An SSD does not wait for you to notice. When files are deleted the drive is told to erase those blocks, and it works through that queue in the background — which makes the gap between losing files and pulling the power the only variable that matters.
A Dell Inspiron user found files missing from their SSD without warning — documents, emails and project material simply no longer there. The machine had also become unstable, with programs crashing and general slowness. Consumer recovery software found essentially nothing, which is what prompted the call.
They did one thing right, and it turned out to be the only thing that mattered: they shut the laptop down and left it off rather than continuing to work while deciding what to do.
Two faults, and they are worth separating. The file system metadata had been damaged, which explains the instability and the crashing — the drive was struggling to describe its own contents. And the missing files had been deleted, which on an SSD sets something in motion.
When a file is deleted, the operating system issues a TRIM command telling the drive those blocks are no longer needed. The drive does not erase them immediately. It queues them and works through the queue during background garbage collection, which continues for as long as the drive has power. That is the crucial detail: TRIM is not instant, it is a process — and it only runs while the drive is powered.
Which is why powering down promptly is the whole game. The drive arrived with part of its erase queue unprocessed: some blocks belonging to the deleted files had already been physically cleared, and others had not yet been reached.
The SSD was reached at controller level and imaged read-only, with no further power given to it beyond what the imaging required — every additional minute running is another opportunity for garbage collection to work through more of the queue. From that image the file system was rebuilt where its structures survived, and the remaining files carved by signature from blocks that still held their contents.
Recovered documents and archives were opened rather than counted, and the material that could not be found was reported specifically, so the user knew what was gone rather than being left to discover it. The recovered set was returned on a new drive.
About 80%. The missing fifth was blocks the drive had already erased before it was switched off, and that portion was not recoverable by any means — not by us, not by chip-level work, not by anyone.
It is worth being exact about that, because it is widely misdescribed. Once TRIM has completed on a block, the NAND cells have been physically erased. Reading the flash directly returns erased cells. There is no residual copy underneath, no forensic technique that reaches beneath the erase, and any firm suggesting a chip-off recovers TRIMmed data is describing something that does not exist. What can be recovered is what the drive had not yet got round to erasing — and how much that is depends entirely on how fast the power came out.
Deleted files on a hard drive sit until something overwrites them, and you often have weeks. On an SSD the drive is actively erasing them in the background, and that only stops when it loses power. If files vanish from an SSD, shut it down immediately rather than investigating — every minute it stays on costs blocks that were still recoverable. SSD recovery from £300 +VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic.
Send us your device for a free diagnostic, and tell us a little about what happened — an engineer will review it and confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. For anything urgent, call 01865 593000.
Partly, and only if you act fast. TRIM tells the drive to erase the blocks, but the drive queues that work and processes it during background garbage collection — which continues while it has power. What survives is whatever it had not yet reached when the drive was switched off.
No. Once TRIM has completed on a block the NAND cells are physically erased, so reading the flash directly returns erased cells. There is no residual copy beneath. Any firm suggesting a chip-off recovers TRIMmed data is describing something that does not exist.
Shut the machine down and leave it off. Don’t investigate, don’t run recovery software, don’t browse to check what else is missing. Every minute the drive stays powered lets garbage collection work through more of its erase queue.
Because a hard drive does nothing after a deletion — the data sits until something overwrites it, which may take weeks. An SSD actively erases in the background, so the recoverable window is measured in minutes and hours rather than days.
From £300 plus VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic and a written quote. Where the diagnostic shows the material was already erased, we tell you before you commit rather than after.
Start with an instant online quote, or call and talk it through with us first. You'll have a clear, fixed price before any work begins.