Although external SSD drives have many advantages over traditional internal HDDs, the risk of failure, drops, or unfortunate errors cannot be ruled out. Is all hope of recovering your data lost then? Fortunately, there are many solutions available to avoid disaster.
The different causes of an external SSD drive failure
Physical, hardware failure
Superior to traditional mechanical hard drives in many respects, external SSDs, connected to your laptops or used for data backup, are not perfect and can also run into a few issues of their own. SSD systems use flash memory, such as USB drives or memory cards, to store data and access it instantly. They are faster, more robust, quieter, and the risk of failure is lower than with a mechanical hard drive. However, the risk of failure is very real in the following cases:
- a power outage that can corrupt data;
- an electrical problem, a power surge or excessive heat;
- a drop causing physical damage;
- wear, related to age.
Logical failure
Who has never made a mistake? Obviously, we’re only human, and no one is infallible. If this is your case, this failure is less serious and recovering your lost files will probably be less difficult, since the drive keeps working. Logical failure therefore very often happens accidentally, in the following ways:
- improper handling, such as formatting;
- files deleted accidentally that you wish to recover afterward;
- a virus;
- incorrect partitioning.
How to recover lost data?
Software to recover data
In the event of an unexpected loss of your data, media files, photos, videos, or documents, a multitude of software programs exist to recover this type of file, whether paid or free. Of course, they are more or less effective and won’t always guarantee full recovery of your lost files. However, in most cases involving a logical failure caused by human error, substantial recovery is almost guaranteed. Indeed, the external SSD drive still works, and a lab analysis isn’t necessarily required. In fact, the lost data isn’t really gone and is still physically present on your external SSD drive. If new data has been written to it, recovering your files will be more difficult, but not impossible, and this will also depend on the software chosen. Free software can be effective depending on the extent of the damage, here are a few:
- TestDisk, useful for restoring lost partitions;
- Recuva, effective at recovering deleted data;
- DiskDrill, available on Mac and PC, with its intuitive interface.
If this doesn’t work for you, more powerful paid software also exists and will allow you to recover stubborn deleted files, including:
- Hexascan, comprehensive, available in French, handles many types of files;
- BitMart Restorer2000, effective for restoration;
- Recover My Files, powerful against formatting, corrupted data, or viruses.
Call on a data recovery professional
Did the software solution fail to save the day and prove ineffective? The problem is likely deeper and the failure is probably physical, but rest assured, nothing is lost. Indeed, if you absolutely need to recover your deleted files, you will need to call on a team of experts, capable of determining the precise causes of the failure. Request a free analysis of your external SSD drive — Chronodisk handles the analysis in its recovery service lab thanks to its expertise.
Conclusion
The loss of your personal data can have multiple causes. Whether due to an error on your part or a mechanical failure, solutions exist to spare you cruel disappointments. As for deleted files you’d like to recover, such as videos, photos or documents, recovery will be more or less easy with the help of recovery software, more or less powerful, especially if you haven’t written anything new to it since deletion. Otherwise, or if your external SSD drive no longer works after a drop, a power surge, or simply wear, calling on the services of a professional recovery provider will prove essential.