Maidenhead External Drive Data Recovery

Maidenhead’s No.1 External Drive & Portable HDD/SSD Recovery Specialists (25+ Years)

With over 25 years’ experience, we recover data from all external hard drives and portable SSDs—from pocket USB drives to multi-bay desktop enclosures. We support every major brand and model, including Seagate, Western Digital (WD), Toshiba, Samsung, HGST/Hitachi, Intel, SanDisk, Kingston, Crucial, ADATA, Corsair, Fujitsu, PNY, Sabrent, TeamGroup, LaCie, and more.

Interfaces & Protocols We Support (host-side and device-side)

Host-side connections (how your enclosure plugs in):

• USB 2.0 / 3.0 / 3.1 / 3.2 Gen1/Gen2/Gen2x2, USB-C, OTG

• Thunderbolt 1/2 (Mini DisplayPort), Thunderbolt 3/4 (USB-C)

• eSATA / eSATAp (powered eSATA)

• FireWire 400/800 (legacy, common on older Mac externals)

Inside the enclosure (drive side):

• SATA (2.5″/3.5″), micro-SATA (1.8″), mSATA

• NVMe over PCIe: M.2 (B/M/M+B key), U.2, U.3

• Bridge chipsets we regularly see: JMicron, ASMedia, Realtek, Initio, VIA, Phison, Genesys Logic, Cypress (USB↔SATA/NVMe)

• Protocol modes: BOT (Bulk-Only Transport), UASP/UAS, NVMe 1.3/1.4 over USB/Thunderbolt, SCSI Transparent over USB

25 Major External-Drive Brands We See Often (with representative popular series)

(Representative examples; we recover across each brand’s full range.)

1. Seagate — Expansion / One Touch / Backup Plus / Fast SSD / FireCuda Gaming

2. Western Digital (WD) — My Passport / Elements / My Book / WD Black P10/P50

3. Toshiba — Canvio Basics / Canvio Advance / Canvio Flex / Canvio Ready

4. Samsung — Portable SSD T5/T7/T9; X5 (Thunderbolt NVMe)

5. SanDisk / SanDisk Professional (G-Drive) — Extreme Portable SSD / G-Drive / G-RAID

6. LaCie (Seagate) — Rugged / d2 / 2big/6big/12big

7. Crucial (Micron) — X6 / X8 Portable SSD

8. Kingston — XS2000 / DataTraveler Vault (secure USB)

9. ADATA — SE800/SE900G Portable / HD710/HD650 (shock-resistant)

10. Sabrent — Rocket Nano / EC-series M.2 enclosures / DS-UCMH multi-bay

11. PNY — Pro Elite / EliteX-P SSD; EliteX Fit (USB)

12. Transcend — StoreJet (HDD/SSD), ESD-series portable SSD

13. TeamGroup — PD1000/PD20 / T-Create Classic Portable

14. OWC — Envoy Express/Pro (Thunderbolt NVMe), Mercury Elite

15. Intenso — MemoryCase / Portable SSD

16. Verbatim — Store ‘n’ Go HDD/SSD

17. iStorage — diskAshur / diskAshur2 / diskAshur M2 (PIN-pad, FIPS)

18. Apricorn — Aegis Padlock (PIN-pad encrypted USB)

19. G-Technology (legacy; now SanDisk Pro) — G-Drive Mobile / G-Speed

20. Buffalo — MiniStation / DriveStation (desktop)

21. Silicon Power — Armor A60/A80 (rugged HDD) / PC60/PD70 SSD

22. Integral — USB 3.0 Portable / Secure series

23. Netac — Z-Series portable SSD / U-Series USB flash

24. Hikvision — T100I/T200N portable SSD (CCTV ecosystem users)

25. Sony — SL-E series SSD / PS5-oriented external storage

50 External-Drive Faults We Recover — and How We Do It

A. Bridge / Connector / Power (External-specific)

1. Snapped USB-A/C plug or loose port → Micro-wire or replace connector; bypass bridge to direct SATA/NVMe for imaging.

2. Faulty USB↔SATA/NVMe bridge (JMicron/ASMedia/Realtek) → Bypass bridge; if hardware encryption present, source identical bridge to present plaintext.

3. UASP/BOT negotiation bugs (random disconnects) → Force BOT/UASP as appropriate; reduce queue depth; stabilise link for imaging.

4. Bus power brown-outs (USB-powered 2.5″ HDD) → Controlled, powered dock; inrush-current profiling; staged spin-up.

5. Bad cable/EMI → Replace with short, shielded cable; direct attach to host controller (avoid hubs).

6. Bridge firmware lockups → Cold-boot cycles with fixed packet sizes; Direct-Attach read once stable.

B. Security / Encryption

7. Hardware-encrypted enclosures (iStorage/Apricorn/IronKey/SanDisk Vault) → Requires valid PIN/password/keys; unlock, then image plaintext.

8. Controller-side “transparent” encryption (WD/SanDisk/Seagate bridges) → Replace with matched bridge PCB; migrate NVRAM if needed to decrypt.

9. BitLocker-To-Go / FileVault on external → Image first; decrypt with recovery key/password; then FS repair.

10. Vendor “secure vault” app corruption → Salvage container files, repair index/headers; decrypt with user credentials.

C. Mechanical (HDD in external enclosure)

11. Head crash / scratching → Donor head stack, precise alignment; per-head, low-stress imaging.

12. Stiction (heads stuck) → Controlled release to ramp; immediate soft-pass imaging.

13. Spindle seizure / bearing failure → Platter/hub transplant to matched chassis; image.

14. Weak head / read channel → Head-map, image healthy heads first; targeted hard-pass later.

15. Shock damage from drops (common with pocket externals) → Slider inspection; conservative imaging; logical rebuild around damaged zones.

16. Ramp/parking damage → Ramp replacement; head-select imaging.

D. Electronics (HDD/SSD)

17. Shorted TVS/protection after surge → Isolate/replace TVS; verify rails; image.

18. Motor driver failure → Donor PCB/driver; current-sense checks; image.

19. Controller IC failure → Donor PCB with ROM/adaptives transfer; regain access.

20. Preamp failure (HDD) → Head-stack swap (preamp integrated); calibrate; image.

21. Liquid ingress → Controlled clean/ultrasonic (board only), micro-jumpers, ROM migration.

22. Overheating in fanless shells → Temperature-controlled, short duty cycles; throttle queue depth.

E. Firmware / Service Area (HDD)

23. SA module corruption → Alt-head boot; patch SA modules; rebuild translator/defect lists.

24. Translator damage → Regenerate from P/G-lists; rezone; image.

25. SMART/log overflow → slow init → Clear logs; suppress background tasks; image.

26. Media cache bugs (hangs) → Disable features via vendor tools; queue-controlled imaging.

F. Media / Sector-Level (HDD)

27. Bad-sector storms → Multi-pass imaging (soft→hard), dynamic head-map; late fills.

28. Reallocated/pending saturation → Skip windows; targeted re-reads; fill last.

29. Thermal asperities → Cool-down cycles; short read windows.

G. SSD / NVMe (inside external)

30. Controller failure (0 MB/no detect) → Donor + ROM where possible, else chip-off & FTL reconstruction.

31. FTL corruption → Vendor/test mode; dump translation tables; rebuild L2P.

32. NAND wear/retention loss (shelf storage) → ECC-aware reads, voltage/temperature tuning, soft decoding.

33. DRAM-less SLC-cache collapse → Safe-mode load; emulate cache flush; rebuild mapping.

34. Power-loss during writes → Journal/cache rebuild; resume mapping for extraction.

35. OP region damage / wear-levelling table loss → Factory/vendor mode workflows; reconstruct tables.

36. NVMe link instability in USB-to-NVMe enclosures → Lock PCIe link width/speed; reset flows; image via stable HBA where possible.

H. Logical / File System / Partitioning

37. Accidental deletion → Image; recover via metadata (NTFS MFT/APFS snapshots); carve.

38. Quick/full format → Deep metadata scan; rebuild directory trees.

39. Partition table/GPT loss → Locate FS signatures; virtual re-map; mount read-only.

40. NTFS $MFT/$MFTMirr damage → Rebuild from $LogFile/$Bitmap; recover orphans.

41. exFAT allocation/bitmap corruption (cameras, TVs) → Infer chains from dirs/boundaries; rebuild bitmap.

42. APFS container/BTrees damage → Parse checkpoints; rebuild trees; resolve clones.

43. HFS+ catalog/extent issues → Journal replay; catalog rebuild.

44. ext4 superblock/journal faults → Alternate superblocks; replay journal; inode rebuild.

45. XFS log corruption → xlog replay; inode btree/dir leaf repair.

46. ReFS integrity stream anomalies → Salvage intact objects; export; catalogue repair.

I. Workflow / Content Layer (external-drive use cases)

47. Damaged MP4/MOV (missing moov) → Rebuild moov from mdat; GOP/time index synthesis.

48. Corrupt ZIP/7z archives → Rebuild central directory; partial member extraction.

49. Corrupt photo libraries (Lightroom/Photos) → Re-link originals; repair catalog DB; rebuild previews.

50. Ransomware-touched external (synced) → Roll back via versioning/snapshots if available; decrypt with valid keys only; otherwise salvage unencrypted extents.

Professional Recovery Process

1. Diagnostics & Imaging — Stabilise the device; take a sector-by-sector clone with PC-3000/Atola/DeepSpar or native NVMe HBA. Originals remain untouched.

2. Firmware & Electronics Repair — ROM/adaptive transfers, SA module repair, donor PCB/motor driver as needed to regain stable reads.

3. Mechanical Interventions (HDD) — Head-stack replacement, spindle/hub transplant, actuator/ramp service; then immediate low-stress imaging.

4. Logical/Data Recovery — Partition and file-system rebuild (NTFS, HFS+, APFS, exFAT, ext, XFS, ReFS); content-aware fixes (Office, photo/video containers).

5. Verification & Delivery — Hash verification, spot-open of critical files, and secure return via encrypted media or secure download with manifest.

Why Choose Maidenhead Data Recovery?

• 25+ years in business; thousands of successful external-drive recoveries

• Multi-vendor expertise across portable HDDs, USB-to-SATA enclosures, and NVMe USB/Thunderbolt SSDs

• Advanced tooling & large parts inventory (bridges, donor PCBs, head-stacks)

• Free diagnostics with clear, risk-aware recovery plans