A few days ago, my HP laptop began displaying visual artifacts and blocky errors, so I shut it down immediately. When I powered it on again, it reported "Boot device not found," and Windows Boot Manager had disappeared from the BIOS boot options. The built-in HP storage diagnostic reported no drive errors. I'm mainly concerned about recovering my files. When I tried starting a Windows installation, the installer showed the drive as empty, with no existing partitions, as if it were new. The laptop uses an NVMe SSD and is an HP 14-cf2067. What should I do to maximize my chances of recovering the data?
3 Answers
Stop using the laptop and do not install Windows or format the drive. Any writing to the NVMe SSD could overwrite information needed for recovery, and SSDs may also discard deleted data through TRIM. If the files are important, shut it down, remove the drive if possible, and work from a separate computer or contact a reputable professional data-recovery service.
If the SSD is detected by a recovery computer but the partition table is missing or damaged, a tool such as TestDisk may be able to locate the old partitions and restore the partition information. It requires careful use from a Linux terminal or similar environment, so avoid changing anything unless you understand exactly what each operation does. First make a sector-by-sector clone or image of the SSD, then work on the copy rather than the original.
TestDisk can sometimes recover a lost partition table or find files, but it cannot guarantee recovery. If the data is irreplaceable, professional recovery is safer than experimenting on the original drive.
The built-in storage diagnostic only indicates that the drive responded to its basic checks; it does not prove that the filesystem or partition table is intact. The missing Windows Boot Manager could be caused by corrupted boot information, a damaged partition table, or an SSD/controller problem. Do not rely on the installer’s empty-drive display as proof that the files are gone, and do not create new partitions.
I haven’t completed the Windows installation. I mainly want to know whether there’s still a chance to recover at least some of the files.