Solid-state drives (SSDs) such as the SanDisk Extreme series are considered robust and reliable. However, when heat, power outages or firmware errors come into play, data loss can quickly occur.
In three recent cases, the Leipzig-based company DATA REVERSE® demonstrates how professional data recovery works even under difficult conditions.
Case 1: Holiday videos from the Sahara – heat and sand put SSD out of action
A family from Essen saved their spectacular travel photos – including drone videos – on a 2 TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. During a holiday in Tunisia, the extreme desert heat combined with fine sand in the device caused a defect: the SSD was no longer recognised by the laptop.
In the DATA REVERSE® data recovery lab, a secure read-only image of the SSD was first created. This ensures that no further data is altered. The technicians then filtered out the damaged memory areas and identified the video formats (AVI, MP4, MOV) using automated signature analysis.
Result: Over 98.8% of the videos were recovered and saved in their original folder structure – a huge relief for the family.
Case 2: Tax documents disappeared – power outage destroyed file system
A freelance speaker from Dortmund stored contracts, invoices and tax documents on her SanDisk SSD. While saving, there was a power failure, which resulted in the NTFS file system being damaged. The files were visible but could no longer be opened.
DATA REVERSE® analysed the SSD on a sector-by-sector basis and then reconstructed the Master File Table (MFT) and other important structures of the file system.
The result: After just four days, the customer got 98.9% of her data back – in time to submit her tax documents on time.
Case 3: Holiday photos lost after long-distance trip – firmware error as the cause
A couple from Frankfurt stored photos of their trip to Australia and Indonesia on a SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD. After returning home, they noticed that access was slow and the files were corrupted. In the lab, a known firmware bug was identified as the cause – a problem that can occur with certain series of these SSDs.
The DATA REVERSE® team created a read-only image and combined various techniques: error correction using ECC, signature analysis for image formats such as JPEG, RAW and TIFF, and the recovery of EXIF metadata (e.g. timestamps and camera information).
The success rate: Over 99.8% of the photos were recovered completely and in the correct order.
Conclusion: Even high-quality SSDs are not invulnerable
Whether heat, power failure or software errors – despite modern technology, SanDisk SSDs are not immune to data loss. These three real-life cases impressively demonstrate how professional data recovery works in the lab.
DATA REVERSE® uses a structured process for this:
- Secure read-only imaging (no changes to the data carrier)
- Reconstruction of damaged file systems (NTFS, exFAT, etc.)
- Analysis of file signatures (e.g. videos, photos, documents)
- Targeted error correction through ECC and manual post-processing
In many cases, even severely damaged SSDs can be successfully recovered – even if they are no longer recognised by the computer.
DATA REVERSE® is a company specialising in data recovery based in Leipzig. Experienced technicians work with state-of-the-art analysis methods in our in-house clean room laboratory. Whether SSDs, hard drives or RAID systems – DATA REVERSE® offers fast, transparent and reliable solutions for all types of data loss.
More information: www.datareverse-datenrettung.de/sandisk
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