Posted: 1/11/2026 9:11:41 AM EDT
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helping someone out with their machine. it was a 2 tb nvme ssd. it no longer shows in windows explorer but you can see the drive on disk manager. but it reads as a protected drive. I used hiren's boot disk and the various utilities on it. trying to recover data, or find missing partitions. half the stuff doesn't register the drive exists. the half that does, some of it shows it as a 2tb drive and some show it as a 512gb drive. I cannot find the 1.5tb missing. the stuff that shows it as a 2tb drive cannot access or recover anything. partition finders only show the 512gb and nothing else on the drive. can't even make an image of the drive. either it doesn't exist or it doesn't do anything when you try and copy. the last thing to do is try and convert to dynamic disk to see if anything is there, but it says you should back it up first. which I can't do. is there anything else to try? |
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If the data is valuable, stop screwing around with it and find a data-recovery place. If it's not valuable, then chock it up as a lesson learned about backups and get a new drive. You might see if the Dell model has these problems or if there is a warranty to get a new drive or something. Get the drive specs, model, serial and all that and look up what it is, what it's reputation is and if there are some known tricks to get it up and running again. You could try the oddball stuff, cleaning contacts, tiny bit of concussion or twisting but without some serious electronic repair skills the data is probably already gone. Realistically, it's probably fucked and the data is gone. |
Mercy on the criminal is cruelty to the innocent.
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that was my take too, but wanted to see if I missed anything since I don't normally deal with non-spinning drives. packing it up and giving it back in case he wants to spend the money on it. older guy that doesn't know tech, so I also pointed out it might be on his original picture taking platform, so he might take a look at that too. |
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Some nvme SSD's had bad controller firmware. See if there are any updates on Dells support site. Hit F12 to boot into their test mode as well. Run the full set of tests. And as others have said, if the data is irreplaceable, maybe consult with a data recovery site before upgrading the firmware. But drives do fail and 3 is 2, 2 is one, holds as true as ever. |
Another thing to consider. Windows updates killing certain SSD drives. Sorry it's a youtube video but you can probably find more information without watching the whole thing: Microsoft / SSD Issues FIXED... Plus NEW evidence on what causes it! |
Mercy on the criminal is cruelty to the innocent.
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thanks. I don't think this is the windows thing. it does show in disk manager and I did run tests with hirens boot disk as well as trying to image off the disk. imaging off the full 2tb failed. it couldn't do anything. looking for missing partitions didn't show any missing only the 512 gb I can see with other tools. it looks like dell tried a restore as I keep finding files and folders based on dell recovery and windows install. but even if that were the case I should still see the unallocated space somewhere, and I do not. just going to kick it back and let him decide if he wants to spend money on a professional. |