Recovering Data From Your Failed SSD: The Ultimate Guide

SSDs are fast and reliable, but they’re also expensiveWhen you buy an SSD, you’re paying not just for the drive itself, but also for the years of development and testing that went into producing itIf you ever need to recover data from your SSD, you’ll probably be heartbrokenModern SSDs are meant for long-term use, and the majority of users don’t back up their dataWhen your SSD fails, you’ll have to live without it.

That being said, it’s not realistic to store data on an SSD permanentlyWhen your drive is no longer valid, you’ll need to recover your dataThis guide will help you figure out whether it makes more sense to recover data from your SSD or replace it with a new drive.

Why is Recovered Data Harder to Access?

SSDs are different from traditional hard drivesWhen an SSD crashes, the data is scattered throughout the driveYou can’t just open up your SSD and find the files you needThe only way to fix this is by using an ssd data recovery service that has professional-grade data recovery software.

How to Recover Data From an SSD

SSDs are designed to be durable, but they’re not invincibleThe number of data-recording cycles your SSD can survive is limited by its design and manufacturerIf you want to recover data from your failed SSD, you’ll need professional help.

If your SSD is less than three years old, and the hard drive is still functional, you can try replacing the SSD with a new oneYou’ll need to copy data to the new drive and transfer it back onto the original HDD after it’s been formatted for use as an operating system and storage device againThis process will depend on your computer system and what type of drive you have:

– If you have a desktop computer, then all you need is a thumb drive and a screwdriver set.

– If you have a laptop or desktop with an attached optical drive, then all you need to do is remove the old hard drive from your computer, insert it into an external enclosure (or mount it in place), plug in the power cable, then attach the optical cable for accessing data on the old hard drive.

– For laptops without an optical drive or desktop computers without an external enclosure, replace your existing HDD with this new one using these instructions.

How to Install a New SSD

Installing a new SSD is the best option when your current one failsYou can use the failed drive as an external storage device or transfer any files that you still need to your new SSD.

If you’re installing a new SSD, it’s usually best to install it in the same slot as the old oneYou should also go back and re-partition the drive so that both drives have identical data setsIf you don’t do this, you might end up with an SSD that’s too small for your needs and performance will suffer as a resultIf your PC doesn’t have an empty PCIe slot, then you need to connect the new drive using an adapter card of some sort in order to make use of it.

Can’t Replace My SSD?

If you’ve gone through the hard drive recovery process and it still wasn’t successful, your only other option would be to replace the SSDIn this case, it makes sense to replace your SSD with a new one.

Recovering Data From a Failed SSD

Recovering data from a failed SSD is difficultThe good news is that there are a few techniques you can use to recover your dataThe first option is to take the drive out of the machine and put it in another running computerThis isn’t the best idea, though, because it will only work if your operating system has drivers for your driveIf you have Apple computers, be cautious because they don’t have drivers for most PC-type drives.

You can also recover data from a failed SSD using an external USB enclosureThe enclosure will hold the drive so it can interact with another computer and give you access to your files.

Lastly, there are software-based methods of recovering data from a failed SSD that require transferring userspace code from one machine to anotherThese methods won’t work with Macs or Windows 10 Home editions, though, so make sure you have those before attempting this methodIf none of these options works for you, then replacing your failed drive with a new one will be your only choice.

Final Words

When your SSD fails, there are two options that you haveYou can either recover data from your SSD or replace it with a new oneThis guide will help you decide which option is best for you.