly, and made several suggestions and adjustments that ultimately saved me hundreds of dollars by not having to buy new software. He also provided excellent tech support by helping me get my internet and email up and going, and making sure everything was working properly. All of this during the holidays when most of the rest of the world was on vacation. He was always quick to return my calls and emails, super prompt, and his rates were very reasonable compared to the quality and timing of the work he did for me. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Steve and I would highly recommend him and Stentorian Data Recovery without reservation. read more

Over the years I've experienced many catastrophic hard drive failures. Sometimes I've been able to recover part of the data by moving the drive to a different computer, or sometimes by accessing it in some different way (e.g., booting from a CD, installing a different OS, or installing the same OS on a new partition, etc.). As hard drives have gotten bigger, however, I've had less success with these techniques, and the consequences of each failure have gotten more severe. This last time was just the worst. A 500GB Western Digital MyBook failed suddenly and completely, taking with it a full year's worth of hard work. Nothing I tried would get the data back, and starting over was unacceptable. Stentorian was able to recover all of it quickly at a great price, and then gave me some very good advice on how to prevent something like this from happening again. I'm very, very pleased. read more

I took my Macbook to the Apple store when its hard drive died. They told me data recovery would involve shipping the drive to California, probably a couple weeks, and probably a thousand dollars. I work on the internet -- the thought of spending that amount of time without my computer wasn't at all appealing. Neither was the thought of spending that amount of money. So I looked local. Stentorian is downtown -- conveniently within a few minutes walk from the Apple store. Steve, who runs Stentorian, told me he could recover my data in less than half that time and at less than half that price. And he delivered. He also provided a grace period in which, if something wasn't recovered as expected, he'd find it. Steve is informative and professional and kind, and Stentorian provides a service that you might not want to need, but when you need it, you're surprised and grateful it exists. read more

Steve @ Stentorian Data is simply amazing!! I am a professional photographer and had a 1T external hard drive that died without warning. Although some of my client files were backed up, I had so many critical things on that drive and was in a panic. I had a different drive crash on me about 4 years ago, and it cost nearly $2k for recovery...I was nervous that I was in for a similar scenario. Not only did Steve meet me immediately after I contacted him, he kept me posted on his progress and had a fully recovered drive back to me in just a couple of days. I was ecstatic! He was also just a super-friendly guy, and was kind enough to give me a discount on his services since I am a low-income small business owner. I cannot recommend Stentorian Data highly enough, and sincerely urge anyone searching for a data recovery service to stop looking and just call Steve! read more

I had an external drive loaded with several years worth my digital photography (several thousand images) and without warning it crashed. (I now maintain double back ups of those files) After trying the a couple drive recovery tools of my own, I realized I had a major problem on my hands. I found Stentorian online and took a chance. Luck was with me Stentorian is small shop but the proprietor is solid. He was prompt and clear about what he'd try and what it it might cost. He kept in good communication with me while he worked on it and he was able to recover everything at a fair price. Based on my interaction with the company, I would not hesitate to recommend Stentorian for data recovery small to medium disaster recovery problems. They take on large tasks too but I am limiting my review to my personal experience with them. read more

If you're reading these reviews right now because you've had the unfortunate event of your hardrive crashing and are looking for the right place to take it to get everything back...look no further. Steve at Stentorian Data Recovery is amazing at what he does. Everyone else quoted me astronomical prices on services that weren't guaranteed and left me feeling extremely uneasy about getting my data back. At Stentorian, no data recovery, no charge. My drive crashed Thursday, got a hold of Steve on Friday -he came to my home to pick it up- he worked through the weekend -keeping me updated throughout the whole process- recovered 100% of my lost data and had it transferred onto my computer and delivered back to my house by Tuesday morning. I even got a discount for being a veteran. Doesn't get much better than that. Thanks Steve! read more

Steve at Stentorian is my hero. My Macbook Pro was failing to boot up. The Mac store diagnosed it as a software issue and told me my only option was to erase and restore. I asked if there was anything we could do to harvest my files before erasing the hard drive, and the employee told me not unless I wanted to pay at least $1000 for data recovery. I was panicking for my music files and photos when I contacted Steve. He's very reassuring, understanding, friendly and professional. More importantly, he's skilled. In four days, he got all my files back to me for less than half of what the Mac store told me to expect to pay. read more

Steve is great-- there's no other way of putting it. He saved me from some large corporate company that I could only deal with through phone calls and e-mail. The fact that I was actually able to meet Steve in person was amazing. It made my experience so much better. Additionally, the large corporation would have charged me two to three times more for recovering my data from my hard drive. So, the fact that Steve is offering amazing services at an affordable rate is great. I would definitely recommend him if anyone has to recover important data from their hard drive. read more

Stentorian rescued my baby photos--the first 4 months of her life--when my iPhone locked up and went into restore mode while loading the new iOS. Stephen quoted me a price and set a date it would be done by and came to pick up my phone. In less than three days I had the photos and my phone back. Other data recovery companies had a deceptive diagnostic price and hid the actual cost of recovery until after you had invested 100 bucks just to see how much it would really cost. Stephen guaranteed me no data, no charge, and he delivered. read more

Steven's recovery service is hands down the best experience I've ever had with any tech-related company. He was quick, courteous, and responsive beyond requirement (in a good way). I honestly haven't had such a pleasant business experience in a significantly long time, where professionalism meets my budget perfectly and there is no condescension involved. If you're looking for anyone to help you out in your tech moment of crisis, there is no one better in PDX to fulfill that job than Steve. read more

Steve is my hero! I live in Africa and brought back a new drive that lost all its data. After checking with other recovery companies that all said it was a lost cause-I came across Steve. He came over and picked up the drive. A few days later to my surprise I received a call that he was finished and had recovered all the data! AND he drove over and delieved the hard drive on Labor Day holiday. Honest, hardworking, resourceful! I've already passed his name to several friends Thanks Steve! read more

It's never fun when you get caught with your pants down and you haven't backed up your hard drive. As you'll find out data recovery is fairly expensive but you needn't be robbed. Steven at Stentorian has great rates and he does an excellent job. My portable 5 Gig hard drive crashed last month and Steven recovered all my data in short order. As far as I can tell, all the data is there. I'd highly recommend Stentorian. They do hard drives of course, but also flash drives. read more

I broke my external hard drive was recommended by a few techs in the area to go to Stentorian Data to have it recovered. I was very impressed by Steve's professionalism and calm demeanor. I had my drive returned to me within a few days with the data fully restored!! Steve rescued my precious photos and files! Stentorian Data also saved me hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars. Steve is the best data recovery guy in Portland. I highly recommend Stentorian Data! read more

A godsend!!!... Steve saved me from a nervous breakdown...as well as my clients entire day of wedding photos on a corrupted flashcard. A nightmare turned walk in the park. There is no way to thank him enough...but I highly recommend his services. Full data recovery the same day (with a bit of begging), decent rates, and a calming presence to boot. His office could definitely use some decor though. read more

Steve was very helpful, responsive to all my questions/concerns, and worked hard to get back all the info he could on our flash drive. My girlfriend nearly lost all of her Master's Thesis, but with Steve's help we quickly got back most of it, in a matter of one day!! I hope to never NEED to call him again, but if I do have a data loss, he will be the FIRST person I call. Thank you again Steve. read more

Steve and his team did an awesome job recovering everything off a failing hard drive. Not only that, but it was done very timely (within 3 days). Steve also arranged for pickup and delivery of the hard drive, so I didn't have to go anywhere. He also offers a 25% discount for veterans, which is awesome! I highly recommend this company. read more

Steve was quick to respond to emails and phone calls, and was able to recover 100% of my data from a failed external hard drive. All for less than half the price of Western Digital's recommended Data Recovery Center. Would gladly do business with Steve again in the unfortunate event that I needed his services once more. A+ read more