#datarecovery — Public Fediverse posts

HDD Firmware Hacking

https://icode4.coffee/?p=1465

#HackerNews #HDDFirmware #Hacking #Cybersecurity #DataRecovery #TechNews

Hey fedizens :FediverseSymbol:

We had a bit of a mare yesterday, as wife's brand new laptop (an Acer Aspire A16-61M (NX.JP0EK.005)), which she got as a gift from family during recent sales, decided to suddenly crash in an awful manner after only a month of usage.

The laptop crashed in Windows (Win 11 Home, 25H2 with all AI tools removed) with an error message of some kind, rebooted, and then reported "no bootable device".

We spent a huge chunk of the day researching the issue, trying various supposed fixes, and failing miserably :Sighing_Face:

Our failure led to us having a neurospicy meltdown in the evening 😔 As such, we're asking for your advice on attempting to fix it ASAP for wife :PleadingFace:

Wife has raised a ticket with Acer in case they're able to help, but we're hoping folks here will suggest something other than wiping the drive and reinstalling an OS.

Things we tried included:

• Verifying that the SSD itself still showed in the UEFI/BIOS.
• Resetting the UEFI to default.
  • We cannot change to the boot mode to Legacy then back to UEFI, as some generic-advice-giving folks have suggested in Acer forums and elsewhere.
• Using Windows PE to access the command line tools, as well as variants based on it, like:
  • Aomei Partition Assistant's bootable media.
  • Hiren's BootCD PE x64 (v1.0.8).
• Using Windows 11 installation media (from their latest media creation tool) to access the troubleshooting repair tools.

The efforts thus far have only changed the error from not "no bootable device" to immediate blue screen messages showing a failure a load and presenting options (function key options like startup repair etc.) which all fail to work.

The main C: partition appears to be borked, and shows as unallocated.

We've tried to recover the partitions and the data, as well as clone the drive sector by sector, without success. As far as we know, Bitlocker hadn't been enabled, but one attempt to recover files under a tool within Hiren's BootCD PE asked for a pin when trying to recover files from the lost partition showing as unallocated space, so it may well be hindering any recovery efforts.

Due to life struggles, neither wife nor us had had the time to set up any backup services yet, and whilst most things are cloud saved and can be recovered, some files and all the custom settings and tools would be lost if we cannot recover the drive fully 😔

Apologies in advance if we advise we've tried something already, and please be kind and detailed with any comments or queries.

For context, we've 20+ years of troubleshooting Windows and hardware issues, but we're neither a programmer nor IT specialist of any kind, and have never had an IT-type job.

Any thoughtful ideas, suggestions, and recommendations will be most welcome 🩷

#AskFedi #TechSupport #Windows #Windows11 #GenuinelyAsking #NoReplyGuysPlease #troubleshooting #DataRecovery #DriveRecovery #Acer #NoBootableDevice

Update: After further troubleshooting, the issue appears to be that some crash broke the drive's partition table, and software couldn't recover all the partitions because BitLocker was enabled by default 🤦‍♀️ Fortunately wife was using her Microsoft account and the recovery key auto-synced to her account. Now just trying to find a bit of software other than DiskGenius (which is bleeping expensive) which can accept the BitLocker recovery key and rebuild the drive without having to back it up and restore it.

Further update: After a few days of working on this whenever we could around other things, and learning more about WindowsPE, WindowsRE, device encryption being enabled by default, bcdedit, manage-bcd, repair-bcd, bcdboot, various shite recovery tools that everybody claims are great but aren't at all, we finally ended up getting the device back into a semi-working state and told it to hold off on updates for the next 20 years. In the meantime, wife can use laptop again at least and we can fix the many other bugs again manually, via an in-place install, or properly backing up, nuking everything, and starting from scratch. On the plus side, we discovered that Rufus (the formatting tool) has options to download and customise Windows installations, including automatic disabling device encryption. Also had to play around a little with Linux Mint. We could get used to that, but we'd to find equivalents for WIndows mods and functions we're used to. Oh, and having to decrypt an encrypted unallocated (raw) partition, even where you have the recovery key, is one of the most cursed problems we've ever come across! Windows will allow you to assign a drive letter without formatting, but you can only decrypt it to elsewhere then: not in-place. Most recovery tools simply lack the simple ability to let you enter a recovery key or password and restore it in place.

New Yorker: When Your Digital Life Vanishes. “DriveSavers receives some twenty thousand inquiries each month. It has saved data for government agencies, multinational corporations, and more than a few celebrities, whose autographed portraits beamed from the lobby walls. Sidney Poitier recovered a draft of his memoir through the company’s good offices; Khloé Kardashian, a phone that fell into […]

Someone from Italy is selling a ferrite memory kit with 1000x ferrite core rings and wires.

Anyone here that knows how to read data off of ferrite core storage?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/236620071163

#datarecovery #digitalpreservation #technology #it

Regular warning regarding backups and data recovery with Windows 11 25H2 and Bitlocker encryption.

By default, new installations of Windows 11 25H2 have BitLocker automatically enabled, on laptops and desktops.

In theory, the BitLocker recovery keys are transferred to the online Microsoft Account settings when you login that way on Windows 11.

If you use a Windows local account only then it's not backed up. Nor are you prompted to do so. This is very obviously a potentially dangerous state.

If you're going with a local account only Windows 11 OS installation then:

• Backup the recovery keys safely offline,

AND

• Keep unencrypted backups of important data off the system (ideally several copies stored separately)

OR

• Disable BitLocker

Unless you have a very specific use case or "interesting" threat model then disabling BitLocker is my suggestion.

Once BitLocker it's disabled then ensure you are taking regular backups of import data off the PC, ideally multiple copies in separate places for redundancy.

Hardware and storage media do fail. Motherboards and their TPM / UEFI Firmware data do get damaged. That's where the BitLocker encryption keys are stored.

If the BitLocker recovery information on the motherboard is damaged or unrecoverable, your BitLocker encrypted data will be unrecoverable without the recovery keys.

#Windows #BitLocker #MicrosoftAccount #25H2 #DataRecovery

Regular warning regarding backups and data recovery with Windows 11 25H2 and Bitlocker encryption.

By default, new installations of Windows 11 25H2 have BitLocker automatically enabled, on laptops and desktops.

In theory, the BitLocker recovery keys are transferred to the online Microsoft Account settings when you login that way on Windows 11.

If you use a Windows local account only then it's not backed up. Nor are you prompted to do so. This is very obviously a potentially dangerous state.

If you're going with a local account only Windows 11 OS installation then:

• Backup the recovery keys safely offline,

AND

• Keep unencrypted backups of important data off the system (ideally several copies stored separately)

OR

• Disable BitLocker

Unless you have a very specific use case or "interesting" threat model then disabling BitLocker is my suggestion.

Once BitLocker it's disabled then ensure you are taking regular backups of import data off the PC, ideally multiple copies in separate places for redundancy.

Hardware and storage media do fail. Motherboards and their TPM / UEFI Firmware data do get damaged. That's where the BitLocker encryption keys are stored.

If the BitLocker recovery information on the motherboard is damaged or unrecoverable, your BitLocker encrypted data will be unrecoverable without the recovery keys.

#Windows #BitLocker #MicrosoftAccount #25H2 #DataRecovery

Regular warning regarding backups and data recovery with Windows 11 25H2 and Bitlocker encryption.

By default, new installations of Windows 11 25H2 have BitLocker automatically enabled, on laptops and desktops.

In theory, the BitLocker recovery keys are transferred to the online Microsoft Account settings when you login that way on Windows 11.

If you use a Windows local account only then it's not backed up. Nor are you prompted to do so. This is very obviously a potentially dangerous state.

If you're going with a local account only Windows 11 OS installation then:

• Backup the recovery keys safely offline,

AND

• Keep unencrypted backups of important data off the system (ideally several copies stored separately)

OR

• Disable BitLocker

Unless you have a very specific use case or "interesting" threat model then disabling BitLocker is my suggestion.

Once BitLocker it's disabled then ensure you are taking regular backups of import data off the PC, ideally multiple copies in separate places for redundancy.

Hardware and storage media do fail. Motherboards and their TPM / UEFI Firmware data do get damaged. That's where the BitLocker encryption keys are stored.

If the BitLocker recovery information on the motherboard is damaged or unrecoverable, your BitLocker encrypted data will be unrecoverable without the recovery keys.

#Windows #BitLocker #MicrosoftAccount #25H2 #DataRecovery

Regular warning regarding backups and data recovery with Windows 11 25H2 and Bitlocker encryption.

By default, new installations of Windows 11 25H2 have BitLocker automatically enabled, on laptops and desktops.

In theory, the BitLocker recovery keys are transferred to the online Microsoft Account settings when you login that way on Windows 11.

If you use a Windows local account only then it's not backed up. Nor are you prompted to do so. This is very obviously a potentially dangerous state.

If you're going with a local account only Windows 11 OS installation then:

• Backup the recovery keys safely offline,

AND

• Keep unencrypted backups of important data off the system (ideally several copies stored separately)

OR

• Disable BitLocker

Unless you have a very specific use case or "interesting" threat model then disabling BitLocker is my suggestion.

Once BitLocker it's disabled then ensure you are taking regular backups of import data off the PC, ideally multiple copies in separate places for redundancy.

Hardware and storage media do fail. Motherboards and their TPM / UEFI Firmware data do get damaged. That's where the BitLocker encryption keys are stored.

If the BitLocker recovery information on the motherboard is damaged or unrecoverable, your BitLocker encrypted data will be unrecoverable without the recovery keys.

#Windows #BitLocker #MicrosoftAccount #25H2 #DataRecovery

Regular warning regarding backups and data recovery with Windows 11 25H2 and Bitlocker encryption.

By default, new installations of Windows 11 25H2 have BitLocker automatically enabled, on laptops and desktops.

In theory, the BitLocker recovery keys are transferred to the online Microsoft Account settings when you login that way on Windows 11.

If you use a Windows local account only then it's not backed up. Nor are you prompted to do so. This is very obviously a potentially dangerous state.

If you're going with a local account only Windows 11 OS installation then:

• Backup the recovery keys safely offline,

AND

• Keep unencrypted backups of important data off the system (ideally several copies stored separately)

OR

• Disable BitLocker

Unless you have a very specific use case or "interesting" threat model then disabling BitLocker is my suggestion.

Once BitLocker it's disabled then ensure you are taking regular backups of import data off the PC, ideally multiple copies in separate places for redundancy.

Hardware and storage media do fail. Motherboards and their TPM / UEFI Firmware data do get damaged. That's where the BitLocker encryption keys are stored.

If the BitLocker recovery information on the motherboard is damaged or unrecoverable, your BitLocker encrypted data will be unrecoverable without the recovery keys.

#Windows #BitLocker #MicrosoftAccount #25H2 #DataRecovery

Fujitsu 3D NAND 480GB SSD（F500S）——企業核心資料救援紀實

🧩 客戶設備：Fujitsu 3D NAND SSD 型號 F500S，容量 480GB
⚠️ 故障症狀：SSD 無法被辨識（認盤失敗）
💾 資料類型：系統檔案 + 虛擬機器硬碟映像（.vdi、.vhdx 等）
🏢 客戶背景：企業客戶
✅ 救援結果：成功恢復大部分資料，虛擬機器能正常啟動

🔗 https://2025.data-recover.com.tw/cases/Fujitsu-3D-NAND-480GB-SSD-(F500S)-%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E9%97%9C%E9%8D%B5%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99%E6%95%91%E6%8F%B4%E6%88%90%E5%8A%9F%E6%A1%88%E4%BE%8B

#資料救援 #企業資料 #SSD故障 #Fujitsu #3DNAND #虛擬機器 #科技新聞
#DataRecovery #EnterpriseData #SSDFailure #Fujitsu #3DNAND #VirtualMachine #Tech #News
#データ復旧 #企業データ #SSD障害 #富士通 #3DNAND #仮想マシン #テックニュース

💥 WD SMR 硬碟重大缺陷曝光！NAS RAID 重建災難、性能暴跌、集體訴訟全面解析 💥

2020 年，Western Digital（WD）因在 WD Red NAS 硬碟 中悄悄採用 SMR（疊瓦式磁記錄） 技術，卻未明確告知消費者，導致大規模使用者資料損毀、RAID 重建失敗的災難。

📉 根據專業媒體 ServeTheHome 實測：

RAID 重建時間：SMR 高達 120 小時以上（CMR 約 24 小時）

隨機寫入性能：SMR 僅 0.3 MB/s，比 CMR 慢 75%+

這些問題讓 NAS 用戶面臨 性能崩潰、重建失敗與資料遺失 的嚴重風險。
📄 詳細解析（含法院文件與實測數據）：
👉 WD SMR 硬碟嚴重缺陷導致集體訴訟：NAS 性能災難與 RAID 重建失敗完全解析
https://2025.data-recover.com.tw/news/WD-SMR%E7%A1%AC%E7%A2%9F%E5%9A%B4%E9%87%8D%E7%BC%BA%E9%99%B7%E5%B0%8E%E8%87%B4%E9%9B%86%E9%AB%94%E8%A8%B4%E8%A8%9F-NAS%E6%80%A7%E8%83%BD%E7%81%BD%E9%9B%A3%E8%88%87RAID%E9%87%8D%E5%BB%BA%E5%A4%B1%E6%95%97%E5%AE%8C%E5%85%A8%E8%A7%A3%E6%9E%90

⚠️ 請大家馬上檢查自己的 NAS 或桌上型硬碟！
如果你使用 WD Red、WD Blue、或同型號 SMR 機種，請立即備份資料 ⚡
預防資料遺失才是最好的防禦！

#WD #WesternDigital #SMR #CMR #NAS #RAID #DataLoss #Storage #Backup #TechNews
#WD硬碟 #SMR問題 #NAS災難 #資料備份 #集體訴訟 #資料救援 #硬碟警報 #備份很重要
#データ損失 #WD #ハードディスク #SMR問題 #NASトラブル #RAID再構築失敗 #バックアップ #注意喚起
#Fediverse #Misskey #Mastodon #ActivityPub #Tech #StorageAlert #DataRecovery #news

Windows Backup Exposed: What It DOESN'T Back Up

Windows backup does not backup Windows.

#WindowsBackup #Microsoft #BackupAndRestore #OneDriveIssues #DataBackup #FileSynchronization #SystemImage #FullImageBackup #MacriumReflect #EaseUSTodo #BackupTips #WindowsSettings #FileSafety #DataProtection #CloudStorage #FolderManagement #TechSupport #AskLeo #DataRecovery #WindowsFeatures #MicrosoftAccount

Why Windows Backup Isn’t What You Think It Is
https://askleo.com/174779 article #174779

Hackaday Links: August 7, 2022 - If you ever needed proof that class-action lawsuits are a good deal only for the l... - https://hackaday.com/2022/08/07/hackaday-links-august-7-2022/ #quantumprogramming #hackadaycolumns #proximacentauri #hackadaylinks #datarecovery #quantumgates #classaction #dataprivacy #settlement #timhortons #tracking #chorizo #sausage #slider #qubits #sdcard #jwst