• Kroll OnTrack

  800-872-2599; krollontrack.com

  You know how long the average computer’s hard disk lasts? Not nearly as long as your average computer. And you, my friend, have not backed up nearly often enough, which means that your kids’ photos, your downloaded videos, everything in your journal—poof! That day is when you make your sweaty, panicked call to Kroll Ontrack, which recently dug out 100 percent of the contents of a hard drive that was, according to the IT guy who assessed it first, as readable as your average boat anchor. Kroll’s prices go case-by-case, depending on a few factors, but the basic recovery costs $1,015. As for satisfied-customer endorsements, consider this: On its website, Kroll displays a note from the electrical-engineering department at Prince­ton University, conveying extreme gratitude for a 24-hour emergency recovery. In other words, the guys who invent these technologies call Kroll to fix them.

From the 2013 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine