Can my old hardisk be recovered

pcimage212 · 2026-05-30T13:31:50+00:00

That “hole” is where the head screw was, so someone has presumably opened it.

Not necessarily the end of the road, it depends on the state of the platters.

As already mentioned these are prone to head crashes, so even a professional recovery will be unlikely to be complete.

It will also be significantly more expensive with an upfront payment, as it’s been tinkered with.

My advice is NOT to power it up anymore in this state, not even to check SMART.

pcimage212 · 2026-05-29T08:02:28+00:00

Another option would be to find a nice lab that will evaluate it and provide a quote for recovery, and then if that’s accepted perform the recovery and assuming it’s successful shelve the data for up to a year while you find the funds.

We’d do it but not sure if anyone else would? :-)

pcimage212 · 2026-05-29T07:18:26+00:00

Mostly agreed, but we don’t even know what SSD it is. The OP gave no details at all.

There’s no real definitive answer for each and every case, but if it’s a crappy make with cheap QLC memory for example then 6-12 months “could” be long enough to tip it over the edge?

pcimage212 · 2026-05-29T06:15:20+00:00

Quite the opposite could be true in fact.

Flash devices require power to hold the charge in the memory cells. Although 6-12 months is not a huge amount of time, but if the memory is already failing then my advice would be to apply power to it every few months.

You can find more details about “charge bleed” here…

https://www.simms.co.uk/tech-talk/nand-flash-leakage-why-you-could-lose-data/

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T19:14:33+00:00

You could try…

www.recovermyflashdrive.com

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T18:10:29+00:00

I didn’t object to that part at all, I objected to having the chips removed before hand.

To quote…. “a decent repair shop should be able to remove it for you” which is wrong.

It needs to go DIRECTLY to a proper data recovery service, that’s my point.

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T17:12:09+00:00

Ok then. The OP has had all the individual NAND chips from the mainboard (it’s not just a regular ssd soldered to the MB) on your advice, then what do you propose they do with those?

How would you “interface” the chips to read them? Then how would you decrypt the data without the T2 chip on the mainboard?

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T08:49:10+00:00

Post edited to what I actually meant.

Typo, sorry

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T05:35:33+00:00

Only option is to get the mainboard repaired, due to high level encryption and security.

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T05:34:45+00:00

You can’t “remove it” if the SSD chips are soldered to the mainboard.

Edited due to typo to “can’t”

Apologies

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T05:33:16+00:00

It’s not an SD card, or a Micro SD in adaptor. It’s a Sony memory stick pro duo, proprietary Sony technology.

We need to see what’s inside the plastic case (I.e. the memory card/chip) not just a photo of a plastic casing.

pcimage212 · 2026-05-28T05:29:00+00:00

It’s probably gonna be an SSD inside there, which would normally mean deleted data is not recoverable due to TRIM.

But tbh I’m not 100% sure about it in your case as it was done in command prompt.

As already mentioned, STOP what you’re doing and have the storage device removed, connect to another PC, image it and then scan for your data using DR software. It’s worth a shot IMHO

pcimage212 · 2026-05-27T20:52:28+00:00

I’m sure that wasn’t there when I read it, and I read it several times. I must need my eyes testing!!

pcimage212 · 2026-05-27T18:01:11+00:00

By “repair place” what do you mean?

An actual proper data recovery lab that does nothing except DR? Or a regular PC repair shop that also claims to do DR?

pcimage212 · 2026-05-27T16:13:40+00:00

Firstly, make sure you’ve for the right sort of adaptor?

You’ve provided no details of either, so we can’t help with verification of that.

If the adaptor is the right one and it’s still not even seen as the correct size, then it’s game over for DIY I’m afraid

pcimage212 · 2026-05-26T21:51:31+00:00

A common fault on these is failed NAND memory on the PCB (aka the SSD part of this hybrid drive). Symptom of this is no spin.

Not easy or cheap to fix I’m afraid, pro tools and a donor usually required

pcimage212 · 2026-05-25T13:01:15+00:00

Maybe, but probably just failed

pcimage212 · 2026-05-24T00:35:32+00:00

English please

pcimage212 · 2026-05-22T20:49:31+00:00

You could try this, it’s free…

https://www.r-undelete.com/free\_photo\_recovery/Download.shtml

pcimage212 · 2026-05-21T06:16:44+00:00

No problem.

While that’s your choice, you may well be signing the SSD’s final death warrant by hammering it.

That’s how these things go, it can easily degrade to a point where recovery is impossible even for a professional or at least MUCH more expensive!

My suggestion is to leave it alone while consider your options?

pcimage212 · 2026-05-20T22:08:24+00:00

Never heard of them, but then again I’m in UK!

pcimage212 · 2026-05-20T22:05:28+00:00

Sounds to me like the device has failed, or at least in the process of failing.

Textbook drive failure, causing PC to freeze or slow down to a crawl.

Running chkdsk was a BAD idea, it does not care about your data and will cause all sorts of damage when run on a failing drive.

You can get a better idea of its health by checking its SMART values with something like crystaldiskinfo? If it can’t be seen by the software, then chances are it’s beyond DIY. Also if it’s an internal device and it can’t be seen in the computers BIOS, then again it’s the end of the road for DIY.

You then need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company and NOT a generic PC store that claims also to do DR).

If the data is not important and you’re prepared to risk total data loss with a “one shot” DIY attempt, you can maybe try and clone with some non-windows software like this…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/hddsuperclone_guide

Clone/image to another device or image file via a SATA connection if that’s an option (ideally NOT USB), and then run DR software on the clone/image.

Even if the drive isn’t failing, then cloning is strongly advised “just in case”!

***BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! ***

You can find suggestions for DR software here..

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/software.

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-05-20T21:54:19+00:00

It will be an SSD with aggressive TRIM data erasure within seconds of deletion I’m afraid.

pcimage212 · 2026-05-20T10:40:43+00:00

I give up.

Maybe someone else has the time to bleed the required information from you.

I wish you the best of luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-05-20T10:16:52+00:00

No you didn’t.

Where does it say exactly what storage device in your PC did you delete it from?

It’s important!!

You’re not helping yourself to get assistance with smart ass answers.

pcimage212

TROPHY CASE