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What to do with an SSD after it fails

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wreckedcarzz:
Hey all DCers! Haven't been around a while (other than the occasional lurking), but I rise from the dead with a question that I feel I should pose to the forum of knowledge that is DC :)

(Important bits in bold to be skim-friendly)


A couple years ago, I was freaking out- SSDs were new and cool and promised rainbows and unicorns and infinite money... and everything in between. I sat and waited for prices to drop before catching what I thought to be a killer sale. I went out and bought a Corsair Nova V32 SSD - just enough to squeeze Windows 7 and my programs onto. I paired it with a WD 1.5TB data and game drive, and all was right with the world. That was about two years ago.

A week ago, I started having boot issues. The bios would freeze, and the computer wouldn't turn on. I thought it to be a power supply issue, but after a couple hours of late-night investigating, the machine seemed to have fixed itself, and I thought nothing of it (other than "Phew, I don't have to buy a new PSU"). Everything was fine until Friday evening, when I came home and turned the machine on, only to find that it just wouldn't come up; the exact same issue as before, except now the bios wasn't even seeing the SSD at all. Plugging it into a known-working computer also showed no signs of life in it, and I concluded the controller had failed.

Saturday afternoon, I did a bit of research and went out to purchase a new Samsung 840 (120GB) SSD, and the Windows backup restore process went just perfect, and I made sure the configuration was correct for the new drive. But now I have a problem: what do I do with the dead SSD, and all of the data that is on it? It did not house any of my personal 'files' (desktop/documents/etc), however it does have Windows, several shareware applications, my Appdata folders, a PortableApps setup with my browsers (and auto-login Lastpass extensions)...

When I purchased the Samsung replacement, I had them check the Corsair and I was told that I was correct, and the controller just failed. But I'm unaware if there are methods to replace controllers to get at data, and if there are any reputable locations to take something like this to be recycled (the local Goodwill is partnered with Dell, for example). So, what does one do with a drive with potentially sensitive, unencrypted data on it, that cannot be wiped?


And again, hi all! :D

Carol Haynes:
Beat the crap out of it with a hammer (also good therapy)  :Thmbsup:

x16wda:
Beat the crap out of it with a hammer (also good therapy)  :Thmbsup:
-Carol Haynes (April 22, 2013, 07:00 PM)
--- End quote ---

I'd go with Carol's recommendation, but make it a sledge hammer, and post the video on Youtube!  :D

kyrathaba:
It might be possible to get a replacement controller. However, in a recent video by Eli The Computer Guy, he stated that after 2-3 years, it becomes quite difficult to find these, because the producers have moved on to upgraded hardware and controllers for those, and often offer very poor legacy support in the form of replacement hardware.

mwb1100:
A quick Googlin' seems to indicate that the drive may have a 3 year warranty.  If you haven't smashed it yet and the data isn't so sensitive that you feel OK handing the dead drive over to the manufacturer (only you can determine if that would be an acceptable risk or not), you might be able to get a working one in exchange.

As a potentially interesting aside - Lenovo apparently allows you to purchase a warranty add-on that lets you keep a failed drive in the case of a warranty replacement (I have no idea how much additional they charge):

  - http://www.lenovo.com/services_warranty/us/en/keep-your-drive.html

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