Question Solid State Drive M.2 NVMe

[btcampbell]

If a solid state drive that holds the operating system fails, does it still contain data files.
Specifically does it need wiped like a sata drive? Or is all sata simply gone?

 

[rgd1101]

depend on what failed

 

[geofelt]

If a solid state drive fails, all data and apps on it should be considered as gone and the drive needs to be replaced with a new one.

 

[froggy8]

most people would do a back up incase things like this happen.

 

[Firestone]

I am assuming that the context of this question is that OP has an M.2 NVMe SSD that previously had an OS installed, but the drive has failed, and now wants to know if they need to wipe the drive before disposing of it?

I have not been in that situation before, but if it happened to me, I would probably make some attempts at doing a drive wipe of some sort. However if the drive is truly dead this might not be feasible. What is feasible, however, is simply destroying the drive. Unlike a HDD, a M.2 SSD's components are pretty exposed, and in the past I have just taken a pair of pliers to the memory chips and broken and crushed them up on drives I was getting rid of. Its pretty easy to do especially if you have two pairs of pliers, and I really doubt anyone fishing through your trash would bother to try to recover data from it, if its even possible (likely not)

 

[Misgar]

Some data recovery agencies un-solder the memory chips from SSDs, then try to read them back in a chip reader. They piece together any recovered data fragments into computer files and charge you an arm and a leg for something you should have backed up.

As stated by Firestone, the only safe way to prevent most people from recovering data from "dead" drives is to physically destroy them. I enjoy drilling holes through hard disk drives before disposal (still not 100% safe if the platter is etched and optically scanned by a government agency). Some drive platters are made from glass and shatter when you tap them with a hammer (IBM Deathstar).