My computer suddenly started opening the BIOS instead of booting into Windows from my Samsung SSD. I tried restarting several times and switching between UEFI and Legacy boot modes, but neither helped. The SSD is still visible in the BIOS. I also booted from a Windows installation USB and tried the repair tools, but System Restore and the other recovery options failed. In DiskPart, the drive reports "Current Read-only State: Yes," so I'm worried the SSD may have failed and entered a protective read-only mode. Is there anything else I should check before replacing the drive?
3 Answers
A clean Windows installation could fix corrupted boot files, but it requires deleting the existing partitions and formatting the drive, which destroys the data. Only try this after confirming you do not need the files and after checking the SSD’s health. If diagnostics report a failure, replace the drive rather than reinstalling Windows on it.
Check the one-time boot menu using the system’s boot-menu key, often F12, F8, or Esc. Look specifically for a “Windows Boot Manager” entry associated with the SSD. If the SSD appears but Windows Boot Manager does not, the EFI boot files or Windows installation may be damaged. If the drive is read-only or the boot files cannot be repaired, the SSD itself may be failing.
If possible, connect the SSD as a secondary drive in another Windows computer. Samsung’s diagnostic and firmware utility can check its health, firmware, warranty status, and whether the drive is failing. The read-only state can be a sign of a serious SSD problem, but it is not by itself conclusive. If the data matters, avoid formatting or repeated repair attempts and copy or recover it first.
I don’t have another computer available, so replacing the drive may be the practical option. I’ll try to preserve anything important before doing that.