Inside the world of data retrieval

CBS News recently visited the Secaucus, N.J., recovery offices of Kroll, a company that works to recover information from hard-drives. Kroll technicians have been called upon to help in some of the U.S.'s most devastating tragedies. They recovered 99 percent of the data from a nearly melted drive blown into the atmosphere after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which sat at the bottom of a Texas lake for six months. They were also successful after 9/11. Keep clicking for a look at some of the tech they use and the hard drives they work to recover.

An example of a hard drive damaged during when Superstorm Sandy lashed the Northeast. Technicians at Kroll

An example of some of the equipment used at Kroll to repair hard drives. If a part of the hard drive can

Hard drives usually contain several disks or platters, stacked on top of each other like layers of a cake, where information is stored. That information is read and written by a special head. Think of it like a record player, except the disks can store information on both sides.

Adam Lanza computer may be salvageable: Data retrieval experts

Inside Kroll

CBS News' Michelle Miller interviewing Kroll

More hard drives damaged by Sandy inside Kroll

Data extracted from damaged hard drives is copied onto Kroll

A hard drive soaks in a special solution to remove salt lodged inside it by Superstorm Sandy

Michelle Miller interviewing Erik Venema, a managing consultant for Kroll. A former police officer, he is now part of the team that takes recovered data and turns it into a format most people can read and understand.

Adam Lanza computer may be salvageable: Data retrieval experts

These computers are analyzing data recovered from damaged hard drives. Erik Venema, a managing consultant for Kroll, says Kroll has proprietary software that can help restore documents that have been partially destroyed, either by physical damage to the drive or deleted by a user.

Adam Lanza computer may be salvageable: Data retrieval experts