Solved SSD stopped working properly

[marcl]

I have an issue with my SanDisk 120gb SSD that has stopped working properly.

Bit of background - it is not my windows drive, BIOS recognises it fine as does device manager. My computer sees it and I can open it and see the root folders (no sub folders and no files) but all the folders are empty. If I click on properties, the used space and free space is accurately shown and it shows the drive contains 100GB of data which is right.

Disk manager shows it as healthy although not active? If I right click and mark as active it says cannot find the file specified. Minitool partition wizard shows it as a "bad disk" under file system and if I try to recover partition it shows the partition status as lost/damaged but when I try to recover nothing happens. Any ideas anyone?

 

[HAVOC]

Have you used the SanDisk tool?
SanDisk SSD Dashboard Support Information

 

[marcl]

I have just tried the SanDisk tool and it doesn't detect the drive. Furthermore, trying to scan for the drive on the SanDisk tool makes it disappear from Windows explorer and device manager all together. I have to shut down and restart again for the drive to show up.

 

[HAVOC]

Is this an external or internal drive?
Can you see the drive in BIOS?
You can use a Linux Live CD and see if the files are accessible or the drive is really dead.

 

[marcl]

Hi Havoc

Thanks for your help so far.


It is an internal drive.

Yes I can see the drive in the BIOS, no issue. I can see it in device manager and my computer with no issue as well. I can even open the drive in my computer and see the root folders but they are all empty.

I have tried using Easy Recovery essentials CD which I believe is a Linux based system but I may be wrong? Easy recovery essentials didn't detect the drive at all. Would you recommend another piece of software?

 

[Megahertz07]

Do a check disk. On a CMD window type chkdsk x: /f Replace X: with your SSD drive letter.

 

[marcl]

Hi Megahertz

Upon trying the check disk I receive the following message - The type of file system is RAW. It is not possible to run chkdsk for RAW drives.

Is it possible my NTFS master file table is corrupted? Windows can see 100GB of data on the drive so I think the data is still there!

 

[Megahertz07]

Don't try to fix it.
Ask Jumanji for help. He is the disk guru. https://www.sevenforums.com/members/jumanji.html

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Don't try to fix it.
Ask Jumanji for help. He is the disk guru. https://www.sevenforums.com/members/jumanji.html

X2. Do not take advice from anyone else here except Jumanji!

 

[marcl]

Thanks guys, I will reach out to Jumanji

 

[jumanji]

OMLF!!!!!!! ( Oh, My Lady Fitzerald ) I am avalanched - a mass of snow, ice, and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside. Noun turned into a verb - & Shakespeare must be turning in his grave!

OK marcl, saw your PM only this morning. Late wake up and everything late except jumanji - not yet late jumanji ! Usually if SSD is mentioned I don't even read that thread/post for I have had no encounters with that beast. But then this seems to be a data recovery problem and so the same old principles should apply and so the same old jumanji !

Anyway you will be sleeping now. So I shall take a breather and then come back before you rise to the sun.

 

[marcl]

Hi Jumanji!

Yes this is definitely a data recovery problem! I think the partition table is damaged and lost so the drive is just a whole lot of raw data 0 and 1's. I tried a chkdsk /f as mentioned earlier but chkdsk sees it as a raw drive so won't touch it.

 

[jumanji]

OK, You came to know that your SSD is RAW only when you tried to run chkdsk on it as advised by MHz07. Partition Recovery was not possible.Partition Wizard shows it as Bad Disk. Now let me see it in pictures.

1. Post a screenshot of Windows Disk Management. Please adhere to the guidelines here Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image ( Hide Console Tree, Action Pane and adjust the vertical seperators in the Disk List and horizontal separator above the Disk map so that we get a full picture with all the information visible) After taking the screenshots Cancel and Close PW. You may have to rerun it again if need be.

2. Used space in Properties shows as 100 GB. Post a screenshot.

3. a)Post a screenshot of the drives as seen by Partition Wizard - the very first screen when you launch Partition Wizard. b)And then rerun Partition Recovery Wizard, Quick Scan and post a screenshot of Partitions found Window ( which you say you found it lost/deleted/damaged)

4. Upload the screenshots to Seven Forum servers ( and not to any third party server). Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

It is too early to say whether the MFT has become corrupt but most likely so. We will try to check on it as we proceed step by step. It is going to be a slow process considering the Time zone difference and also that I am a slow snail. So be patient. No need to be in a hurry. While we are on this job, do not try any other program or software. During the gaps between the posts just relax and do other things.

 

[marcl]

I will get these screenshots for you this evening when I am home from work.

 

[jumanji]

No problem. Take your time. Do it when you have time to spare.

Also Let me know the exact model Number of your SanDisk SSD. Do you know whether it is TRIM enabled? How old is your SSD? Older SSDs didn't have the TRIM feature. Newer ones do have it and take the Windows 7 command for a clean non-recoverable wipe whenever files are deleted to maximise performance but data gone with the winds. .

[In case of TRIM enabled SSDs deletion of partition table that happened for whatever reason immediately deletes all data in one stroke ( most probably writes zeros)( unlike in HDDs where only the file index is removed and data will still be there.That data will be lost only when overwritten by fresh data.)]

So the next crucial step will be to find out the status of the partition table and check whether there is any data at all beyond sector 2048.

 

[joedaman633]

Could depend on which sector the partition begins and how old the drive is/when it was partitioned.

(Mainly posting here just to subscribe to updates, interested in the result...)

 

[marcl]

Jumanji,

Screenshots as requested.

Model Number is SDSSDX120GG25

It is at least 4-5 years old I think. I ran the fsutil behaviour query on CMD prompt and TRIM is enabled on Windows 7. Not sure if this drive supports TRIM.

Edit- Some extra information, not sure if it is relevant but I am pretty sure that my ssd D: drive stopped working just after I ran a o&o NAME defrag on my HDD C: drive. Probably more of a coincidence I guess??

 

[jumanji]

OK, I have seen all the data presented by you but will not jump to any conclusions now.

Please download, install and run Getdataback simple Data Recovery Free v 3.00 English (8.80MB) from Data Recovery Software Products - Runtime Software Products

Scan your 120GB SSD drive and check whether it shows all your folders/files. Post a screenshot. If the folders/Files are shown you can right click on it,open and preview the files.

( The free demo version can only show your files and allow you to preview the files to check their integrity. You won't be able to copy the files unless you buy a license. We are using it here only to see if the folders or files are seen. If seen, we will use some other free version to get the data. In the event that no free software is able to retrieve the data , then and only then we will throw up our hands and ask you to buy that. There are many cases in which that happened.)

 

[marcl]

No good unfortunately.

It doesn't detect the drive, it only detects my mechanical HDD

 

[jumanji]

Generally if other Data recovery software cannot see the drive, no DIY data recovery is possible.That is obvious.

Yet we can try two other software hoping that those will find your drive. Let me try to examine your drive with Bootice. If it sees your drive then we will examine sector 0 ( The MBR sector) and sector 63 and sector 2048 that generally hold the volume boot record.

If your system is 64bit, download BOOTICEx64 v1.332 from here 【BOOTICE v1.3.3.2: 功能强大的启动维护工具】-子逸轩 Extract the *.rar to the same downloads folder. It will be a single BOOTICEx64.exe file. Run it and check whether it shows your drive. If it shows select it > Sector Edit. Post the screenshots of sector 0, 63 and 2048.

Using bootice: Post #7 here: Lost partitions!

NOTE: You will not be saving any sector. Just go to Sector 0, Sector 63 and Sector 2048 and take a screenshot. Then close the sector map window and Exit bootice

I am keeping my fingers crossed.