My SSD is asking to be formatted or making Windows freeze. What should I try first?

If you need the files, do not format the drive, initialize it, or run repair tools that write changes to it. Stop trying to open it repeatedly, since freezes and forced shutdowns add little useful information.

Power the computer fully off, then check the SSD’s data and power connections. If it still acts up, try another cable or port, or test the drive in another system. If the data is valuable and the SSD keeps disconnecting or vanishing, a data recovery professional is safer than experimenting.

First figure out where the drive is visible. Check the BIOS or UEFI and Windows Disk Management, but don’t accept any prompt to format or initialize it. If it appears in neither place, that points more toward a connection or drive hardware issue than a Steam problem.

A loose SATA cable can cause symptoms like this, so reseating both the data and power connectors is a reasonable first check. If it comes back, copy important files elsewhere before doing more tests. An intermittent drive is not something I’d trust with the only copy of anything.

When Windows reports 100% active time and Explorer hangs, that doesn’t by itself prove the SSD is completely dead. A bad connection or a drive repeatedly timing out can make ordinary file access stall. The install may have exposed the problem without being the underlying cause.

Once the connection is checked, look at the drive’s health information only if it stays connected long enough to read it. If it drops out again, prioritise copying data or recovery over repeated scans. System file checks are aimed at Windows files, so they usually won’t fix a separate games drive.

Keep the troubleshooting simple for now: shut down, reseat the cables, then check whether the SSD shows up consistently after starting again. If it does, back up anything you care about before testing further. If it doesn’t, test a different cable or port rather than repeatedly launching games or opening the drive.

Formatting might make a drive usable again in some cases, but it can make recovering existing files harder. Treat that prompt as a warning, not a recommended fix.