Data Recovery for Short Hills, NJ
Every recovery starts with a $75 diagnostic. Drop off the failing drive or the whole laptop at our Somerville shop, roughly 46 minutes from The Mall at Short Hills by way of I-78 and I-287. You get the diagnosis and a flat price by text, and we only start the recovery once you say yes.
75 North Bridge St, Somerville NJ 08876 · Private parking · Walk-ins welcome, no appointment needed
Contact Us First. It Takes Two Minutes.
No appointment is needed, but a quick message before you leave Short Hills saves you a wasted trip. Tell us what happened to the drive and we'll tell you what to bring and what not to do in the meantime.
- Whether to bring the whole computer or just the drive
- How to keep a clicking or failing drive from getting worse
- Whether rush service makes sense for your deadline
Bring the Drive In.
No appointment. Check in at the kiosk.Walk in during shop hours and check in on our kiosk. The screen explains how data recovery works in large, easy-to-read text, confirms your turnaround time, and asks you to tick a box and sign on screen. Tell us which files matter most (Manhattan work presentations, years of family vacation photos, a home renovation plan set, a teenager's college application portfolio) so we look for those first.
We work on internal hard drives and SSDs, external USB drives, flash drives, SD and camera cards, desktops and laptops, and NAS or RAID boxes. We do not recover data from phones.
- Monday to Friday
- 10am to 5pm
- Saturday
- 9am to 2pm
- Sunday
- Closed
$75 to Find Out What's Recoverable.
Standard diagnostic: 2 to 3 days.The diagnostic tells us why the files disappeared (a failing drive, a deleted folder, a corrupted partition, a dead computer around a healthy drive) and how much of your data can realistically come back. You get an honest answer, not a sales pitch.
Your drive stays on our bench in Somerville the whole time. We don't box it up for a lab in another state, so you're never waiting on a shipping label to find out what happened to your files.
- Diagnostic FeeDrive evaluation and recovery assessment
- $75
- Rush ServiceWe offer rush. Ask about it at drop-off
- Available
Credited if you go ahead. When the recovery is approved, the $75 comes off your recovery price. It's not an extra charge.
We Text You the Plan.
Nothing gets copied until you say yes.At check-in we text your ticket number so you know your drive is logged. When the diagnostic is done, we text what we found in plain language: which folders are readable, roughly how much data that is, and the flat price to copy it to a new drive. Reply yes and we start. Reply no and nothing else is charged.
Your ticket # is #42184.
We'll text you once the recovery diagnostic is complete. 👍
Get Your Files Back.
Diagnostic fee already deducted.We text you when the recovery is finished. Come by during shop hours, pay the balance, and take your files home. In the example here, the recovery was quoted at $299. The $75 diagnostic you paid at drop-off comes off that, so the balance due at pickup is $224 plus NJ sales tax.
- Data Recovery (quoted)
- $299.00
- Diagnostic Paid at Drop-Off
- -$75.00
- Subtotal
- $224.00
- NJ Sales Tax (6.625%)
- $14.84
Avoid the Fake Data Recovery Listings
Many listings that show up for data recovery near Short Hills are really collection points: they take your drive, pack it in a box and mail it to a lab out of state. A package can be delayed, dropped or lost, and your files go with it. We do the work ourselves in Somerville.
Your drive goes in a box
- The local listing only collects the drive, then ships it to a lab you've never seen, often in another state.
- A failing drive gets bounced around in a delivery truck, and a package can be delayed, damaged, or lost.
- Your family photos or client files pass through strangers' hands and a shipping depot.
- You wait on transit both ways before anyone even looks at it, and the person at the counter can't answer your questions.
Your drive stays in Somerville
- All recovery work is done on-site, on our own bench at 75 N Bridge St. Your drive never leaves the building.
- You hand it to the person who actually does the work, and you can call the shop directly at 908-428-9558.
- Standard diagnostic in 2 to 3 days with no shipping time, and rush service is available.
- If your drive needs something beyond what we do in-house, we tell you plainly and can give you the contact for a recovery partner. The choice stays yours.
Quick test: before you hand over a drive anywhere, ask "Will my drive be recovered here, in this building?" If the answer involves shipping, you're looking at a drop-off point, not a lab.
Recovering Short Hills Photos, Work Files and Family Archives
Short Hills began as a planned village laid out by Stewart Hartshorn, who made his fortune with the self-acting shade roller and wanted a community where natural beauty would be kept. Today it is an unincorporated community within Millburn Township in Essex County, home to roughly 14,400 people and known as a commuter town for Manhattan.
Manhattan commuters
Plenty of Short Hills residents carry their work between the city and home on a laptop. If that laptop will not boot or its drive clicks, bring it to our Somerville shop and we will text you a diagnosis and a flat price.
Hartshorn's garden village
The Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary and Old Short Hills Park are local favorites for a walk with a camera. If an SD card from one of those outings will not read, we recover camera cards as well as hard drives and SSDs.
Family archives
Homes in sections like Knollwood and White Oak Ridge often keep decades of scanned albums on one external drive. We recover external USB drives, desktops and NAS units on our own bench, never shipping them out.
Short Hills sections
Heads up: Dave's Computers doesn't have a location in Short Hills. Every recovery happens at our shop at 75 N Bridge St, Somerville, and your drive never leaves the building.
Directions from Short Hills to Our Somerville Shop
The drive from Short Hills is mostly interstate: Route 24 to I-78 West, then a short run down I-287 to Somerville.
From The Mall at Short Hills
- Leave the mall and turn right onto Fineran Way. Follow the mall's internal roads a short distance, about 0.1 mile, then turn right at the end of the road onto Fineran Way.
- Continue onto Route 124 and follow the ramps to Route 24 East. Stay left at the forks signed Route 124 West and Chatham, bear right at exit 7A, then take the ramp on the left signed Route 24 East, Summit.
- Merge onto Route 24 East for about 2.6 miles. Then keep right for the ramp to I-78 West, signed Clinton.
- Follow I-78 West for about 17 miles. This is the longest leg of the trip, so settle into the travel lanes.
- Use exit 29, signed I-287, Morristown and Somerville. Keep left at the fork signed I-287 South, US 202 South and US 206 South, Somerville, and merge onto I-287 South for about 2.3 miles.
- Take exit 17 for US 202 South and US 206 South. The ramp is signed Somerville and Flemington. Merge and continue about 0.7 mile.
- Take the ramp for US 22 East, then the Somerville exit. Ride US 22 East about three quarters of a mile and bear right at the Somerville ramp, which feeds straight onto North Bridge Street.
- Follow North Bridge Street about 0.7 mile to the shop. 75 N Bridge St is on the right. Turn right into our driveway at the blue Dave's Computers arrow sign.
A Real Office, With Our Own Parking
We work out of a commercial office building on North Bridge Street, not a spare room in someone's house. It's the large gray-shingled building with the stone front and the tall brick chimneys.
- Find the blue arrow sign. Our Dave's Computers sign sits at the curb right at the driveway entrance.
- Pull into the private lot. Follow the driveway along the left side of the building to the parking lot. Parking is free.
- Look for our windows. Our entrance is in the single-story wing facing the lot, with Dave's Computers signs in the windows.
A Few More Things
Need It Sooner?
Standard turnaround is 2 to 3 days. We also offer rush service; we'll go over timing and cost with you at drop-off.
Rush AvailableCan't Carry It In?
Heavy tower or a NAS box full of drives? Call us from the parking lot at 908-428-9558 and we'll come out to your car to carry it in.
Call Us FirstWant the Full Picture?
See everything we recover on our data recovery in New Jersey page, or read how data recovery pricing works before you come in.
Short Hills Data Recovery FAQ
How much is the data recovery diagnostic?
$75. It covers checking the drive, finding out why the files are missing, and telling you what can be recovered. If you approve the recovery, the $75 is credited toward the price.
When is the $75 refunded?
When you hand us the drive directly (a bare drive, external drive, USB flash drive or SD card) and we can't recover your data, the diagnostic is refunded. If the drive has to be removed from a laptop or desktop, that removal is labor, so the diagnostic isn't refunded even if recovery isn't possible.
How long does it take?
The standard diagnostic takes 2 to 3 days. We also offer rush service, and we'll go over it with you in person at drop-off.
How far is your shop from Short Hills?
From The Mall at Short Hills it's about 28.6 miles and 46 minutes, mostly on Route 24, I-78 West and I-287 South. The shop is at 75 N Bridge St, Somerville, with a private parking lot. Look for the blue Dave's Computers arrow sign at the driveway.
Can I drop my drive off on a Saturday on the way back from Short Hills errands?
Yes. Saturday hours are 9am to 2pm, and during the week we are open 10am to 5pm. Check in at the kiosk, and we text you a ticket number, then the diagnosis and flat price once the 2 to 3 day diagnostic is done.
Do you ship my drive to another lab?
No. All recovery work is done on-site at our Somerville shop, and your drive never goes in the mail. If a drive needs work beyond what we do in-house, we'll tell you and can give you the contact for a recovery partner, so you decide what happens next.
Can you recover files from my phone?
No. We recover data from hard drives, SSDs, external drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, computers, and NAS or RAID systems, but not from phones.
Do I need an appointment?
No. Walk in Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm or Saturday 9am to 2pm and check in at the kiosk. Questions first? Call 908-428-9558.
Bring the Drive In Today.
$75 diagnostic. Honest answers. The same technician since 2011.
908-428-9558Mon-Fri 10am-5pm · Sat 9am-2pm · 75 N Bridge St, Somerville NJ · About 46 minutes from Short Hills