I recently moved my WD Black SN850X 4TB NVMe SSD to a different PC to download about 500 GB of Steam games. After returning it to my main desktop, I ran into issues. Initially, everything seemed fine, but after a reboot, Windows started displaying an error: 'The disk structure is corrupted and unreadable.' It shows the full capacity in Disk Management, but I can't mount the volume. I checked with TestDisk and found that while the GPT partition table is intact, the NTFS boot sector and backup boot sector are both marked as bad. The Master File Table (MFT) is only partially readable and heavily corrupted. Tools like DMDE and UFS Explorer indicated an outdated NTFS view and a raw recovery with large files. I've noticed that there are signs of orphaned clusters and that UFS Explorer misidentified my large files. I'm unsure how to proceed from here. Any suggestions?
4 Answers
Have you tried using a live Linux USB to access the SSD? Sometimes it can read disks that Windows struggles with, especially if there's filesystem corruption involved. Just boot into a live session and see if it recognizes the drive differently.
It sounds like your filesystem is pretty corrupted. You might want to try a more comprehensive recovery tool like R-Studio or Recuva. They can sometimes recover files even from seriously corrupted disks. Make sure to attempt recovery as soon as possible to avoid further data loss!
If the MFT is partially readable, there's still a chance to recover some data. Consider using TestDisk again for deeper scanning, or check out PhotoRec for recovering lost files without relying on the filesystem. Just be careful not to write anything new to the drive to prevent overwriting existing data.
When moving SSDs, especially if you pulled it out while the PC was on hibernate, it can lead to corruption. If the data is highly valuable, you might need to consult a professional data recovery service. It can be pricey, but they often have the tools to deal with severe corruption like this.
I actually booted into a live Linux USB and GParted labeled it as a 'basic data partition' with a BitLocker file system. Unfortunately, it doesn't read the files either.