I recently moved from New Zealand to the UK and decided to disassemble my PC rather than pay for shipping. Now that I've rebuilt it in a new case, my M.2 SSD, which has my operating system, isn't being detected at all. I've checked both M.2 slots and made sure everything is connected correctly, but I can only access the BIOS—no Windows boot. A computer repair shop suggested sending it off for around £800, which sounds excessive, especially since the SSD has just been sitting in a plastic bag on a shelf since my move. Any advice would be really appreciated!
5 Answers
SSDs might lose data when they're powered off for a long time. You could try wiping it and doing a fresh Windows installation, but make sure you won't need another Windows key for that!
Did that plastic bag have anti-static properties? If it didn't, it could potentially cause issues. Just a thought!
No, it was just a regular bag.
You might want to toggle the CSM setting in your BIOS. Try turning it on or off, saving the changes, and then check again. Also, inspect the internals—maybe the drive got loose during your move or check the power/data cables.
Check if your drive shows up in the BIOS or boot list—sometimes settings like UEFI/CSM or MBR/GPT can cause issues. You might need to swap those settings around.
It doesn't show up at all! How do I change those settings?
Is your SSD a SATA type? Sometimes, only certain M.2 slots support it. If you have a mixed setup, ensure it’s in the right slot to be recognized.
I'll save that as a last resort!