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SDR / Manufacturers / Dell, HP and Lenovo OEM drives

Latitude · EliteBook · ThinkPad · OptiPlex · ProBook · IdeaPad

Dell, HP and Lenovo OEM drives SSD data recovery. The real maker is inside.

The SSD in a Dell Latitude, an HP EliteBook or a Lenovo ThinkPad was made by SK hynix, Samsung, Kioxia, Micron, WD or Solidigm, and carries that maker's controller under a Dell, HP or Lenovo part number and OEM firmware. The badge on the laptop tells us which laptop it was; the part number on the drive tells us which drive. These arrive from dead machines, nearly always with BitLocker on, and they are ordinary NVMe or SATA work at £300 + VAT once the recovery key is to hand. HP's own retail SSDs, made under licence by BIWIN, have a page of their own.

Free first lookOne fixed figure in writingNo data, no bill on most jobsReturn postage paid

Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
0800 6890668

Models we see, family by family.

Which kind of drive is it →
Family Models Controller commonly reported
SK hynix OEMPC401, PC601, PC611, PC711, PC801, BC501, BC711, BC901 (HFM…, HFS…)SK hynix
Samsung OEMPM871, PM881, PM961, PM981, PM981a, PM991, PM991a, PM9A1, PM9B1Samsung
Kioxia and Toshiba OEMBG4, BG5, BG6, XG5, XG6, XG7, XG8 (KBG…, KXG…)Kioxia
Micron, WD and Solidigm OEMMicron 2200, 2300, 2400, 2450, 2550; WD SN520, SN530, SN730, SN740, SN810; Solidigm P41 Plus OEMMicron, WD, Solidigm

What tends to go wrong on a Dell, HP and Lenovo OEM drives.

OEM firmwareOEM drives ship with the laptop maker's firmware, which the retail tools cannot always update or read. It changes nothing for recovery; the controller family is what matters.
BitLocker by defaultBusiness laptops have BitLocker on, and consumer ones signed into a Microsoft account usually have device encryption on. The 48-digit key is in the Microsoft account or the employer's directory.
General pattern: the drive outlives the machineThe OEM jobs we see are dead machines with healthy drives, and drives from dead machines with firmware that will not load. No OEM-specific storage fault was documented in our research.

Dell, HP and Lenovo OEM drives symptoms, and how long each gives you.

Not listed? Describe it on the form →
It is not in the BIOS at allThe controller did not finish starting. The flash is almost always sound.Do not delay
It shows the wrong size, or a strange nameFallback firmware; the map is not loaded.Do not delay
It has gone read-onlySpare blocks exhausted, or a documented firmware fault. Readable.Everyday job
Slow, with files that will not copyWeak pages being retried. Image it now.Everyday job
Deleted, or formattedTRIM is at work. Shut down and leave it off.Do not delay
Packing it and posting it: a bare SSD travels in an anti-static bag inside a small padded box, with nothing able to move. Insure it for what the files are worth rather than the price of the drive, and use a tracked service. The posting address is not printed anywhere on this site; it arrives by email in reply to the form, with a booking sheet to print; the sheet inside the parcel is what matches it to your enquiry when it is opened. Or hand the sealed parcel in at the nearest of ten drop-off points, your name on the outside and the sheet inside; say where you are on the form and it comes by email. We pay the postage home either way. The whole of it is written up on the guide to packing and posting.

What the message means on a Dell, HP and Lenovo OEM drives.

Describe yours to us →
What you see The usual reason Where that leaves you
A bare stick with a Dell, HP or Lenovo label and a maker's part numberAn OEM driveRecovered as the maker's drive
A blue BitLocker screen when the drive is movedDevice encryption was onThe 48-digit key
Not in the BIOS, or at the wrong sizeFirmware or controller fault with the flash intactRecovered through the original controller
Read-onlyFirmware protecting worn flash, or a documented firmware faultUsually fully readable
Health falling fast in the maker's toolReal wear, or a reporting faultBack up now; a warning, not yet a recovery
Dead after a firmware updateThe write stopped half-wayLoader in RAM; map from the service area

From the box arriving to your files going back.

Work we have closed →
01

Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free

A case number goes on it the day the parcel is opened, and an engineer settles what has actually failed before anything else happens. The drive is read on our own equipment, never in a computer that might send it a TRIM command. Back to you come two things together: a straight note of what is liftable and what is not, plus one figure, fixed and written down. Accept it, or decline and owe us nothing.

Nothing to pay for lookingA single figure, put in writingNo TRIM, no writes
02

Powered on our terms

Every power-on gives a failing SSD another chance to run its own housekeeping. Here the drive is brought up in the controller's diagnostic state instead, which lets the bench speak to the flash directly and keeps damaged firmware out of the conversation.

Vendor diagnostic modeNo hopeful reboots
03

Past the fault, to the map

Working code is loaded into the controller's memory rather than onto the flash, the service area is read, and the translation table is rebuilt from what is there. Where the controller itself is dead, the chips are read one by one and the controller's scrambling and error correction are undone in software.

Loader in RAM, never on the flashMapping tables put back together
04

A full image, then the volume

Nothing is worked on live. The whole drive is imaged once, weak pages retried in their own passes, and the file system is put back together on the image. Encrypted volumes are unlocked there too, with the key you supply, and never on the original.

One careful imageThe volume verified end to end
05

You see the file list before you pay

What was recovered is listed for you first, and only then does a bill exist. Approve the list and it is invoiced; turn it down and it is not — and where nothing has come back, most jobs carry no charge at all. Recovered data travels home on fresh media bought in for your job, with the postage at our end. Your case is not closed until you have opened the files on a machine of your own.

No charge until you accept the figureFresh media, supplied with the job3–5 days at the bench

From the bench

  • Photograph the label on the drive, not the laptop. The maker's part number is what we need.
  • Find the BitLocker key before you post. Business machines have it in the employer's directory; consumer ones in the Microsoft account.
  • In-house controllers encrypt in hardware, whether or not you ever set a password. The flash read on its own is ciphertext, so recovery runs through the original controller, which usually can be revived.
  • There is no third-party routine to borrow. The maker's own diagnostic state is the way in, and the bench knows it family by family.
  • Do not run the maker's tool on a drive already misbehaving. Its firmware update and its optimisation both write to the drive.

One job, followed all the way through.

UK · SDR-2026-0392JOB LOGGED ✓

A Dell Latitude that stopped charging, and the accounts for a year-end on the drive inside

The laptop was dead and the shop had quoted for a new board. The 2230 NVMe drive came out under one screw and came here alone. It was healthy. BitLocker had been on since setup; the recovery key was in the company's directory and the IT contact found it in ten minutes. The drive was imaged, the volume unlocked on the image, and the accounts went back on fresh media before the year-end.

100% of it recovered2 days here, and back by post
Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case

What helps, and what harms.

Do this much first

  • Power it off and leave it off
  • Note the firmware version if the maker's tool still shows it
  • Tell us whether BitLocker or FileVault was on
  • Send the bare drive

What sets us back

  • Running Secure Erase, optimisation or a firmware update
  • Letting Windows initialise it
  • Putting it in a USB enclosure to test
  • Sending it to a shop for a controller swap — it does not work that way

Questions answered before you commit.

Who made the SSD in my ThinkPad?

Usually SK hynix, Samsung, Kioxia, Micron or WD, under a Lenovo part number. Photograph the label on the drive and send it with the form; the maker's part number identifies it.

Do I need my BitLocker key?

Almost certainly. Business laptops have BitLocker on, and consumer ones signed into a Microsoft account usually have device encryption on. Find the key before you post.

What does it cost?

£300 + VAT for one drive after the free look, fixed in writing.

How long does it take?

3–5 days at the bench after the free look.

Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.

SK hynix →Kioxia →Samsung →The laptop is dead →Encrypted and locked →

Nothing gets worse while the power is off.

Looking at it is free. Back comes a list of what opened and what did not, together with a single price to finish, set down in writing while you are still free to say no. On most jobs an invoice only follows the data. Until that list reaches you, leave the drive switched off.

0800 6890668

Price my jobPacking and posting