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SSD Sudden death

Yesterday, immediately following restarting my computer after a largish Microsoft Update, my 250gb OCZ Technology, Apex Series 2.5" Solid State Drive, disappeared from my BIOS and, as it contains the Win 7 Ultimate OS, I am unable to boot my machine. Fortunately all data is stored on other drives. I have begun the rescue by installing a fresh OS onto another conventional hard drive, but it is a long process with all the auxiliary drivers, software etc.; the best result would be to restart my original SSD I have a StarTech SATA external disk drive housing, which recognises other drives, but the SSD doesn't show up on it. Any ideas would be welcome.

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Tony Giangreco

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rindi

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noxcho

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Gary Case

I stopped using OCZ drives ~ 3 years ago, as I've seen MANY of these fail in exactly the way you described. They're also a bit of a PITA to get replacements from (in case it's still in warranty). I'd suggest you replace the drive with an Intel 335 or 5xx series drive or a Crucial M500 series. By far the most reliable units these days. [I haven't bought anything but Intel in well over a year]

The good news is your data was safe -- and hopefully you also had an image of your OS you can simply restore to a new SSD ... although I guess that's unlikely since you mentioned you're reinstalling from scratch on another hard drive. If that's the case, be sure you DO make an image of the newly installed OS once it's all up-to-date and configured, so any future failures aren't such a hassle !! Also, if you haven't already done so, be sure you install the new OS in a partition small enough that it will fit on a replacement SSD, so when you get one, you can simply restore an image of the new OS to it !!

nobus

you can test if the SSD is seen on other systems (to eliminate possible cable or controller problems)
but if it does not show in the bios, - no software can help

if you want, you can use a recovery service : http://www.datarecovery.net/solid-state-drive-recovery.html

ask for their policy and fee - since it can get into 100eds of $

Tony Giangreco

Were you able to test the SSD on another system?

Bob Barnes

ASKER

Thanks everyone. Following your answers I just replaced the drive with a new one and everything is now fine.