Files can be mistakenly deleted or lost due to a system error. In such cases, is it possible to recover deleted files on SSD as in traditional HDD? In modern computers, solid-state drives (SSDs) are replacing conventional hard drives. They are much faster, more reliable due to the lack of mechanical parts and consume less energy. However, all these features cannot prevent the loss of files in SSDs. Many SSD file recovery software vendors say it’s possible, let’s see, then if and how it’s possible.
But it’s true? Well, the answer is not that simple because following normal recovery procedures, it is almost impossible to recover deleted files from an SSD drive. To get good results and hope to save your files, it is necessary to take into account some particular aspects that we will illustrate in the guide. Which? We will give you the answer below. In recovering deleted files on SSD, we will be helped by the free R-Undelete program that you will have to download on your computer, of which we will indicate the download link. If you have an external hard drive that isn’t detected, here’s how ssd recover deleted files.
How ssd recover deleted files?
When the operating system deletes a file, it usually marks it as unnecessary. Like Windows, some systems continue to store almost all the information of that file until the space occupied by this file becomes necessary to store another file. Some systems, such as macOS and Linux, instead immediately destroy that information, but all of them retain the file’s contents and its original location on the storage device.
Decent software to recover deleted files on SSD can find the information of that file and restore it with the file name and other attributes, or at least find its content on the device and restore it as a new file. File attributes can be lost, but the content cannot.
Conventional HDDs provide access to all of its storage space directly and unambiguously. If the system says, the data starts at Sector 28328450. This will be the unique location on the disk. That’s why you can read the disc from start to finish looking for lost files.
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How does SSD work?
SSDs work differently. They constantly shuffle data across their internal cells to balance their wear and tear, and only the device knows where the file data is stored at any given time. The system has no control over this process and has no means of knowing the data’s actual location within the device. When it deletes a file, it issues a special TRIM command that informs the SSD that this storage has been freed and can be allocated by other data. When the system or a data recovery program looks at this chunk of space again, the SSD simply returns zeroes instead of the previous data.
Therefore, deleted files can only be recovered until the next TRIM command, when they have not yet been deleted from the file system. After executing this command, file recovery becomes impossible. Different operating systems issue this command at different time intervals. Windows do this in several minutes, while Linux does it during the boot/shutdown phase.
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How to prevent the TRIM command from being issued?
Therefore, the success in recovering deleted files on SSD depends on doing this before the TRIM command has been issued. To do this, some methods use data recovery software. Read on to discover a free method.
As soon as you discover the deletion of the files to be recovered, do not turn off the computer by pressing the off-key, but long-press the power button. This will prevent the TRIM command from running during a normal shutdown.
Use a bootable version of an SSD recovery program like R-Undelete. Usually, these startup programs do not support the TRIM command.
Create an SSD image and retrieve files from that image. By following these steps, you can reduce the chances of TRIM being performed and thus increase the chances of extracting the correct files from an SSD. These steps are easy to follow and greatly increase the chances of recovering deleted files on SSD.
Eleena Timmons