LONDON, March 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Freecom, a Mitsubishi Kagaku Media company, today announced its Data Recovery Service, designed to give end users peace of mind that their valuable information and memories can be recovered even if their hard drive crashes. The service is available for just GBP 24.95 (including VAT) for three years cover for any hard drive - without this kind of protection, full data recovery can easily cost up to GBP 1,500.

Hard drives crash for a number of reasons - some of which are impossible to prevent. For example, Freecom estimates that 1 percent of failures are due to natural disaster, 8 percent are caused by computer viruses or malware, 14 percent are damaged by software failure, 28 percent break because of human error, and hardware failures account for the other 49 percent.

The Data Recovery Service is available to buy at all major PC retailers and online from http://www.freecom.co.uk. The service covers any external hard drive, no matter which brand, as well as those found in computers and laptops. End users simply register their device, and in the event of a hard drive crash, all data will typically be recovered within two weeks and returned it to the user with no additional costs for postage and packaging.

We all have so much valuable data - from family pictures and videos, to sensitive business information - stored on our computers and on hard drives today, and when these break it can be devastating, said Axel Lucassen, Managing Director at Freecom. Our first piece of advice would to back up all this information in multiple locations to be extra sure you won't lose it all. Many people want even greater assurance though and this is where our Data Recovery Service fits in - for a minimal fee, we can give you peace of mind that we can recover your data should your hard drive break. You wouldn't think twice about protecting your car or your home, so why risk your memories?

Freecom's Data Recovery Service is a partnership with LazaRus, an expert in data recovery with more than 15 years experience. Using a unique recovery technique, Freecom and LazaRus have more than a 98 percent success rate for recovering data from new computers/notebooks, and can successfully retrieve data from over 85 percent of external hard drives.

Freecom and LazaRus have also released their top tips to avoid losing data in the first place:

1. If you lose your data, do not tamper with the device, as you risk overwriting your data 2. Keep your computer and your external hard drive away from sources of heat 3. Remember to turn off external hard drives when not in use, especially multimedia ones 4. In the case of external hard drives, be careful not to hit or shake the device sharply while it is in operation 5. Defragment your device often - this means the mechanical components of the hard drive will move less, thereby avoiding excessive wear 6. Install anti-virus software, and keep it UPDATED! 7. Place your external hard drive in a hard drive sleeve when you do not use it

W: http://www.freecom.co.uk

Picture available to download from:

http://www.johnsonking.com/library/Packaging_Data_Recovery_Service_INT_bo xshot.jpg

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For more information on Freecom and LazaRus, please visit the local Freecom website or Freecom extranet for boilerplates and more information.

SOURCE: Freecom

CONTACT: Media contacts: For more information, please contact: Dana Hashemand Kathryn Mills-Webb, Johnson King, T: +44(0)20-7401-7968, E:FreecomTeam@johnsonking.co.uk .