This page needs JavaScript to put your case together step by step. Without it, the direct way works just as well: call me on +49 711 3588558 or write to me at riedel@riedelit.de – what happened, what you have already tried and how I can reach you.
Almost done: send me your case
Your bank first: Call your bank now – using the number on your card or the central German blocking hotline 116 116 – and have online banking blocked. Then call me.
This is urgent. The fastest way I can help you is by phone – best call me right away:
Need help fast? The fastest way I can help you is by phone – feel free to call me right away, emergencies also in the evenings and at weekends:
If I don’t answer, I’m working on a device in the workshop. I’ll get back to you.
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Please don’t send this from the affected computer – use your phone or call me.
Your e-mail program opens with the finished text – just tap Send. Simply attach photos of error messages or displays. A copy then stays in your Sent folder.
What happens next: As soon as your e-mail arrives, I read your details and get back to you.
The initial consultation and preliminary diagnosis are free of charge. Recovery is at a fixed price after the diagnosis – no job without your go-ahead.
E-mail program didn’t open? Copy the text and send it to riedel@riedelit.de (e.g. from your webmail in the browser) – or simply call.
Like a patient card: with the manufacturer and model, everything is in one place – for me or any other specialist workshop.
View your summary
Until I speak with you, here is my first advice:
What you should do
- Switch the device off immediately and leave it off
- Do not save or install anything else on the drive
- Unplug the stick or take the card out of the camera; don’t take any more photos or copy anything onto it
- If copying stalls or a single file takes minutes: cancel immediately and shut down
- If the computer asks to format or initialize it: close the message (“Cancel” or “Ignore”). The chances are often good as long as nothing is written to it.
- Read-only? Then the data is often still there: leave the device off and call me before you switch it on again.
- Have your login password ready – without it, the data on many Macs cannot be read.
- Do you use a Microsoft account? Then make sure you know how to sign in – many newer computers encrypt the hard drive, and that is where you will find the key.
- Already reconnected it several times? Almost everyone tries that first. What matters is that the device stays off now.
What to avoid
- Opening the hard drive – even the smallest dust particles destroy the data surface
- Freezing the drive – a stubborn myth that does more harm than good
- Repeatedly powering on a clicking drive – every start attempt can cost data
- Keeping an SSD running – it often clears deleted areas for good within minutes
- Running repair tools, a reinstall or virus scans (e.g. “Scan and fix” or chkdsk) – every extra load reduces the chances
- Clicking “Format” or “Initialize”, even if Windows, the Mac or the camera offers it
- Running recovery software on the affected drive
- Switching a dropped or wet device on again – not even briefly to test it – or drying it yourself
- Having the logic board replaced or the Mac reset – on many newer Macs the storage sits encrypted on the board, and the data goes with it
Until I speak with you, here is my first advice:
What you should do
- Access disrupted or several drives reporting errors: shut the system down and leave it switched off
- Note down or photograph the order of the drives before you remove anything
- Photograph error messages and LED status
- A rebuild is running: call me right away. If more drives report errors, shut the system down.
- Still running and only one drive reporting errors: copy just the most important files to an external drive, no hours-long full backup – and call me before you change anything on the array.
What to avoid
- Starting a rebuild – it is the most common cause of permanent data loss
- Initializing or formatting, even if the system “suggests” it
- Testing the drives individually or putting them into another computer
- Unleashing recovery software on the array
- Pulling or swapping a drive before I have spoken with you – many NAS systems then rebuild on their own, and pulling the wrong drive can bring down the array
Until I speak with you, here is my first advice:
What you should do
- Hang up and disconnect the computer from the internet (turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the cable), then shut it down – and leave it off.
- Call your bank, using the number on your card or bank statement: have online banking blocked and ask whether transfers can still be recalled. For blocking cards and many other accounts, the central German blocking hotline 116 116 can help too.
- Change your passwords, but only on a different device that the caller never had access to; your email account first.
- If you gave out gift card codes, report that to the provider immediately. File a police report, at your local police station or via the online police station of Baden-Württemberg (in German).
What to avoid
- Cleaning up or reinstalling the computer yourself before the traces have been secured. That deletes what your bank and the police need.
- Passing on approvals, one-time codes (TANs) or gift card codes over the phone – not even “to block” anything.
- Trusting a “support hotline” number that pops up on your screen, or calling it. Genuine warning messages don’t contain a phone number.
Until I speak with you, here is my first advice:
What you should do
- Ransomware on a company network? Then only unplug the network cables, leave servers and PCs switched on and call me right away.
- Disconnect your private PC from the internet, shut it down and leave it off, so the encryption cannot continue.
What to avoid
- Rushing to pay the ransom – I first check whether your data can be restored from backups, earlier Windows snapshots (shadow copies) or through data recovery
- Connecting your backup to the infected computer – it would be encrypted too
- Reinstalling the computer or deleting encrypted files – that destroys traces and often the last chance of recovery
On-site emergency: I come to you
If several drives in a large storage system have failed or something has come to a standstill in your company, I will come to you on request – in the greater Stuttgart area.
- Assessment on site: I look at the system before anyone changes anything, and decide together with you how to proceed.
- Calm amid the turmoil: I keep the overview so that nothing is rushed – no rebuild, no swapping drives on a hunch.
- Emergency communication: If e-mail or file storage are down, I help you reach staff and customers another way.
- Support beyond the recovery: I remain your contact person – even if the actual recovery takes place in my specialist workshop or with a specialized colleague.
How quickly I can be with you and what travel and the call-out cost, I’ll tell you by phone:
Urgent after all? +49 711 3588558
Whether and how I can help with your phone or tablet, I’ll tell you when I get back to you.
What you get
- Overview Your case is laid out on one page, ready to print or pass on.
- First aid After your first answer you see what to do first.
- I’m prepared I already know your case when I get back to you.
