SL1, SL2 and SL3 · Slough
Slough data recovery. The big employers have their own IT; the rest of a borough of 158,500 does not.
Slough is a young, crowded and fast-growing town at the eastern end of Berkshire, on the same Great Western line as Reading. It had a population of 158,500 at the 2021 Census and a median age of 34, and nearly a third of Slough's households rent privately. The big employers look after themselves. For example, Royal Mail has been sorting international post at Langley since 2003, and it has its own IT; so do the factories and the biologics plant. However, this is not true for everyone around them. The freight forwarders, customs brokers and courier subcontractors at Colnbrook and Poyle, up against the M25 with Heathrow beyond it, keep their transport database, customs entries and delivery photographs on a single office PC. The four grammar schools and the academy at Langley use a departmental drive to store coursework and media footage. And in the shared houses of Chalvey, Britwell and Upton, a single laptop is the only computer. There is no counter in Slough, no van and nobody to meet. Get a quote first; the drive is then sent by tracked, insured post to the Oxford intake lab instead. Alternatively, you can drop it off at the Oxford intake lab Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm; no appointment is needed. The look is free, and one figure arrives in writing before anything is charged.
An engineer answers, and looking is free
0800 6890668
Five jobs SL1, SL2 and SL3 send in.
Different fault? Begin at the triage →| What you are seeing | Why it lands on our bench | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| A freight office PC at Colnbrook that will not start | All the customs entries, delivery photographs and transport data on one disk, with lorries waiting to go | Turn it off, take the disk out of the tower and send only the disk |
| A camera recorder over a transport yard at Poyle that won't play back | The gate camera is the only record of which vehicle left with what load, and a dispute has started | Disconnect the power, pull the disk out and send only the disk, not the recorder; no one scrolls through it first |
| A media-department drive in a grammar school that mounts, then vanishes | A year of coursework films (each film made once), and the exam board has already set its date | Pull the plug, stop trying it in other computers, and send the drive as it is, with its cable and power supply |
| The only laptop in a shared house in Chalvey, and it will not start | Family photos and scanned documents, and nobody else in the house owns a computer | Send the drive, not the laptop; if the storage is soldered inside we cannot take it on, so ring us before sending if unsure |
| A calibration contractor's laptop that clicks, then stops working | Instrument exports and certificates for the plants they work in, all on a machine none of those firms' IT has seen | Switch it off immediately and try nothing more; the drive goes, the laptop stays in its bag |
Four things that are the same from Poyle to Britwell.
Four questions from SL1, SL2 and SL3.
Do you cover the whole of Slough — Langley, Colnbrook, Britwell, Chalvey and the rest?
Yes: the areas of Slough we cover, SL1, SL2 and SL3 as far as the borough runs, include the town centre, Chalvey, Salt Hill and Upton; Britwell and Wexham; Langley, Colnbrook and Poyle (out by the M25). We do not collect parcels, so an office at Poyle and a shared house in Chalvey both have identical terms. First you need to get a quote; next, post the drive with tracking and insurance. On the day it arrives it is checked for free, and the return carriage is ours.
The customs entries and delivery photographs are on one PC at Colnbrook and it will not start. What first?
Turn it off immediately and leave it that way; when a disk has already failed, there's no benefit to attempting a fourth time. Remove the drive from the tower and, once you have a quote, post it on its own, tracked and insured; the tower stays with you. Mention on the phone that consignments are waiting on it. The job is then made priority, the disk is imaged first thing the morning it arrives, and the date you are given is one you can plan round. One drive is £300 + VAT, fixed in writing before any chargeable work begins.
A school media department's drive has failed with the coursework films on it. Can a school send it?
Yes, schools post drives like anyone else, but it's the paperwork which is different: say if a purchase order needs to come first, and the one written figure goes over the same day. Unplug the external drive, do not try it in another computer, and post it as it is: an external drive comes whole, including its case, cable and power supply. Everything that comes back is listed film by film, so the exam board can be told exactly what exists. The cost of an external drive is £300 + VAT.
Can a drive be left with someone in Slough rather than posted?
No. There isn't a counter in either Slough or Reading, no van and no meeting anywhere. The media is sent by tracked, insured post to the Oxford intake lab, or if you prefer you can drop it off there Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, at the address on the shipping form, with no need to make an appointment. Please get a quote before packing awkward items such as a NAS or the disks from a server, by ringing 0800 6890668, so that we can sort out the packing over the telephone.
Closest to what Slough describes.
Next door to Slough, on the same terms
Get a quote first, then pack it in Slough; the figure reaches you before any work does.
Turn it off and let it stay off. When you ring, describe what happened when it stopped working: what did you see on the screen? Was there a change in the lights, or any unusual sounds? The diagnosis is free of charge, then we send you a written figure, and no charges are made before you approve it.