Most people lose their data without warning. Here's how to catch it first.
Source: DC KEY Data Recovery Lab — analysis of 847 failed drives
CrystalDiskInfo shows this value. Any number above zero means your SSD found a bad block. Above 10 = back up everything TODAY and order a replacement.
This means the ECC (error correction) already failed. Data was corrupted at the hardware level. This SSD is fatally compromised — replace immediately.
Every SSD has a rated Terabytes Written limit. Samsung 870 EVO 1TB = 600 TBW. Beyond it, statistical failure risk climbs sharply. Check Total Host Writes in CrystalDiskInfo.
NVMe should run 40-65°C under load. Over 80°C = thermal throttling. Over 95°C = automatic shutdown risk. Add a heatsink — most M.2 drives ship without one.
Photos that won't open. Documents garbled. Videos freezing. These are hardware read errors showing up at the file system level.
Windows asking for disk repair every boot. Files saved yesterday missing today. Late-stage failure warning.
Run our free storage speed diagnostic — a healthy NVMe should hit 3,000+ MB/s. A drop below 1,500 MB/s is a warning sign.
dckeytest.com/storage
3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite. Do it before you need it.