My PC was working normally yesterday, but today it booted straight into the BIOS. The BIOS no longer detects my NVMe drive. I reseated the SSD and tested it in a different M.2 slot, but it still does not appear. It's a 2 TB TeamGroup MP44L that I've been using for several months. I've done some downloading and file transfers recently, though nothing unusually heavy yesterday. Is the drive probably dead, or is there anything else I should try?
2 Answers
You can inspect and gently clean the gold contacts before testing again. Use a clean, dry pencil eraser very lightly on the SSD contacts, then wipe away any residue; motherboard contacts should only be cleaned carefully with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol on a lint-free swab, with everything fully dry before powering on. Also check the BIOS storage settings and make sure the drive is firmly secured. If it still does not appear in BIOS, physical failure is more likely than a Windows issue.
If the drive remains completely undetected after being reseated and tested in another compatible slot, the SSD may have failed. It would help to check whether the motherboard detects it at all, test it in another computer or USB-to-NVMe enclosure if available, and confirm that the M.2 slots support NVMe drives. If it is not recognized anywhere, replacement or warranty service is likely the next step.
It’s a 2 TB TeamGroup MP44L, and I’ve only had it for a few months. I have downloaded and transferred files lately, but nothing that seemed excessive.