I tried adding another M.2 SSD for storage to my MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI DDR4 system. Windows 11 is installed on the first M.2 slot, and I also have several SATA drives connected. After installing and formatting the new drive, the computer became extremely sluggish. I removed the drive, but now booting usually hangs at the MSI logo with the spinning circle, followed by "Preparing automatic repair." Occasionally Windows starts, but loading anything can take several minutes, and shutdowns or restarts may hang as well.
I disabled fast-boot options in the firmware, disconnected USB devices, and reset the JBAT1 pins. The BIOS was updated about two months ago. Could the additional M.2 slot be disabling or conflicting with some SATA ports? What should I check next?
1 Answer
Start by completely removing the new M.2 drive and disconnecting the nonessential SATA drives. Then enter the firmware setup, load the default settings, confirm that the original Windows drive is detected and selected as the first boot device, and test again. Some motherboard M.2 slots share lanes with specific SATA ports, so installing a drive can make those ports unavailable or create confusing storage behavior. Check the motherboard manual to see which SATA connectors are disabled when each M.2 slot is populated, and move any affected cables if necessary.
If the system is still slow with only the Windows drive attached, check the drive’s health and run Windows recovery or startup repair. The new drive may also be defective, but removing it should normally restore booting unless the storage configuration or Windows installation was affected.
The BIOS was updated recently, but the machine worked normally until the new drive was installed. The M.2 slots may not share bandwidth directly, though one of them can still disable particular SATA connectors. I’d check the slot and SATA-port layout in the manual before changing RAM or removing the CPU cooler.