Samsung · 970 · 980 · 990 EVO · PRO · NVMe · BitLocker · hardware encryption · recovery key
Samsung BitLocker recovery. A failed Samsung SSD that had BitLocker on, and the key that makes it recoverable.
Samsung's SSDs, the 970, 980 and 990 EVO and PRO NVMe drives and their SATA predecessors, are among the most common drives inside BitLocker machines, and they fail like any SSD: a controller that drops out, NAND that wears, a drive that vanishes from the BIOS. When one fails with BitLocker on, the problem is the hardware, not the encryption, and with your recovery key or password it is a routine recovery: we read the drive, image it, and decrypt the image with your key. Samsung drives also support their own hardware encryption, and some years ago weaknesses were found in the hardware encryption of certain Samsung SSDs, after which Microsoft defaulted BitLocker to software encryption rather than trusting the drive's own; for recovery, what matters is that we handle the drive's state as we find it and decrypt with your key. These drives are recovered only for their owners, behind proof of ownership.
Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
0800 6890668
Why these machines land at the recovery screen.
A Samsung SSD that has failed with BitLocker on is a hardware recovery with a decryption step. We stabilise and image the drive, a dead NVMe controller read at the chip level where needed, build a complete image of the encrypted volume, and then decrypt the image with your recovery key or password. The drive's failure is solved the usual way; the encryption is no obstacle once a clean image exists and the key is in hand.
Samsung drives support hardware encryption of their own, and a few years ago researchers found weaknesses in the hardware encryption implementation of some Samsung SSDs. Microsoft responded by making BitLocker default to its own software encryption rather than trusting a drive's hardware encryption. Most Samsung drives in BitLocker machines are therefore protected by software BitLocker, which is what we decrypt; where hardware encryption was in play, we handle the drive accordingly. Either way, your key is what opens the data.
The one firm rule, as with every failed drive, is that we image first and never decrypt in place: decrypting a dying Samsung SSD directly can finish it off. With the key and a clean image, a failed Samsung drive has a very good success rate.
What to know for this make.
What you see, and what is behind it.
Describe yours to us →| What you see | The usual reason | Where that leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| A Samsung SSD dropped out of the BIOS, key held | Controller failure, BitLocker on top | Read at the chip level, imaged, then decrypted |
| A 970 or 980 showing the wrong size, key held | A failing NVMe controller | Imaged behind a write blocker, then decrypted |
| Samsung drive RAW after a bad shutdown, key held | File-system or metadata damage | Imaged, decrypted, the file system repaired on the clone |
| Samsung SSD failed, key also lost | A hardware job with no way into the image | Imaged; openable only if a lost-key route applies |
| Samsung hardware encryption in play, key held | The drive's own encryption, not software | Handled accordingly; decrypted with your key |
From the drive arriving to your files going back.
Work we have closed →Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free
A number goes on the parcel and the drive the day it is opened, matched to your enquiry by the booking sheet inside. Before anything is read we check the proof of ownership you sent. The drive is then connected through a write blocker, read-only, and examined: whether it is a healthy drive behind a lost key, or a failing drive behind a known key, is settled here, and so is whether what you want is possible. That first look is free, and you may stop at it owing nothing.
Imaged at the sector level, before anything else
A drive that answers at all is imaged in full on a hardware imager, behind a write blocker, weak areas last, with a map kept of what could not be read. The image is a copy of the encrypted sectors, so it is useless to anyone without your key, which is a privacy gain in itself. Every later step is done on the image. The original drive is never decrypted, never written to, and never worked on directly.
The physical fault repaired on the clone, when there is one
A drive that has failed, that reads slowly or that drops out is stabilised and imaged in passes; a mechanically failed disk is repaired and read on the bench, a dead SSD controller read at the chip level, before any decryption is attempted. The aim at this stage is one clean image of the encrypted volume to decrypt from. Where the drive is healthy and the problem is only the key, this stage is skipped.
The image decrypted with your key or password
With your recovery key, recovery password or the drive's password, the image is unlocked: the protector releases the Volume Master Key, the VMK releases the Full Volume Encryption Key, and the volume is decrypted from the clone. Where the metadata or header is damaged, repair-bde and the key package rebuild it at the block level onto a separate target. Where the key is lost but a memory image or hibernation file is available, the Volume Master Key is extracted from it with Passware. Without a key, a password to attack, or a memory capture, the volume cannot be opened, and you are told so at the free look.
The file system rebuilt, and the list before the bill
Once the volume is open it is an ordinary NTFS or exFAT file system, and any damage in it is repaired on the image and the files recovered. What was recovered is listed for you first, and only then does a bill exist. The files go home on fresh media. The original drive is returned, or securely destroyed at your request; we never send the key and the data by the same route.
From the bench
- Have your recovery key ready. It is what turns a failed Samsung SSD into a routine recovery.
- Stop using a failing Samsung SSD at once. Every power-on of a dying drive risks the data; the sooner it is imaged, the more comes back.
- Never decrypt a dying SSD in place. Image first and decrypt the copy.
Software BitLocker is what most Samsung drives use, after Microsoft stopped trusting some drives' hardware encryption by default.
What helps, and what harms.
Do this much first
- Have your recovery key or password ready
- Stop using a failing drive at once
- Send the drive to be imaged, not decrypted in place
- Send proof the drive is yours
What sets us back
- Decrypting a failing drive in place
- Running chkdsk or repair tools on a dying encrypted drive
- Continuing to power on a drive that is dropping out
- Assuming a failed encrypted drive is unrecoverable; with the key it usually is not
Questions answered before you commit.
My Samsung SSD failed and BitLocker was on. Can you recover it?
Yes, with your recovery key or password. A failed Samsung SSD is a hardware problem, not an encryption one: we read and image the drive and decrypt the image with your key. It is a routine recovery with a good success rate when the key is in hand.
Does Samsung's hardware encryption change anything?
Usually not, because Microsoft defaults BitLocker to software encryption rather than trusting a drive's hardware encryption, after weaknesses were found in some drives' hardware encryption. Most Samsung drives in BitLocker machines use software BitLocker, which we decrypt with your key; hardware encryption is handled accordingly.
Why can you not just decrypt my failing Samsung drive directly?
Because decryption reads and writes across the whole drive, and that load can finish off a dying SSD, leaving you with nothing. We image the drive first, gently and read-only, and decrypt the image, so the original is never put at that risk.
What if the Samsung drive has failed and I have lost the key?
We can still image the drive, but opening the image needs a way to the key, a weak password to attack, or a memory or hibernation capture. A modern AES-256 drive with a failed disk and a truly lost key is the hard limit, assessed honestly and free.
What does it cost?
Single-disk recovery and decryption of a failed Samsung SSD is £800 + VAT, 50% non-refundable on acceptance and 50% no fix, no fee. The drive must be removed from the computer and sent in on its own.
The data is behind the key, not gone.
Looking at it is free, and it starts with whether you have the recovery key or can retrieve it. Tell us the make and model, what the recovery screen says, and what happened just before it, and send proof the drive is yours. Back comes a straight account of what is possible and the one price to do it. Until then, reinstall nothing and reformat nothing.