How to Recover Data from Dead SSDs?

Is it possible to recover data from a dead SSD?

Compared with traditional HDDs, the faster SSD drive is ideal for PCs to run programs that access large amounts of data because Solid-State drives can shorten laptops’ boot time, transmit data more quickly, and provide higher bandwidth.

But some users are bothered by dead SSDs & dead hard drive recovery issues.

It’s possible to recover files from dead SSDs as long as your SSD itself is not physically damaged.

If your SSD drive dies because of physical shock or overuse, you’d better send these damaged, broken disks to the repair store instead of referring to this article. 

But if it is the logical damage that causes your SSD drive to become dead, you can still recover files from dead SSD. Before moving on to the solution part, it is necessary to check the possible causes of a dead SSD for a better understanding.

What causes an SSD to fail?

So what can cause SSD to stop working? There’re common reasons for SSD failure; please get an overview below.   

File system failure. A corrupted/lost/deleted file system will prevent you from accessing and reading the device data as usual. And it forces users to format it to a readable file system before using.

Firmware failure: Several users frequently update their Solid-State drives to improve performance. The SSD firmware is extremely complicated and needs to be handled with care. If there’s an interruption during the update process, most SSDs automatically enter a fail-safe mode. 

Malware infection: Sometimes, malware infections or bad sectors in the drive can cause your SSD data to become inaccessible, unreadable, or corrupted. In this scenario, you may need to recover inaccessible data from hard drives. 

Improper usage: If you keep writing data to your SSD’s flash memory, your SSD drive will likely wear out. Similarly, constant power fluctuations or incorrect ways of shutting down your PC are also responsible for failing SSDs. 

Overheating: Your SSD can become overheated because of high overloads or intensive processes. It is obvious that a lack of a cooling system or persistently high temperatures can cause SSD failure. 

Physical damage: Heavy blows, water submersion, squeeze, and other external factors can damage SSDs and lead to data loss.

With the reasons presented, you will have a better understanding and can now follow the methods below to get back your files from dead SSDs.

6 ways to recover data from dead SSDs

How to recover data from dead SSDs? In brief, the top way can help you recover deleted files from dead SSDs if you’ve removed them. Without data loss, please refer to another five fixes.

• Before dead SSD data recovery, you’re supposed to disable TRIM because the activated TRIM can continue erasing invalid blocks to get free flash memory blocks prepared for new data. Once the newly added data has overwritten your deleted missing files, it could be hard to retrieve them.

To prevent more problematic issues, don’t hesitate to disable TRIM now!

Step 1. Type “cmd” in the search bar and choose “Run as administrator” to open the command prompt window.

Step 2. Type “fustil behavior query disabledeletenotify” in the command prompt windows and press “OK” or hit “Enter” to go on.

Step 3. Wait to see the return data. If the return data is 1, which implies Trim is activated. If the return data is 0, which means Trim is disabled.

Step 4. To disable it, please type “fustil behavior disabledeletenotify 0” in the window.

Solution 1. Recover files from SSD drives via data recovery software

If there’s no accessible disk backup to restore your desired files, using professional data recovery software like MyRecover could be your top choice because only a third-party utility can exempt you from backups and recover deleted/missing files from SSD drives as many as possible.

• If the BIOS cannot detect your dead SSD, please refer to another page: recover data from SSD not detected in BIOS. You can also figure out why your SSD not showing up in BIOS.
• After recovery, please remember to save these retrieved files in a new saved path.
• To recover more and more deleted or missing files from your SSD with no effort, consider upgrading MyRecover to the Professional or Technician edition.

Step 1. After launching MyRecover, hover the mouse over your SSD drive and click Scan.

Step 2. Filter your needed data according to Name, Date, Document Type, or Path.

• Name: Type the filenames of your desired files to narrow the search area.
• Date modified: Set the date (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, and so on) according to your situation.
• Size: Filter the file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~ 512MB, etc) based on your needs.

Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Recycle Bin/Other Missing Files folder and select the data you want. Then click “Recover x files” to begin the SSD data recovery process.

Solution 2. Update SSD firmware via Device Manager

Try to update your SSD firmware if your SSD fails to work properly. Moreover, please remember to handle it with care and avoid interruption as well as a power failure during the update process. Otherwise, your Solid-State disk can easily fail into fail-safe mode.

Step 1. Press “Win + X” and open Device Manager by clicking it.

Step 2. Go to Disk drives and expand it. Then right-click on your SSD drive and select the “Properties” button.

Step 3. Under the Details tab, select Hardware Ids > click OK to save these changes.

Solution 3. Update SSD device driver via Device Manager

How to recover data from SSD dead laptops? Undeniably, outdated SSD device drivers can prevent you from accessing data saved in this drive.

What’s worse, it can affect its reading and writing performances. The slower the Solid-State drive writes, the more likely it is to break down. Let’s show how it works!

Step 1. Open Device Manager by entering it in the search bar.

Step 2. Go to Disk drives and right-click on your solid-state drive. Then select the “Update driver” option.

Step 3. Select the “Search automatically for drives” option. Please wait patiently.

Solution 4. Run CHKDSK.exe to fix corrupted file systems

If there’s something wrong with your file systems or bad sectors on your SSD, running CHKDSK indeed is an efficient way. But in practice, most users are not willing to learn more about CMD. Not to mention typing the corresponding command lines to fix them.

If it happens to be your case, why not give AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard a shot? This free partition manager software is good at checking partitions and fixing errors by using CHKDSK.exe with a GUI (graphical user interface).

Step 1. Download and install this free software on your Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, or XP computers.

Step 2. After entering the main interface of this utility, right-click on your selected SSD. Then click Advanced > Check Partition.

Step 3. Select Check Partition and fix errors in this partition by using chkdsk.exe > click OK. Please select the last option if your hard drive is in RAW format.

Please remember to click “OK” to exit this window.

Solution 5. Format your SSD drive to a compatible file system

If the file system of your SSD drive cannot work with your current Windows OS, there’s no surprise why there’s no data to recover detected.

In this case, this free AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard you’ve downloaded can also help you format your SSD drive and set up a suitable file system. Please read further.

Step 1. After running this free demo on your Windows PC, right-click on your selected SSD drive and select the “Format Partition” option.

Step 2. Select a file system you want and click the “OK” button.

Please click “Apply” to save these changes.

Solution 6. Connect dead or failing SSDs to another computer

Is there another way to recover files from dead SSDs? It turns out there is. You can take out the dead SSD drive and connect it to another working PC. Let’s demonstrate how it works.

Step 1. Unlock your dead laptop with the screwdriver and take out the dead SSD drive.

Step 2. Connect this SSD as an external hard drive with a USB 3.0 connection cable. Besides, you can reinstall this drive as a new drive via a SATA cable and a power cable.

• If the PC supports installing a second hard drive, press F2/Del to enter BIOS. Then select Advanced > IDE Configuration > Configure SATA > hit Enter > AHCI to save these changes.

Step 3. After that, you can transfer your SSD data to a PC or USB drive. If there exist lost files, please use the above-recommended tool, MyRecover to retrieve data.

In the end

Is it possible to recover data from a dead SSD? After reading this passage, you can find potential reasons for failing SSDs and get specific fixes to recover files from dead SSDs.

To protect SSD drives from data loss, it’s time to cultivate a good habit of creating disk backups regularly via this free Windows backup software, AOMEI Backupper.