D-Link ShareCenter NAS devices are widely used for home and small business storage, offering RAID 1 mirroring for data redundancy. However, when a power surge occurs, it can cause electrical damage to the hard drives’ PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), making stored data inaccessible.
This case study details how we successfully recovered critical academic files for a student from a D-Link ShareCenter RAID 1 setup (2 disks) after a power surge caused PCB failure on both drives.
As Leeds Data Recovery, with 25 years of experience, we used PCB repair, firmware restoration, and RAID reconstruction techniques to restore lost data.
NAS Drives Not Powering On After Electrical Surge
A university student contacted us after their D-Link ShareCenter NAS stopped working following a power outage. The reported issues included:
- The NAS device would not power on after the surge.
- Attempts to connect the drives externally failed (no spin-up detected).
- BIOS and disk management did not detect the drives.
- The student’s research papers, coursework, and project files were at risk.
Since power surges can permanently damage electronic components, an immediate professional recovery solution was required.
Diagnosis & Evaluation
When the two NAS drives from the D-Link ShareCenter (RAID 1 setup) arrived at our cleanroom facility, we conducted a full electrical and mechanical diagnostic. Our findings:
- Burnt components on both hard drive PCBs – Preventing power from reaching the motors.
- No mechanical damage to platters – Meaning data remained intact.
- RAID 1 mirroring was intact – Allowing data recovery from either disk.
Since standard recovery methods cannot work on electrically dead drives, we focused on PCB repair and firmware restoration.
The Recovery Process
1. PCB Repair & Firmware Transfer
Since the PCBs were damaged, we:
- Replaced burnt PCB components (transistors, diodes, and resistors).
- Transferred ROM chip firmware from the original PCB to a donor PCB for compatibility.
2. Imaging & Cloning the Repaired Drives
Once the drives were operational, we:
- Created sector-by-sector clones to ensure data preservation.
- Bypassed minor bad sectors using advanced data extraction tools.
3. Extracting & Verifying Student Research Data
Once data extraction was complete, we:
- Recovered all coursework, research papers, and project files.
- Checked recovered files for integrity and completeness.
- Transferred the fully restored data to a new external SSD for long-term storage.
The Results: 100% Data Recovery Success
Thanks to our PCB repair and RAID 1 reconstruction techniques, we successfully recovered 100% of the student’s lost data, including:
✅ Research papers and thesis documents
✅ Project presentations and coursework files
✅ Lecture notes and study materials
The student was able to continue their academic work without losing any critical files, preventing delays in coursework submission.
Why Choose Us?
With 25 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful recoveries, we are the leading RAID 1 and NAS data recovery specialists in Leeds and the UK. Our expertise includes:
✔ Power surge hard drive recovery & PCB repair
✔ RAID 1 disk mirroring reconstruction
✔ Firmware restoration & ROM chip transplantation
✔ Secure & confidential student & academic data retrieval
If your NAS device or RAID 1 setup has failed due to a power surge, electrical failure, or PCB damage, stop further recovery attempts and contact us immediately for professional data recovery.