Data Recovery Training Boot Camp
Learn how to recover sensitive data from damaged or partially destroyed hard drives, solid-state media and removable media! A combination of hands-on labs and expert instruction builds your knowledge around data recovery and prepares you to become a Certified Data Recovery Professional (CDRP).
Become a Certified Data Recovery Professional, guaranteed!
Boot camp overview
Infosec’s Data Recovery Boot Camp provides the most detailed logical and physical data recovery training available. You’ll learn the fundamentals of hardware data recovery, including how to properly diagnose dead drives and bring them back to life. You will also learn logical recovery for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, RAID arrays, Exchange server and even solid-state flash NAND drives!
Get practical data recovery experience through a series of hands-on labs that teach you how to perform intermediate- to advanced-level logical recoveries. The combination of practical labs and expert instruction ensures you’ll leave the boot camp with skills that directly transfer to the workplace.
Skill up and get certified, guaranteed
Exam Pass Guarantee
If you don’t pass your exam on the first attempt, get a second attempt for free. Includes the ability to re-sit the course for free for up to one year.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
If you’re not 100% satisfied with your training at the end of the first day, you may withdraw and enroll in a different Flex Pro or Flex Classroom course.
Knowledge Transfer Guarantee
If an employee leaves within three months of obtaining certification, Infosec will train a different employee at the same organization tuition-free for up to one year.
What's included?
93% pass rate — the best in the industry
- Five days of data recovery training with an expert instructor
- Infosec proprietary digital courseware (physical textbooks available to purchase)
- CDRP exam voucher
- 90-day access to course replays (Flex Pro)
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
- Exam Pass Guarantee (Flex Pro)
Industry-leading exam pass rates
Infosec’s courseware materials are always up to date and synchronized with the latest CDRP exam objectives. Our industry-leading curriculum and expert instructors have led to the highest pass rates in the industry. More than 93% of Infosec students pass their certification exams on their first attempt.
Award-winning training that you can trust
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Innovation Award - Software
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Who should attend?
- Information security officers & managers
- Network administrators
- Windows administrators
- Forensics investigators
- Anyone interested in building their data recovery skills
Prerequisites
- Firm understanding of the Windows operating system
- Firm understanding of computer hardware
- Knowledge of how to perform basic beginner-level logical recoveries of drives
Why choose Infosec
Your flexible learning experience
Infosec Flex makes expert, live instruction convenient with online and in-person formats tailored to how, when and where you learn best.
Public training boot camps held nationwide
- Pre-study course materials
- Live instruction
- Digital courseware
- Daily reinforcement materials
- Catered lunches
- Infosec community forum access
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
- Knowledge Transfer Guarantee
Most Popular
Immersive, live-streamed instruction
- Pre-study course materials
- Live instruction
- Digital courseware
- Daily reinforcement materials
- Detailed performance reporting
- Video replays
- 90-day extended access to materials
- Infosec community forum access
- Exam Pass Guarantee
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
- Knowledge Transfer Guarantee
Tailored team training at your location
- Pre-study course materials
- Live, customized instruction at your location
- Digital courseware
- Daily reinforcement materials
- Detailed team performance reporting
- Video replays
- 90-day extended access to materials
- Infosec community forum access
- Exam Pass Guarantee
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
- Knowledge Transfer Guarantee
What you'll learn
This boot camp focuses on teaching you the skills needed to recover lost data. Some of the attention-grabbing lectures and hands-on lab exercises include:
- Logical recovery of disabled hard drives
- Motions that unlock the actuator of a drive
- Logic board replacements
- P-List and G-List recovery
- Reverse scanning
- Head stack replacement
- Diagnosing “clicking noises”
- RAID 0 recovery & RAID 5 recovery
- Solid-state drive recovery
- Using file format recognition tools
- Diagnosing the physical recovery of drives
- Single and multi platter swaps
- Addressing SMART values
- Capturing SID protected folders
- Working with the Service Area (SA) of a drive
- Mac OS X data recovery
- Vista and recovery of shadow copies
- Firmware issues
- Logical recovery via avoiding BIOS interruptions
- Comparing pre-recorded sound samples to live drives
- Head assembly replacement
- Dealing with damaged sectors
- Resolving kernel or driver issues with a Linux bootable disk
- Reviewing data structures with a hex editor
- Linux data recovery » Clearing passwords on a password protected drive
Can’t get away for a week?
Learn data recovery on-demand.
Get the cybersecurity training you need at a pace that fits your schedule with a subscription to Infosec Skills. Includes unlimited access to hundreds of additional on-demand courses — plus cloud-hosted cyber ranges where you can practice and apply knowledge in real-world scenarios — all for just $34 a month!
- 70+ learning paths
- 500+ courses
- Cloud-hosted cyber ranges and hands-on projects
- Skill assessments and certification practice exams
- Infosec community peer support
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Data Recovery Boot Camp details
Day 1: Foundations of data recovery & hardware data recovery
Day one focuses on the fundamental skills of data recovery. After the introductory content is complete, a full review of hardware data recovery begins. Before any logical or software recovery can begin, it is imperative to have a functional drive. The introductory content you will explore includes:
- Boot camp introduction
- Introduction to the data recovery process
- Hard drive basics and the air bearing
- Understanding the working parts of a hard drive
- Platters, voice coils, logic boards and firmware
- Cleanroom basics
- Tools of the trade
- Software used for hardware recovery
- Listening to drive sounds for recovery clues
- Clicking drives
- Comparing pre-recorded sound samples to live drives
- Understanding success rates
- How to properly open a drive
- Understanding motor spin
- Relationship between spin and air bearing
- Motions that unlock the arm of a drive
- Motions that unlock the actuator of a drive
- Actuator arm functions
- Investigating the preamp
- Learn to hand-spin a motor
- Learn to manually move the actuator arm motion
- Finding the preamp
- Principles of applying power to a dead drive
- Proper power source selection
Day 2: Intermediate hardware data recovery
Day two encompasses a deep discussion on the various technologies and techniques used for hardware data recovery, including analysis and repair. Some of the lectures and hands-on labs you’ll perform on day two include:
- Working in an anti-static environment
- Learning how to work in a Class 100 cleanroom
- Understanding how to operate a cleanroom
- HEPA air filtration and Laminar air flow
- Data locations on various drives
- Examining sectors
- Examine data surrounding a sector
- Understanding the Services Area (SA)
- Locating the SA
- Specialized equipment for manipulating the SA
- PCB Boards
- Understanding the PCB
- Potential recoveries involving the PCB
- Performing a live PCB swap
- Diagnosing faulty PCB ROM
- Identifying donor ROM components
- Using a SMD rework station to replace faulty PCB ROM
- Heat guns vs. soldering irons
- Fundamentals of using a heat gun and SMD rework flux
- Rework flux and 8 PIN ROM SMDs
- Rework flux and 50 PIN ROM SMDs
- Heat gun safety
- Heat and temperature and the role it plays in PCB swaps
- Where to turn when a PC Board swap does not work as expected
- Tools for board swapping
- PC3000 and its capabilities
- Understanding platter swaps
- Identifying if a platter swap is feasible
- Fundamentals of the platter swap
- Positioning the platter for proper alignment
- Single platter swaps
- Multi-platter swaps
- Using head combs
- Creating head combs
- Head assemblies
- Identifying cases where head assemblies are damaged beyond recovery
- Head assembly replacement
- Tools for head assembly replacements
- Protecting drives during head assembly replacements
Day 3: Data preservation and Windows logical recovery
Day three focuses on how to recover data safely from a spinning drive without damaging the contents of the drive during the recovery process. Various logical recovery issues are explored for the Windows family of operating systems. Some of the lectures and hands-on labs you’ll perform on day three include:
- Software for bit-level images
- Using DD
- Improving on DD with DD_Rescue
- Using MediaTools Pro
- Using the FTK Imager
- Viewing data with the FTK Imager
- Resolving issues encountered when exporting data
- Resolving issues encountered when exporting Filenames
- Disk structure
- Disk partition design theory
- Layout of disk partition structure
- Clearing passwords on a password protected drive
- PINS vs. Software
- Specific drive model issues
- Issues with specific models
- Variations in drives and manufacturers
- Casing
- Using case types for recovery
- Dates and PCB board firmware
- Protecting hard drives from changes
- Software vs. hardware protection
- Protecting from further damage
- When to scan a drive and when to use software
- The effect of scanning on a damaged drive
- Windows and data recovery
- Basic Windows recovery
- Fat32 & NTFS
- NTFS Explorer
- Capturing SID protected folders
- When to use a bootable Linux disk for recovery
- Resolving kernel or driver issues with a Linux bootable disk
- Resolving blue screen errors with a Linux bootable disk
- Connecting to the Internet to use Linux for recovery
- Scanning file types and header content
- Using a hex editor to find and search for specific files
- What files look like
- Locating files with a hex editor
- Skipping NTFS and FAT tables when appropriate
- Reviewing data structures with a hex editor
- Windows Server OS issues
- Controlling server data
- Identifying recycling bin contents
- Decoding recycling bin contents
- Identifying registry contents
- Decoding registry locations
- Recovery of Exchange Server database
- Typical Exchange Server damage
- Importing and exporting messages
- MDB files and size limitation
Day 4: Linux, Mac OS X and RAID recoveries
Day four covers the recovery of Linux and Mac OS X systems. Additionally, the recovery of RAID arrays is explained in detail. Some of the lectures and handson labs you will perform on day four include:
- Linux data recovery
- File system structure
- How to review file structure
- Structure of Linux data
- Software use to rebuild corrupted or damaged data
- Mac OS X data recovery
- Layout of data on a Mac
- GPT partition
- T-firewire mode
- Specific data recovery software for Macs
- Raid data recovery
- Understanding RAID 0
- RAID 0 with four drives
- Understanding RAID 5
- RAID 0 recovery
- RAID 5 recovery
Day 5: Advanced topics in data recovery & CDRP exam
Day five covers advanced topics related to data recovery as well as a review of all the topics included on the Certified Data Recovery Professional (CDRP) exam. You’ll finish the day by taking the CDRP exam. Some of the lectures and hands-on labs you will perform on day five include:
- Advanced topics related to data recovery
- Review and prep for the CDRP exam
- Take the CDRP exam
Exceptional learning experiences powered by LX Labs cyber expertise
Infosec Skills boot camps are powered by LX Labs — our elite team of cyber SMEs, learning specialists and community of top-ranked security instructors, published authors and sought-after industry leaders. We rigorously vet each boot camp to guarantee it meets certification and compliance requirements and aligns with recognized guidelines like the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework.
