[SOLVED] m.2 Mysteriously Vanished

[Bloomyduke]

CPU: Intel i7-9700KF
Mobo: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4-3600
Hard Drive: WD Caviar Blue 1TB
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB
Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super 8GB Gaming X

While trying to set up my m.2, I clicked on the m.2 Optane memory option in my BIOS, and my m.2 vanished from my system. Before I had been able to see that the drive was there in the boot from screen, but not in explorer. I have no idea what happened or how to fix it. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bloomyduke]

Optane memory doesn't save your data like what SSD would do. It's a hardware used to cache files from your HDD to make it have a "SSD speed".
You may not see it on your system, but you can see how it affects your HDD. Try opening heavy apps in your HDD and see if whether with a Optane affects its speed than without a Optane memory

So if I was intending on using it for storage than I screwed myself by using the Optane?

 

[Bloomyduke]

Well, yes

Fantastic. I assume there is no way to recover that m.2?

 

[Bloomyduke]

As long as a Optane memory's using it, you can't see it on your System. Replacing it with a M.2 storage might make it appear (usually as a new Drive)

Do I need to physically re-install it, or is there a way to do that through the BIOS or via software?