Posted January 16, 2022 Hello, i have 2 SSDs: 1. Samsung 970 Evo NVMe 2. Crucial MX500, both 500GB. While reinstalling Windows, I accidentally formatted my MX500, where was the whole backup of my PC (mostly steam games, but still). I used the Format optioon during Windows 10 Installation. Is there any FREE way of recovering that? Tried searching on Google, but in my desperation and panic i couldnt find anything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 16, 2022 There is a good chance that data will be impossible to recover as with ssds the drive is trimmed first when formatted, so that the drive will wipe the data internally. You can find tools like testdisk/photorec to see if you can get anything, but Id guess is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 16, 2022 Recuva, but frankly even if you were using a platter HDD, your chances of a spotless recovery are basically zero. Not to mention the file structure can't be restored without the NTFS data so all your files will be thrown in one big folder. I once recovered 170,000 files for a client and they were not happy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 16, 2022 Author 3 hours ago, Mavendow said: Recuva, but frankly even if you were using a platter HDD, your chances of a spotless recovery are basically zero. Not to mention the file structure can't be restored without the NTFS data so all your files will be thrown in one big folder. I once recovered 170,000 files for a client and they were not happy... I mean, i gave up the games, I just want the other stuff that was in there (school stuff (important, but not irreplacable)). Trying Recuva now... gonna see what its Deep search can do... But still, how does the format option during Windows 10 install work? Is it complete delete to zeros? Or just it is deleting the links to the files so they are overridden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 17, 2022 It's deleting the links and metadata to the files but it's also telling the SSD "these blocks are now unused, you can erase them if you want". The rest is up to the drive which may or may not erase them back to 1 to be ready to write new data to them quicker later. F@H Desktop: i9-13900K, ASUS Z790-E, 64GB DDR5-6000 CL36, RTX3080, 2TB MP600 Pro XT, 2TB SX8200Pro, 2x16TB Ironwolf RAID0, Corsair HX1200, Antec Vortex 360 AIO, Thermaltake Versa H25 TG, Samsung 4K curved 49" TV, 23" secondary, Mountain Everest Max Mobile SFF rig: i9-9900K, Noctua NH-L9i, Asrock Z390 Phantom ITX-AC, 32GB, GTX1070, 2x1TB SX8200Pro RAID0, 2x5TB 2.5" HDD RAID0, Athena 500W Flex (Noctua fan), Custom 4.7l 3D printed case Asus Zenbook UM325UA, Ryzen 7 5700u, 16GB, 1TB, OLED GPD Win 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 17, 2022 17 hours ago, tomino15 said: But still, how does the format option during Windows 10 install work? Is it complete delete to zeros? Or just it is deleting the links to the files so they are overridden? The format option on an SSD typically first tells the drive to TRIM which means recover unused blocks. Unlike what Kilrah said, erasing the blocks is an atypical operation for TRIM because that will degrade the NAND. Some SSDs do that but it's not recommended since it will dramatically reduce the lifespan of the drive. (Some manufacturers don't care.) The reason the drive looks like it's been wiped after a TRIM operation is because most newer SSDs do not store data in sequential files like a HDD platter. They use several techniques to reduce the write amplification by storing files in a fragmented structure, much like how Windows itself can fragment files. This is why defragmentation is no longer necessary for SSDs; the drive handles that internally. Moreover, when a TLC or MLC NAND is written to it does not typically write 1's and 0's - it can also write 2's, 3's, and so on. The technical details are complex but basically this allows storing more than one file in the same physical location. So, once the metadata which determines which files go in which NAND cells has been deleted, the recovery program can only see pure nonsense. Both the Samsung 970 Evo and Crucial MX500 are TLC which means 3 bits per cell. Assuming the metadata is indeed gone, there are some techniques which can recover this data. They are very difficult and will not be found in any free software and probably not even in any shareware. Likely only commercial software costing thousands. If the metadata is recoverable then that's a different story. Of course, whether you have luck with the software mentioned will tell you whether that metadata is recoverable or not. After the TRIM operation, Windows will set up new a new file structure, and that will overwrite some (but probably not all) of the drive's internal metadata. Formatting is quite fast typically because it doesn't blank the drive or anything like that; it just sets up the necessary markers and permission structures for the folders and files that will later be written to the drive. One thing you may see in windows is that you don't have "permission" for a file or folder. Well, these are stored directly on the filesystem rather than as a file in the registry or such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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