While watching a stream, my computer suddenly blue-screened and restarted. It now displays "Checking media presence," followed by "Start PXE over IPv4" and "Start PXE over IPv6," as if it is trying to boot over the network. In the BIOS, enabling CSM makes my hard drive appear, but selecting it results in "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key." Windows is installed on a separate SSD, but that drive does not appear in the BIOS boot settings at all. The computer was bought used from a friend, so I'm not very experienced with troubleshooting hardware. What should I check to determine whether the SSD is disconnected, faulty, or still recoverable?
3 Answers
If the SSD becomes visible again but Windows still crashes, then it would be worth investigating the blue-screen cause using the crash dumps in C:WindowsMinidump. However, dump-file analysis is not the first step while the drive is completely missing from BIOS. Confirm that the motherboard detects the SSD before attempting software repairs or changing boot settings.
The fact that enabling CSM makes the hard drive appear does not necessarily mean it contains the Windows installation. It may simply be the only storage device the firmware can currently detect. The important issue is that the SSD containing Windows is missing from BIOS, so Windows cannot start from it. Check the physical connection first, then see whether the SSD is detected in the BIOS storage or information section rather than only in the boot-order menu. If it is absent everywhere, the drive or its connection is probably the problem.
The PXE messages usually mean the motherboard cannot find a bootable local drive, so it falls back to trying a network boot. Since the SSD has disappeared from the BIOS entirely, start by shutting the computer down, unplugging it, and reseating the drive. For a SATA SSD, reconnect both the data cable and the power cable, and try another SATA port or cable if available. For an M.2 drive, remove and reinstall it securely in its slot. If it still does not appear in the BIOS after that, the SSD may have failed and should be tested in another computer or with a suitable adapter.
Thanks, I’ll open the case and check the connections when I have some time.
That helps clarify it—the hard drive showing up may not mean it is the Windows boot drive. I’ll check whether the SSD appears anywhere else in the BIOS.