[SOLVED] Is my SSD drive dead or just inaccessible?

[Long Con]

I've been trying to get to the bottom of a Windows 11 PC that stopped being able to boot a couple of weeks ago. It's looking like the SSD drive that contained Windows is either dead or not accessible.

How can I tell which it is? If there's a way to restore access, that would be great, or if it's dead I would like to get a replacement.

If I'm getting a replacement, I would appreciate some more experienced help in choosing the right drive, in order to avoid compatibility issues or something similar.

 

[Lutfij]

Make and model of your SSD? Have you tried dropping the assumed culprit SSD into a donor system to see if that shows up in donor system's BIOS and OS disk management tool?

 

[Satan-IR]

Please list your full system specifications including make and model of:
Motherboard:
CPU:
RAM:
Graphics Card:
Power Supply:
Storage:

No boot to Windows 11? Does the system POST?

Does the BIOS see/recognize the SSD? Checked the SSD in another PC by any chance to see if it's recogized in BIOS or OS?

If I'm getting a replacement, I would appreciate some more experienced help in choosing the right drive, in order to avoid compatibility issues or something similar.

Knowing what you already have might help but if it comes down to replacement I'd suggest a Samsung or Cruicial SSD.

 

[SkyNetRising]

How can I tell which it is? If there's a way to restore access, that would be great, or if it's dead I would like to get a replacement.

Connect your SSD to another working pc ant test it.

Or install windows on another drive.

 

[Long Con]

Please list your full system specifications including make and model of:
Motherboard:
CPU:
RAM:
Graphics Card:
Power Supply:
Storage:

No boot to Windows 11? Does the system POST?

Does the BIOS see/recognize the SSD? Checked the SSD in another PC by any chance to see if it's recogized in BIOS or OS?


Knowing what you already have might help but if it comes down to replacement I'd suggest a Samsung or Cruicial SSD.

This is what I have: https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c06417174

I don't have an easy donor computer to access to see if the SSD drive works. I could try to see who I know that has a PC with an SSD slot.

Not boot to Windows 11, that's right, but what do you mean "does the system POST"? I would say no it doesn't.

This specifically is the SSD in question.

 

[Satan-IR]

This is what I have: https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c06417174

I don't have an easy donor computer to access to see if the SSD drive works. I could try to see who I know that has a PC with an SSD slot.

Not boot to Windows 11, that's right, but what do you mean "does the system POST"? I would say no it doesn't.

This specifically is the SSD in question.

POST = Power On Self Test. System powers on and you have display? But no Windows boot right? Any error messages?

If it POSTs see if you can you enter BIOS and if BIOS sees the SSD. If I'm not mistaken in HP PCs you have to press Esc or F10 while system POSTs.

I'd also try disabling fast startup. You can follow link here for more info.

 

[Long Con]

POST = Power On Self Test. System powers on and you have display? But no Windows boot right? Any error messages?

If it POSTs see if you can you enter BIOS and if BIOS sees the SSD. If I'm not mistaken in HP PCs you have to press Esc or F10 while system POSTs.

I'd also try disabling fast startup. You can follow link here for more info.

Yeah, I can get into the HP Setup Utility, and I don't see the SSD there either. Nor with a USB boot of Windows 11 to get to the Windows Repair Environment. Nor with the command prompt within, though I did verify that my other drive is ok, and backed up my files just in case.

 

[mdd1963]

Have you tried at least reseating the M.2 SSD in question? (with power completely removed, of course)

At some point, you will need to check if that SSD is recognized in another system (not sure if they gave you an NVME or SATA spec SSD, as the Newegg link of what you said you have is not functioning for me), or, test with a new M.2 of your own choosing...; somewhere in there, you should have your answer. (Given it's age, with 9700 CPU from 3 years ago, likely no longer under HP's warranty, but, double check!)

 

[Long Con]

Have you tried at least reseating the M.2 SSD in question? (with power completely removed, of course)

At some point, you will need to check if that SSD is recognized in another system (not sure if they gave you an NVME or SATA spec SSD, as the Newegg link of what you said you have is not functioning for me), or, test with a new M.2 of your own choosing...; somewhere in there, you should have your answer. (Given it's age, with 9700 CPU from 3 years ago, likely no longer under HP's warranty, but, double check!)

I have tried reseating the SSD, with the power off and grounding myself first.

Not sure what happened with that link. It's a Toshiba KBG30ZMV256G 256GB SSD M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive - OEM. https://www.newegg.com/p/0D9-001U-00274

Yeah, it's out of warranty. I don't know much at all about the right replacement SSD. The term 'M.2' is today years old for me, and I don't know what it signifies, so the idea of "a new M.2 of my choosing" feels like I'd be throwing a dart and hoping to get the right one.

If you can link me to something and say "this will work, this is a sensible and generally equivalent replacement that will work", I would be grateful. I would Amazon Prime it to me by tomorrow.

 

[Karadjgne]

Try diskpart from a Command Prompt. You can reach that through the troubleshoot/repair window. Start pc, then immediately after post pull the plug. Do that 3x. On the 4th attempt it should boot to repair window. In advanced I believe is the command prompt. Diskpart will at least show if the drive is even there, recognised as working. If you haven't tried a windows repair, could try that from the repair window too

 

[dwd999]

I've been trying to get to the bottom of a Windows 11 PC that stopped being able to boot a couple of weeks ago. It's looking like the SSD drive that contained Windows is either dead or not accessible.

How can I tell which it is? If there's a way to restore access, that would be great, or if it's dead I would like to get a replacement.

If I'm getting a replacement, I would appreciate some more experienced help in choosing the right drive, in order to avoid compatibility issues or something similar.

A few thoughts: it helps to determine whether its hardware or software, If possible download a linux live distro, load it onto a usb and boot that usb. If it successfully boots you can see if you have access to the problem drive. You may be able to delete the existing partitions and perform a fresh install of windows. Alternately you could get an external m.2 enclosure (e.g. Sabrent EC-SNVE) and load the drive into that. If the drive is still functional you could reformat it and try a fresh windows install; if not the drive is probably dead. A lot of us use these m.2 drives:

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-970-evo-plus-500gb/p/N82E16820147742?quicklink=true

which have proven reliable.

 

[Long Con]

Try diskpart from a Command Prompt. You can reach that through the troubleshoot/repair window. Start pc, then immediately after post pull the plug. Do that 3x. On the 4th attempt it should boot to repair window. In advanced I believe is the command prompt. Diskpart will at least show if the drive is even there, recognised as working. If you haven't tried a windows repair, could try that from the repair window too

I have tried that, and diskpart could not see the drive.

A few thoughts: it helps to determine whether its hardware or software, If possible download a linux live distro, load it onto a usb and boot that usb. If it successfully boots you can see if you have access to the problem drive. You may be able to delete the existing partitions and perform a fresh install of windows. Alternately you could get an external m.2 enclosure (e.g. Sabrent EC-SNVE) and load the drive into that. If the drive is still functional you could reformat it and try a fresh windows install; if not the drive is probably dead. A lot of us use these m.2 drives:

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-970-evo-plus-500gb/p/N82E16820147742?quicklink=true

which have proven reliable.

I tried the linux live distro, it also could not see the drive. I'm gonna call it dead, and I just ordered the Samsung one you recommended.

Thank you so much for your help!