[SOLVED] SSD unable to be recognized in the boot manager of the BIOS to start Windows 10 from my preferred boot device

[Brosen77]

I'm currently running into a seemingly known issue with my computer, but the exact issue I'm running into is difficult to find an answer online to fix my real problem (SSD unable to be recognized in the boot manager of the BIOS to start Windows 10 from my preferred boot device):

I have an X470 Gaming Pro Motherboard with 2 m_2 PCIe compatible slots and 6 SATA ports. About 3 months ago, I built my computer from scratch with a Force MP600 NVMe SSD in the m_2 slot closest to the CPU and also have an HDD plugged into 1 of the SATA ports using a SATA cable and it was working great with no issues at all. Randomly, after several months my computer just starts giving me the message: "boot device not recognized" or something along those lines and basically the computer isn't recognizing my SSD (where Windows 10 is installed) to boot my computer and have it start. The computer is perpetually going to that error message or redirecting me straight to the BIOS.

I look in the boot manager and the SSD is not listed:

• I try removing my current SSD and reapplying, still nothing.
• I put it in the other m_2 slot, still not showing up in the BIOS.
• I try using a completely new NVMe compatible SSD and still not showing.
• My HDD sometimes shows up and other times doesn't.
• I have tried updating some of the advanced settings based on the forums to disable CSM
• Enabled RAID in the advanced settings
• Tried the CTRL + ALT + DELETE and other basic troubleshooting methods
• I even tried another SATA cable for the HDD just because it wasn't being consistently recognized in the boot manager.

I'm not sure what's going on with the SSD since that's where my Windows 10 OS was located. So the next thing I did was install Windows 10 onto a USB compatible device and then I tried installing it to the HDD, but it wasn't being recognized when I tried changing my boot manager to prioritize the USB device first for installation purposes. I had to delete any partitions for the installation to work and I managed to get my computer to successfully startup using the HDD.

All of my games and stuff are located on the "broken" SSD and even with a WD750 SSD (brand new), that SSD was not recognized either. The confusing part for me is nothing had changed from when it was working to when it stopped working. The only possible thing that comes to mind is a corrupt file was exposed to that SSD (but even the new SSD with nothing on it is not recognized either) or a storm caused that piece of the MOBO to fry? Really unsure.

Everything seems to point to the PCIe m_2 slots in the motherboard, but I'm really not sure how to get my SSDs recognized so that I can continue using those since they're superior to an HDD w/ a SATA connection. Can anyone point me to a useful article with my known issue or may be able to help? I appreciate any and all help!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this regardless,

Scott

 

[pctech2005]

Boot to a working Windows install with the affected drive attached as secondary storage and run the sfc /scannow command from a command prompt run as administrator.

 

[Brosen77]

I deleted all partitions of my USB drive to allow me to follow the steps of installing Windows 10 and using my USB as the boot priority to get Windows 10 on my computer, but when I turned my computer back on, it now just redirects me straight to the BIOS. Does anyone know where I can locate the unallocated space I installed Windows 10 to? I can't seem to find it anywhere and not really sure where to look.

Just as a background, the primary reason I am doing this is because my SSD is not being recognized at any point during the boot cycle and all of my games and important files are on that SSD. The HDD also seems to be hidden for reasons I do not know, but I was told a solution on how to get the SSD to be recognized within the BIOS once again, but I cannot do that until I can get my OS up and running first, but when I deleted the partitions, I can't seem to find the space and I tried adding a new partition but that option doesn't show up either when prompted to download Windows 10 once again.

Appreciate any help!

 

[USAFRet]

Did you actually "install" Windows, or was this just trying to create the Windows 10 install on a USB?

Please read through here, and tell us what you did and where it failed.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Brosen77]

Boot to a working Windows install with the affected drive attached as secondary storage and run the sfc /scannow command from a command prompt run as administrator.

Thank you, once I can figure out how to get the Windows 10 reinstalled, I will do this. I deleted all partitions and then downloaded Windows 10 to an unallocated space on a USB thumb drive, but when I turned the computer on later, it redirected me straight to the BIOS again, which put me back where I started. I tried reinstalling Windows 10, but now the partitions are gone to install, and not even an unallocated space is available. Do you know where that unallocated space might be so I can at least get my computer to the point where I can follow your solution to get the SSD to show up once again?

 

[spidy2015]

Does this happen? Can windows be installed in unallocated space? I think it is not possible. This space doesn't show where you have the option to select the drive to install Windows 10. Anyhow, if you get it installed, then you cannot boot because the unallocated drive doesn't have a drive letter or physical address to address it.
I recommend that you clean all the unallocated space and create the partition and do a fresh reinstall windows.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Boot to a working Windows install with the affected drive attached as secondary storage and run the sfc /scannow command from a command prompt run as administrator.

That command is only good for the windows partition that it booted from. so in this case it makes no sense to boot into windows that works and run a check on that windows. If your SSD hasn’t failed and you’ve put a new one and then your motherboard has issues

Reset your bios and if that doesn’t work you have mobo issues

 

[Brosen77]

Well I managed to get Windows 10 to install successfully to my HDD. I performed the command sfc /scannow and did not have any corrupt files of any kind. Now my main issue is the PCIe SSD is still not appearing. I've tried disabling CSM, enabled RAID, installed the SSD to the other m_2 slot and during this time it'd be the only connected boot device, but still not showing up.

To give some context, my SSD and HDD connection had no issues for about 3 months (since I built the PC), but for unexpected reasons the SSD became invisible to the boot priorities and unsure how to fix. Currently, only the HDD is recognized and that's where Windows 10 is located for now so I am at least able to run my computer, but not through my SSD (I have another SSD as well that I installed to both m_2 slots but even the new PCIe SSD is unrecognized, which tells me something may be wrong with my settings or the m_2 slots in the motherboard?

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I would test that SSD in another computer and if it works then you know your motherboard has issues you have to start ruling things out with tests and it looks like you have hardware issues if no SSD appears in the BIOS

 

[USAFRet]

Does this happen? Can windows be installed in unallocated space? I think it is not possible.

Of course you can. Windows does the formatting during the install.

What do you think happens with a brand new drive out of the box?

 

[Amddefector]

From memory it goes something like there's no active partition on the selected drive! Do you want windows to create one for you? Then you either select yes and windows will create a partition, default being the full drive size minus the swap space or you select no and a message appears saying windows cannot be installed on this drive? If you boot from the usb media and start the installation again, select manual install and when you get to the drive options page it should show you what partitions you do or don't have on your hard drive.

Or do you mean you are trying to install windows to the usb drive? If so then you may need to go into your bios and go to boot options, depending on your motherboard/bios there's usually anoption to select the usb drive as a bootable drive and another option to select boot priority ie 1st DVD-RW 2nd usb 3rd hdd.

Be aware that you may want to disconnect your main drive before deleting creating partitions as this will rule out accidentally deleting/formatting it and losing all your data.

 

[Amddefector]

Another suggestion as I had this problem with mine. When I used the top pcie port for the graphics card. It kept conflicting with my nvme ssd! I moved my graphics card down to the next slot and not had any problems since.