The exponential growth of the electronics industry has made the cost-effective handling of these items a major consideration in any claim. Today, some type of media is found in more than 90 percent of homes and businesses. Prompt response is crucial in any sort of loss. As is true with most materials subjected to a water or fire damage, recovery is directly affected by processing the media immediately after a loss. The first and most critical step is the determination of that which is damaged versus merely being dirty.
Computers are usually salvageable unless in contact with water or in contact with heat.
A cleaning process can often restore vinyl records exposed to smoke or water. Any magnetic media, such as computer diskettes and cassettes, should always be examined by a restoration company. Computer discs, for example, must be professionally cleaned and then transferred to a new floppy disc. Running a contaminated disc may destroy the data on the disc as well as damaging the computer. Assessing damage to video tapes may be a little tricky.