WD · Western Digital · SanDisk · Blue · Black · SN770 · SN850 · NVMe · BitLocker · recovery key
WD and SanDisk BitLocker recovery. A failed WD or SanDisk SSD that had BitLocker on, and the key that makes it recoverable.
Western Digital and SanDisk, now one company, make a great many of the SSDs inside BitLocker machines: the WD Blue and Black SN-series NVMe drives, WD SATA drives, and SanDisk's SSDs. They fail like any SSD, and when one fails with BitLocker on, the problem is the hardware, not the encryption. With your recovery key or password it is a routine recovery: we read and image the drive and decrypt the image with your key. As with other makers, most WD and SanDisk drives in BitLocker machines are protected by BitLocker's software encryption, which Microsoft defaults to, and that is what we decrypt. These drives are recovered only for their owners, behind proof of ownership.
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Why these machines land at the recovery screen.
A WD or SanDisk SSD that has failed with BitLocker on is a hardware recovery with a decryption step. We stabilise and image the drive, reading a failed controller at the chip level where needed, build a complete image of the encrypted volume, and 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.
Most WD and SanDisk drives in BitLocker machines use BitLocker's software encryption, which Microsoft defaults to rather than trusting a drive's own hardware encryption. That is what we decrypt with your key; hardware encryption, where used, is handled accordingly. WD's own drives have been reliable performers, but like all SSDs they fail eventually, and the recovery is the same as for any make.
The firm rule is the same: image first and never decrypt in place, because decrypting a dying WD or SanDisk SSD directly can finish it off. With the key and a clean image, a failed WD or SanDisk 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 WD or SanDisk SSD vanished from the BIOS, key held | Controller failure, BitLocker on top | Read at the chip level, imaged, then decrypted |
| An SN770 or SN850 showing the wrong size, key held | A failing NVMe controller | Imaged behind a write blocker, then decrypted |
| WD drive RAW after a bad shutdown, key held | File-system or metadata damage | Imaged, decrypted, the file system repaired on the clone |
| WD or SanDisk SSD failed, key also lost | A hardware job with no way into the image | Imaged; openable only if a lost-key route applies |
| SanDisk SSD dropping out under load, key held | A failing or overheating controller | Imaged in passes, then decrypted |
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 WD or SanDisk SSD into a routine recovery.
- Stop using a failing drive at once. Every power-on of a dying drive risks the data.
- Never decrypt a dying SSD in place. Image first and decrypt the copy.
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 WD or SanDisk SSD failed and BitLocker was on. Can you recover it?
Yes, with your recovery key or password. A failed WD or SanDisk 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.
Is WD the same as SanDisk now?
Yes, they are one company, and both brands' SSDs are recovered the same way. Whether your drive says WD or SanDisk, a failed one with BitLocker on is imaged and decrypted with your key.
Why can you not decrypt my failing WD 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 first, gently and read-only, and decrypt the image, so the original is never put at that risk.
What if the 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, 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 WD or SanDisk 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.