Colthrop, RG18 and RG19 · Thatcham
Data recovery for Thatcham. The test can never be run again; the video of it is the only record there is.
Some files cannot be produced again at any price, and the clearest example in Berkshire comes from this town. Thatcham Research has been the motor insurers' automotive research centre since 1969, located at Colthrop. The vehicle-security categories quoted by insurers today were written here. High-speed test video and ADAS validation runs are irreplaceable because the vehicle was written off during the test. Around it, the Colthrop end of town is a former paper-mill site converted into industrial estates, with haulage depots close to the station for logistics purposes. It sends warehouse and stock databases, telematics exports, vehicle-camera footage and the one ageing tower that runs the accounts for a light-industrial firm. Add to these the 25,464 residents at the 2021 census, most of them commuting, and a great many home machines holding the only copy of something. Get a quote first, then post it insured. There is no charge for the first look.
An engineer answers, and looking is free
0800 6890668
What comes in from Thatcham.
Different fault? Begin at the triage →| What you are seeing | Why it lands on our bench | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| A test machine for high-speed video, with the validation runs recorded on the same machine | No second try, and no other vehicle to use for testing | Please keep the machine turned off and let us know the date you are working to |
| A distribution server which has been unable to restart since a power cut | Records of stock, routes and proof of delivery stored on it for many years | Please post us the disks; the machine stays with your IT staff |
| A yard recording unit that has stopped writing without warning | One disk, overwritten each week, until it is worn out | Remove the disk from the recorder, and stop there |
| A haulage office PC that will not get past the manufacturer's logo | Routing, telematics export files and driver records all live on this machine | Disconnect the power supply and post us the disk alone |
| A commuter's home laptop that has begun clicking | Family photos and the overflow from a work machine, both on it | Do not continue using it; each restart costs you a little more |
Four things to settle before it goes.
Thatcham's four commonest questions.
Do you cover RG18 and RG19, and the villages north of the A4?
Yes to both RG18 and RG19, which covers Thatcham north and south, Colthrop, then out through Cold Ash, Hermitage, Hampstead Norreys and Yattendon, also including Greenham and Ashford Hill, with Bishop's Green just across the line. The drive makes the journey rather than you, so whether it's a farm lane in Yattendon or a unit on the Colthrop estates, they're all the same distance from our bench. Items posted midweek are generally with an engineer the next morning.
The test data cannot be produced again. Can that job be moved up?
Let us know when booking and we will flag it as urgent. This means that our team opens the box and images your drive the morning it arrives, ahead of the day's queue rather than squeezed into it. We can provide a completion date to hold us to once we have sufficient diagnostic information. The phone is answered Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
A warehouse server has stopped. What should nobody do to it?
Nobody should ever allow it to rebuild, and nobody should install anything on top of it. Turn off the power, mark every disk with its bay number before removing it from the chassis, and include the one that was the first to fail. Send the bare disks without their case. A NAS works the same way: label the disks by bay if they come out; otherwise the entire NAS unit can be sent.
Where does a drive from Thatcham actually go?
The Oxford intake lab; the shipping form carries its address. There is no counter in Thatcham, and neither is there one in Reading, as all of the imagers, donor stock and the bench sit within the same building, so it is the drive that moves. First get a quote; once you have it, send the drive insured, or drop it off at the Oxford intake lab Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, without needing an appointment. Diagnosis is free. Return postage is also covered by us.
Where to go next from Thatcham.
Next door to Thatcham, on the same terms
Get a quote first, then send it from Thatcham; it is opened the morning it lands.
Turn it off at the wall and leave it turned off. Tell us as much as you can about how the machine was working up to the point where it failed. The first look will incur no cost. We confirm the price in writing, and you agree it before any chargeable work begins.