Guide to restore failed Intel SSD G2!

[djkilla]

After having my SSD fail after the 1.4 firmware update, I was able to recover with a little research.

This worked for me and I now have my SSD back with no SMART errors and everything working perfectly including TRIM.

1) Download 'Bootable ISO HDDErase 3.3' file (4.0 does not work on Intel SSDs) at the following location (half-way down the page) and burn it to CD:
http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2009/8/13_Erasing_an_SSD.html

2) Set your bios settings from AHCI to IDE/Legacy IDE and make sure your first boot is set to CD/DVD drive. For more info look here:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f78/run...refresh-required-35229/index2.html#post327951

3) Insert your CD with the 'Bootable ISO HDDErase 3.3' you made earlier and reboot. When you get to the DOS prompt, type HDDErase to start the program. For more info, look here:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669&type=expert&pid=6

4) When you're done, remove the CD and restart your computer back into your bios and change your settings back to AHCI.

5) Insert your Windows 7 installation disk and reboot your computer. Start the install and choose custom install. When you see your SSD drive it should be completely empty (for my 80GB it shows around 75GB). Highlight the drive and click delete to remove the partition and continue to install.

6) Congratulations! You should be up and running.

 

[vista_blista]

Great job. Anand will probably cut-and-paste and claim this as his. Or maybe Fudzilla.

 

[isp]

Great job. Anand will probably cut-and-paste and claim this as his. Or maybe Fudzilla.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669&type=expert&pid=6

 

[TheSpoon]

Great job. Anand will probably cut-and-paste and claim this as his. Or maybe Fudzilla.

What are you referring to?

 

[nsx241]

This was posted a while before. It worked for some (me), but didn't work for others.

 

[djkilla]

This was posted a while before. It worked for some (me), but didn't work for others.

It took me a couple of tries to get it just right but everything's working great now. No problems at all! One of the problems was just simply making my DVD-RW the first boot drive instead of the harddrive. After reading the links and following closely to the directions, I've now got my sanity back.