Hi there,
As I'm not quite familiar with Data Recovery softwares, I run Disk Drill to recovery data from a formatted SSD. Would this action (which I believe is a lot of read clusters to clusters, with a few write maybe) cause any harm to my SSD, make it less reliable for future use?
Thanks
MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15
FYI, due to the way SSDs work internally data recovery software isn't of much use. You would be much better served by having regular system backups so if you do accidentally delete something or erase your drive, then you can easily retrieve the items from a backup. SSDs can fail at any time without any warning signs at all so backups are essential.
No, reading the SSD won't hurt it. Writing to an SSD is what causes wear to an SSD.
No. Reads have no effect on the longevity of an SSD. Writes do.
I am not an expert on the subject, but it seems to me that your recovery software is only scanning the hard drive for the file(s) you've identified. It then lists what has been found for you to recover or ignore. When a file has been deleted, its identifier is deleted, although the file remains on the HD until it gets written over by something else. This is how it might be found and recovered. (Or partially recovered.) Therefore, I don't think any damage is done to your disk. If, however, the recovery app somehow conflicts with other software or your OS, that is another matter. If concerned, you could do a search asking the question if the app is known to cause problems. I hope this is helpful to you.
however, the recovery app somehow conflicts with other software or your OS, that is another matte
Can you name one condition that it may conflict with other software or OS? The worst case is the software will not be able to use, but the hard drive would be totally undamaged and safe, right?
In my original post I mentioned it's not a delete but a format. And the focus here is not the data , but if such behavior would cause any damage to the hard drive.
When a file is deleted on the Terminal command-line, or via emptying the Trash, the operating system marks it as dirty, and reclaimable storage. If you continue to use the operating system, it will reuse the storage locations previously used by the removed file(s), and there will be no recovery at all. You may be wasting your time with Disk Drill.
If the deleted files were from Pages, Numbers, or Keynote, Disk Drill might be able to recover chunks of them, but only these applications can create the original document, and there is nothing available to consolidate pieces of these files into a usable document again.
The word recovery has historically meant deleted file content in these communities, thus my response. Disk Drill's advertising places focus on recoverying deleted files or missing partitions.
If Disk Drill is in the slightest incompatible with APFS filesystems in Catalina, you could be risking the integrity of your existing drive. I would at minimum back up with Time Machine, and or clone the drive with carbon copy cloner before attempting to use a third-party tool on the drive.
I run "Disk Drill" to my SSD, would this cause any harm?
