Case description
Symptoms reported by the client — the laboratory received an external drive
WD My Passport NVMe, containing approx.1.3–1.8 TB of data, collected over many years.
The device wasvirtually dead on arrival— no stable response, identification problems and system freezes during read attempts.
Condition of the device on arrival
The drive did not behave consistently — sometimes it was detected, at other times it disappeared from the system completely. Every read attempt ended with the computer slowing down or freezing, which in practice ruled out any safe home recovery and clearly indicated the need forSSD data recovery in the laboratory.
Additional complication: the USB enclosure
An additional problem was thetight, integrated USB enclosure, designed in a way that significantly hindered safe disassembly. Opening such a case without the right tools can lead tomechanical damage to the electronics or the drive itself.
Symptoms reported by the client — details
How the drive behaved in the system
- complete lack of access to data,
- the drive disappeared from the operating system at random,
- read attempts caused the computer to freeze,
- very slow response from the device or no response at all.
Initial technical diagnosis
After safely disassembling the enclosure and starting the device on a laboratory workstation, a detailed diagnosis was performed.
Key findings after diagnosis
-
unstable operation of the NVMe controller,
-
advanced NAND memory degradation,
-
strong tendency to overheat during reads,
-
damage to the logical data structure(the partition was in RAW state).
Risk assessment
This was ahigh-riskcase in which standard methods (copying data in the operating system) could have led toirreversible data loss.
Main risks in this case
In NVMe devices, even reading data alone creates intensive load on the controller and the internal memory-management structures.
What could have caused the device to lose identification
- system freezes and hard resets,
- sudden power interruptions,
- controller overheating during long read sessions.
Any of the factors above could have led to a situation in which the devicewould stop identifying itself, making any further data recovery impossible.
Laboratory procedure used
To minimise the risk, we applied acontrolled laboratory procedure, adapted to an unstable NVMe device. At the “what to do next” stage, these cases often end withprofessional SSD data recovery, because the firmware may block further readout.
Protective measures used
- a hardware USB stabiliser for work with unstable devices,
- controlled, stable power supply with UPS protection,
- active cooling of the device (maintaining a constant working temperature),
- staged sector-by-sector imaging with a limited number of retries,
- workonly on a copy (image), not on the original device.
Imaging process
The imaging process lastedmany hoursand was interrupted with controlled pauses to avoid further degradation of the device and loss of communication.
Result of the work
We managed to createan image of the device, which made further analysis and data recovery possiblewithout risking deterioration of the drive’s physical condition.
Key conclusions
- maintaining stable working conditions was crucial,
- without cooling and stabilisation, the device could have lost identification,
- in cases like this,time and safety matter more than speed.
Why this kind of recovery is not “cheap”
This case shows that recovering data from modern NVMe devices is not just “a program and a cable”, but:
What makes up the cost of the service
- specialist laboratory equipment,
- years of experience working with unstable devices,
- real risk of irreversible data loss if wrong decisions are made,
- a long, controlled imaging process.
That is why the service price reflects thelevel of risk and responsibility, not just the amount of data.
Summary
NVMe drives, especially in external USB enclosures, can fail suddenly and unpredictably.
In such cases,uncontrolled recovery attemptscan permanently close the way back to the data. If you want to understand what affects the quote, see the guide:how much data recovery costs.
When to stop trying and hand the device over to a laboratory
If the device:
- freezes the system,
- overheats,
- disconnects at random,
the best decision is
