I sometimes disconnect my external SSD without safely ejecting it, and I'm worried that may have damaged or corrupted it. My laptop detects the drive in Device Manager, but it doesn't appear in File Explorer. In Disk Management, it shows up as "Unknown" and "Not Initialized." I have screenshots of the drive's status and Disk Management results. What should I check or try next without risking the data on the SSD?
1 Answer
If the SSD is a SanDisk model, install the SanDisk Dashboard utility and check the Status tab. It should show the drive’s health, firmware information, and any warnings. That may help determine whether the problem is logical corruption, a hardware failure, or something that needs a warranty claim. Avoid initializing or formatting the drive if you need the files, since those actions could make data recovery more difficult.
Is this the SanDisk Dashboard application you mean? I want to make sure I’m checking the correct utility before changing anything.