A malfunctioning hard drive is an endless source of performance problems on a computer. While the traditional hard drives (HDD) It sends us warnings that something is wrong and that we need to intervene, SSDs simply surprise us with sudden errors. In this post we are going to see How to repair a damaged SSD and recover your data, in case they got lost.
It must be said, however, that repair is not always possible. Sometimes there is no choice but to resign ourselves and simply replace the disk with a new one. But before we get to that point, there are a few things we can try.
Errors caused by a damaged SSD
Unlike other problems, when our computer's SSD has suffered serious damage we will not have to wait long to find out. consecuencias They will manifest themselves very soon and in many different ways. Here are some of the most common:
- General deterioration of performance: Applications take longer to load and everything runs slower. Sometimes, your computer freezes for no apparent reason.
- Read and write errors, resulting in corrupted files and data loss.
- Blue screen of death (BSOD), which, as we have already seen In other entries of this blog, is a clear symptom of serious system problems.
- Problems starting the computer, which takes longer than normal or, in the worst case, does not even occur.
In addition to these situations, we can also find that The system does not recognize the driveThe SSD doesn't even show up in the BIOS as an existing device.
What can cause SSD damage?
But Why do we get to these situations? The causes can be diverse and range from very specific problems to something as normal as the device reaching the end of its life cycle. Here are some of the most common reasons:
- Electric problems: Sudden power surges or power outages, which can seriously damage the SSD circuits.
- Outdated or corrupted firmware, making proper management of SSD memory impossible.
- Computer overheatingNAND memory chips are extremely sensitive to excessive heat and are easily damaged by high temperatures.
- End of operational life of SSD. Nothing lasts forever. All hard drives have a limited number of cycles before their slow, but inevitable, degradation process begins.
Solutions to repair a damaged SSD
Before you throw away your SSD and replace it with a new one, there are a few solutions we can try to get it working as it should again. And also to avoid losing our data. Once ruled out that it is not a connection problem (something more common than you think), this is what we can do:
Windows disk repair tools
Some of the built-in Windows tools can be of great help when it comes to detecting and correcting errors in the SSD drive. The tools in question are: CHKDSK, SFM and DISM. We have already talked about them in another post about Fix System Errors in Windows 11.
To use CHKDSK (Check Disk) we have to open the Command Prompt (CMD) as administrator, type the command chkdsk X: /f /r /x and press Enter. Obviously, we have to replace the “X” with the letter that corresponds to our SSD). With this command we will perform a review and correction of the entire file system.
To use SFC (System File Checker) you have to follow the same steps, only in this case we will write the command sfc / scannow. This way, SFC will search for system files that have been damaged and, if possible, will proceed to repair them.
Finally, to use DISM (Managing and Servicing Deployment Images), we will use the Command Prompt again and run the following three commands:
- DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / CheckHealth
- DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / ScanHealth
- DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / RestoreHealth
External software to check the status of the SSD
There are some good third-party programs that help us check the health status of the SSD and inform us of the presence of possible errors.
Among the most recommended we must mention: HD Tune, which we use to scan the entire unit, and especially CrystalDiskInfo (pictured), capable of monitoring the temperature and status of our SSD, also generating a complete report of its situation.
Format the SSD
If none of the above has worked, it is time to move on to a drastic, but definitive solution: formatting the SSD. Important: before proceeding, it is advisable to make a backup of our data, which will inevitably be erased during formatting. Once this is done, we will do the following:
- First we open the Disk Manager in Windows.
- There we locate the SSD and select the option "Format".
- Finally, we choose a file system like NTFS or exFAT.
After formatting, there is not much else we can do to repair a damaged SSD. The last bullet is, as we mentioned before, to replace the physical SSD with a new one.