I'm having a frustrating issue with my laptop where I need to reinstall Windows 11 using a USB drive, but my 500 GB NVMe SSD doesn't show up during the installation process. I encountered some issues before, like Windows trying to repair itself and showing watchdog errors. I thought it might be due to a full storage after downloading movies just before going on a trip. I ended up formatting the SSD, but that hasn't helped and may have made things worse. I have an HP Pavilion x360 with an Intel i5 processor, Intel Iris graphics, and 8 GB RAM. Is there something I might be missing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
It sounds like you might need to load the storage drivers for your laptop so that the Windows installer can see your NVMe SSD. Here’s a quick rundown:
1. Search for the NVMe storage driver specific to your laptop model.
2. Download it and extract the contents to another USB drive.
3. Start the Windows installation; when prompted, you'll have the option to load drivers—point it to the USB with the drivers.
4. Your NVMe drive should then appear and you can continue with the installation.
There's also an HP cloud recovery tool that can create an installer with all the necessary drivers included, but usually, that’s overkill. Good luck!
Exactly! Let me know how it goes!
This could be a sign of a failing SSD. Sometimes when they’re on their way out, issues like this pop up. If possible, you might want to remove the drive and connect it to another computer with an NVMe enclosure to run some diagnostics on it. Just to see if it's failing or if there's another problem.
Creating a drive partition might be necessary, especially if you're okay with wiping everything on your SSD. But first, just make sure your SSD is recognized in the BIOS settings. If you want to create a partition during installation:
1. Boot from the Windows USB.
2. Open the command prompt by pressing Shift+F10.
3. Use `diskpart` to manage your disks.
4. Make sure to select your SSD and create a new partition if needed.
Just be careful: using clean will erase everything!
Unfortunately, the Windows installer doesn't see my SSD at all; it only lists my USB drive.
If it’s not showing up in the installer, partitioning won’t help. It might be a deeper issue.
So I just need to find the drivers online and stick them on a USB to load during installation?