Question M.2 SSD is stuck in Read Only Mode after a blackout – how to recover data from it ?

[Michelino77]

Hi everyone,

I have an issue with my M.2 NVMe SSD after a blackout. My PC now tries to boot from the HDD instead of the SSD, and the BIOS doesn’t detect the M.2 slot. I connected the SSD to another system, and I was able to check its status with CrystalDiskInfo. It shows 100% used, "Bad" health status, and Read-Only mode (Available spare capacity is 0 GB).

From what I understand, the SSD has entered Read-Only mode to prevent further damage. This suggests the data should still be intact, but I can’t access the drive from Windows Explorer, as it doesn’t appear there.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Checked the BIOS – SSD not detected.
• Used an external NVMe enclosure – still not recognized in Windows.
• Used CrystalDiskInfo, which confirms the drive is in Read-Only mode.

My questions:
1. Can I scan the SSD with R-Studio or similar recovery software without risking data loss?
2. Would cloning the SSD using HDD Super Clone be a better approach?
3. Since the SSD is in Read-Only mode, does that mean my data is still safe?
4. If I keep the SSD unplugged for some time, is there any risk of data degradation?

I’m considering buying another SSD or external storage to clone the drive, but I want to ensure I don’t make things worse before proceeding.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

 

[Lutfij]

1| I wouldn't try and access the drive any further.
2| You should contact a local data recovery specialist if the data on it is mission critical. In short the SSD you have has conked out.
3| If you didn't tamper with the drive, then yes.
4| No.

 

[CountMike]

Hi everyone,

I have an issue with my M.2 NVMe SSD after a blackout. My PC now tries to boot from the HDD instead of the SSD, and the BIOS doesn’t detect the M.2 slot. I connected the SSD to another system, and I was able to check its status with CrystalDiskInfo. It shows 100% used, "Bad" health status, and Read-Only mode (Available spare capacity is 0 GB).

From what I understand, the SSD has entered Read-Only mode to prevent further damage. This suggests the data should still be intact, but I can’t access the drive from Windows Explorer, as it doesn’t appear there.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Checked the BIOS – SSD not detected.
• Used an external NVMe enclosure – still not recognized in Windows.
• Used CrystalDiskInfo, which confirms the drive is in Read-Only mode.

My questions:
1. Can I scan the SSD with R-Studio or similar recovery software without risking data loss?
2. Would cloning the SSD using HDD Super Clone be a better approach?
3. Since the SSD is in Read-Only mode, does that mean my data is still safe?
4. If I keep the SSD unplugged for some time, is there any risk of data degradation?

I’m considering buying another SSD or external storage to clone the drive, but I want to ensure I don’t make things worse before proceeding.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

If you can read contents you can always copy them to another storage device directly or cloning or backup program. If data is not normally visible from OS, you can try with one of data rescue programs. In any case data is safe because it can't be overwritten or formatted or would take many years to even start fading, probably 10 years or more. Going to read only mode is usual feature with SSDs to preserve data integrity because it's way more difficult to retrieve "lost" data. I recently had a problem with one SSD. It's firmware went haywire and wouldn't let me delete anything from it but writing was enabled until all full. Saved data from it normally. Another one couldn't be used at all because of firmware but I was able to flash it with new FW that repaired it but all data was lost.You can try same thing after you retrieve data from it and make it usable again.

 

[Michelino77]

If you can read contents you can always copy them to another storage device directly or cloning or backup program. If data is not normally visible from OS, you can try with one of data rescue programs. In any case data is safe because it can't be overwritten or formatted or would take many years to even start fading, probably 10 years or more. Going to read only mode is usual feature with SSDs to preserve data integrity because it's way more difficult to retrieve "lost" data. I recently had a problem with one SSD. It's firmware went haywire and wouldn't let me delete anything from it but writing was enabled until all full. Saved data from it normally. Another one couldn't be used at all because of firmware but I was able to flash it with new FW that repaired it but all data was lost.You can try same thing after you retrieve data from it and make it usable again.

I'm not interested to make it usable again but I'd like to recover its data.
I can't explore it like a folder, it's not being seen in that way, and Windows Disk & Partition Manager just see an unrecognized device.
Other tools can't access it but they can see it, with serial number, size, and other stuffs, maybe could be a good new, idk.
I can attach you some screenshots I made the other day before I unplugged it, maybe can help, tell me what do you think about:

 

[CountMike]

I'm not interested to make it usable again but I'd like to recover its data.
I can't explore it like a folder, it's not being seen in that way, and Windows Disk & Partition Manager just see an unrecognized device.
Other tools can't access it but they can see it, with serial number, size, and other stuffs, maybe could be a good new, idk.
I can attach you some screenshots I made the other day before I unplugged it, maybe can help, tell me what do you think about:

In read only mode you should be able to read data stored with file system intact, so it's not in that mode. Since you can see model and serial number, control chip is only readable part but it seems disconnected from storage chips or FW can't read them because they are damaged. Unless file structure is intact in storage chip(s) I'm afraid no data retrieval programs will let you salvage data. Even in best case where SSD is just formatted or data deleted it's more difficult chore to save it than with HDDs where data is clustered in physical on disks. in SSDs data s all over the place even if single file. Only some service/agency with which can physically access data chips has a chance to do anything.

 

[Michelino77]

In read only mode you should be able to read data stored with file system intact, so it's not in that mode. Since you can see model and serial number, control chip is only readable part but it seems disconnected from storage chips or FW can't read them because they are damaged. Unless file structure is intact in storage chip(s) I'm afraid no data retrieval programs will let you salvage data. Even in best case where SSD is just formatted or data deleted it's more difficult chore to save it than with HDDs where data is clustered in physical on disks. in SSDs data s all over the place even if single file. Only some service/agency with which can physically access data chips has a chance to do anything.

Sounds sad.

I found out that some labs can recover data from NVMe SSDs.

Many of them asked how urgently I need the data, and based on the priority, the recovery time can vary:

• Low priority: around 30 days
• Medium priority: about 7 days
• High priority: within 2 days

The price difference is quite significant, so I was thinking of choosing the low-priority option. The data isn’t critical — I could even wait a year — but I’d still prefer not to lose it.

However, I’m a bit worried that the longer the drive remains unplugged, the higher the risk of permanent data loss. I called a few labs, and they told me I should act quickly to avoid losing more data.

Is that true?

If so, I might go with at least the medium priority.

Thanks again.

 

[CountMike]

Sounds sad.

I found out that some labs can recover data from NVMe SSDs.

Many of them asked how urgently I need the data, and based on the priority, the recovery time can vary:

• Low priority: around 30 days
• Medium priority: about 7 days
• High priority: within 2 days

The price difference is quite significant, so I was thinking of choosing the low-priority option. The data isn’t critical — I could even wait a year — but I’d still prefer not to lose it.

However, I’m a bit worried that the longer the drive remains unplugged, the higher the risk of permanent data loss. I called a few labs, and they told me I should act quickly to avoid losing more data.

Is that true?

If so, I might go with at least the medium priority.

Thanks again.

Don't worry abut date fade, it may take many years to even start. 30 days is practically nothing.

 

[Michelino77]

Don't worry abut date fade, it may take many years to even start. 30 days is practically nothing.

The laboratory I'd like to send it told me to hurry up, probably for make me choice the medium priority.
I hope they'll be serious without marketing jokes.

 

[CountMike]

The laboratory I'd like to send it told me to hurry up, probably for make me choice the medium priority.
I hope they'll be serious without marketing jokes.

Yeah, that might is likely cause. it make take just few hours of work to either save data or determine if it was impossible. Don't expect that all data may be saved intact. it almost never happens, read their conditions carefully, they never guaranty it. In addition, files are almost never whole but separated/divided in blocs with only file table able to put them together and even that is virtual depending on which file system it i and OS producing it. In SSDs actually data is divided in memory cells all over the place. Every continuous file has a checksum bit(s) which validate such combined file. if one bit is off or damaged whole file may be unusable. Great example is running checkdisk (chkdsk/f) in windows for instance. If it finds a corrupted file it saves it as . chk1, 2, 3 etc which is in most cases unusable because it's incomplete. Some like pictures, sound or multimedia may be able to use partially. executable (exe, com, bat, DLL etc) never.

 

[Michelino77]

Yeah, that might is likely cause. it make take just few hours of work to either save data or determine if it was impossible. Don't expect that all data may be saved intact. it almost never happens, read their conditions carefully, they never guaranty it. In addition, files are almost never whole but separated/divided in blocs with only file table able to put them together and even that is virtual depending on which file system it i and OS producing it. In SSDs actually data is divided in memory cells all over the place. Every continuous file has a checksum bit(s) which validate such combined file. if one bit is off or damaged whole file may be unusable. Great example is running checkdisk (chkdsk/f) in windows for instance. If it finds a corrupted file it saves it as . chk1, 2, 3 etc which is in most cases unusable because it's incomplete. Some like pictures, sound or multimedia may be able to use partially. executable (exe, com, bat, DLL etc) never.

Thanks for the insight!

The (hopefully) good news is that the files I'm most interested in are all documents—mostly full-text formats like .txt, .xlsx, .html, and .cs.

Given that, if I have to choose between low, medium, or high priority (with estimated times like 30 days, 7 days, or 2 days), would you recommend going for at least the 7-day option? Or do you think the low-priority (30-day) plan might be safe enough in this case?

Also, just out of curiosity—what percentage of files do you think are typically recoverable in situations like this, on average?

For context: I'm mainly interested in a few specific folders. One is like an appdata directory from a particular application, another contains .cs project files, and the last one is a standard documents folder with various .txt and .xlsx files. I’m not sure exactly how the recovered files will look, but I’m hoping for the best.

 

[USAFRet]

For future reference, this is exactly what a good backup routine is for.

If any of my SSDs were to go into ReadOnly right now, I'd just have to slot in a new drive, and recover 100% of the data from last nights backup.
Seriously.

Your data should never be at the mercy of someone else trying to recover it.

 

[CountMike]

Thanks for the insight!

The (hopefully) good news is that the files I'm most interested in are all documents—mostly full-text formats like .txt, .xlsx, .html, and .cs.

Given that, if I have to choose between low, medium, or high priority (with estimated times like 30 days, 7 days, or 2 days), would you recommend going for at least the 7-day option? Or do you think the low-priority (30-day) plan might be safe enough in this case?

Also, just out of curiosity—what percentage of files do you think are typically recoverable in situations like this, on average?

For context: I'm mainly interested in a few specific folders. One is like an appdata directory from a particular application, another contains .cs project files, and the last one is a standard documents folder with various .txt and .xlsx files. I’m not sure exactly how the recovered files will look, but I’m hoping for the best.

Those recovery plans have no bearing on success of restoration, it takes most few hours to do it if and how much possible, it's probably just determines order in which they they prioritize work list when busy. For more money they'll push it sooner and give it higher priority (of course). As for success. such simple or text files could be useful even if damaged with little or no loss.