I have a corrupted SSD on my HP Omen, and I rushed to replace it with a WD Passport external SSD that connects via USB-A to USB-C. I'm hoping to use this external SSD with my computer instead of an internal one, but I'm not sure if it'll work the same way. I also need to know if there's anything specific I should do since the internal SSD is having issues and I suspect it's corrupted. Both SSDs are 1TB, but can I really rely on using the external one?
3 Answers
I'm curious about how your drive became corrupted. Have you had issues before? And about BitLocker, remember that without the recovery key, you're stuck! Decrypting can take forever, so it's crucial to have that key handy. What's the backstory here?
Yes, you can use an external SSD, but keep in mind that the speed will heavily depend on the connection type, and USB connections can be slower than internal slots. It’s generally not recommended to run your system from an external drive, especially for booting. If you can access another computer, it might be worth removing the internal one and connecting it to see if you can format or reinstall Windows fresh. Just a heads up, operating systems run best when installed on internal drives!
Using an external SSD can work, but it won't be as fast as an internal SSD. If you're planning on using the external one as your boot drive, you'll need to ensure it's bootable and select it during startup each time. If your internal SSD is truly corrupted, you'll need to figure out what's wrong with it before going external. Can you clarify what you mean by 'corrupted'? Is it not booting at all, or are the files jumbled? We need a bit more detail here to help you out!
I tried making a bootable USB but I had BitLocker enabled on the original drive and it won't let me disable it in the recovery mode, so I'm kind of locked out right now. I think the internal drive is corrupted because I can't unlock BitLocker to reinstall Windows 11. Honestly, I'm still learning this stuff and might've messed up a few steps.
If I remove the internal SSD, will it automatically switch to booting from the external SSD, or would that mess everything up?
I heard that using an external drive as the main one can be pretty slow; it might not give you the performance you want.