Has your computer, laptop or Mac stopped seeing an SSD altogether? There is some reassurance to be had, since the flash memory inside still contains your data. Whether it needs a firmware repair or a chip-level read, we do it right on our premises.
Repeatedly inserting an SSD which has dropped offline back into a running system can deepen a controller or firmware fault that would have been recoverable. Keep repair and formatting tools away from the SSD, and don’t try a firmware update, as any of these can overwrite the mapping data we need. Remove it from your system now and talk to us.
Since an SSD has no moving parts, unlike a hard drive, when it disappears the problem is electronic. These are the faults we encounter (and reverse) most often.
Solid-state drives from every major manufacturer come to us for recovery. If your information resides on NAND flash, there is a good chance we can help.
M.2 SATA and NVMe · 2.5" SATA · PCIe and mSATA · portable, external and internal · from the earliest SATA SSDs up to today’s high-capacity NVMe drives.
SSD recovery takes place at controller, firmware and chip level. Once we have identified the true failure point, we either repair or bypass the fault, then rebuild your data from the flash memory carefully and in a set order.
To get started, simply drop off your SSD or post it to us. We will determine whether there is a controller, firmware, NAND or connection problem and send you a written quote, usually within 48 hours.
The first things we rule out are the cable and port; with an external or portable SSD, we bypass the USB bridge and test the bare drive on its own.
Where the controller can still be reached, our specialist tools boot the SSD into a safe mode, allowing its firmware and mapping tables to be repaired.
If the controller itself has died, the flash chips are physically removed and then read directly using specialist NAND equipment.
Next, we undo the scrambling, error correction and wear-levelling applied by the original controller, allowing us to rebuild your files from the raw flash.
We then extract your data, verify it against a file listing and deliver it back to you on new media.
Your recovered data will be returned to you on an external drive via insured postal service or for up to 75GB it will be provided to you as a free download.
Failed SSDs are recovered at controller, firmware or chip level here at our facility, either by repairing the firmware or, when necessary, by removing the NAND and rebuilding your data directly from the raw flash.
Tell us about your SSD and we’ll get back to you, usually within half an hour during the working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
A free diagnostic and a written quote come before any work starts, so you never receive an unexpected bill and there is no pressure to go ahead.
Some recent SSD recoveries, all performed in-house. Identifying information has been removed to protect clients, and each result was checked. Full write-ups: a pocket SSD that stopped answering.
The controller had failed completely. We pulled the NAND chips off the board and read them, rebuilt the data from the raw flash, and recovered most of the volume.
The mapping tables had been corrupted by a loss of power. By repairing the firmware at controller level and rebuilding the translator, we got everything back.
The internal controller had gone bad. We disassembled the drive down to chip level and rebuilt everything right from the flash.
Simply send your device to us for a free diagnostic and describe briefly what happened. An engineer will review it and confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
The first step to getting your data back is sending the device to us. Pack it safely, put your contact details inside the package and send it in. Once we have completed the free diagnostic, we will confirm the exact cost in writing before any work starts.
Sending it by post? We’d recommend a tracked, insured service. Dropping it in? No problem: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Please package the device as described above first.
Would you like more information first? Complete the form with further details about your issue, and one of our engineers will review it and send you a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
What people most often ask us when their computer does not recognise or detect their SSD.
More often than not, an SSD goes missing because the controller chip or firmware (the part that controls how the flash is accessed) has failed. However, your data remains stored on the memory chips, so a drive that is no longer seen by the computer at all is often perfectly recoverable.
Generally, yes, it is just more specialist than a hard drive. Where possible, the firmware is repaired; where the controller is beyond repair, the flash chips are read directly from the board and your files are rebuilt from what is on them.
Generally not. Although a sudden loss of power can scramble the SSD’s mapping tables and remove it from the system, your data remains intact on the flash. Once the firmware is repaired and those tables are rebuilt, both the drive and your files are restored.
It is what we turn to once a controller has failed outright. It requires the physical removal of the NAND flash chips from the board and reading them on specialist equipment; after that, your data is rebuilt from the raw flash. This is one of the most involved types of data recovery we perform.
Yes, it can. On many SSDs, TRIM permanently erases deleted data, and hardware encryption can make chip-level recovery more difficult. We will always provide an honest assessment at the diagnostic of what is realistically recoverable in your specific situation.
Often, it isn’t the drive itself. With external and portable drives, the fault tends to be the enclosure or the USB bridge inside it rather than the SSD. By wiring the bare SSD in directly, we can determine which it is, and if the SSD really has failed, we then move on to controller-level or chip-level work.
Our flat price is £300 + VAT. The written diagnostic is free, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. However, depending on how complex a chip-off recovery is, a higher quote may be needed. In any event, that quote will go to you in writing before any work starts on your device.
Once you approve the quote, most SSD recoveries are completed in three to four working days, although chip-off reconstruction can take longer. The diagnostic itself is generally completed within 48 hours.
Every major manufacturer (Samsung, Crucial and SanDisk; WD, Kingston, Corsair, Seagate and ADATA; Micron, Intel, Sabrent, SK Hynix, Transcend, PNY, Lexar, Kioxia, Silicon Power, Team Group, OWC and Patriot), from 2.5-inch SATA and M.2 (both SATA and NVMe) to mSATA and external or portable units.
Either bring it to our Guildford office on a weekday between 9am and 5:30pm, or post it to us fully insured. Package it securely and enclose your contact details (name, address, phone number and email) so we can book it in. Your free diagnostic begins as soon as it arrives, and you receive a written quote before any work is done.
It is the same family of problems, split across two tiers. When the drive is absent in Explorer or Finder but still appears in Disk Management or Disk Utility, it is usually just a drive-letter, initialisation or file-system problem, which can be fixed with care. When a drive disappears completely from the BIOS, that represents the controller-level failure covered on this page; the computer cannot even enumerate it, so getting at the data will require both firmware work and chip-level reads on our bench.
All controller, firmware and chip-level recoveries are done in-house, starting with a free written diagnostic, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Start your recovery today.