I was cloning my current, smaller boot drive to a larger SSD using DiskGenius. The process appeared to be working normally, but suddenly failed with an error saying the destination SSD no longer existed. The computer and cables were not moved, and changing the cable made no difference.
The drive still appears in Disk Management, but only as "Unknown," "Not Initialized," and with no reported capacity. DiskPart's `list disk` shows it as 0 B, and attempting to clean it makes the drive disappear entirely. Is the SSD dead, or is there anything else I can try before returning it?
3 Answers
If this SSD is inside an external enclosure or was bought from an unfamiliar seller, there’s also a chance it’s counterfeit. Some fake drives report a large capacity but contain far less storage, then fail once enough data is written. However, even without that possibility, a brand-new SSD showing 0 bytes should be returned rather than trusted.
That strongly suggests the SSD itself has failed. If DiskPart can only see the device as 0 bytes, the drive’s controller or flash storage is likely no longer reporting its capacity correctly. You can check it with a drive-health tool such as CrystalDiskInfo, but since it’s new, returning or RMAing it is the sensible option.
Poor cooling can cause storage devices to shut down during heavy writes, especially if the drive has no heatsink or airflow. You could let it cool completely and test it in another slot or system, but if it still reports 0 bytes, treat it as defective and replace it. Don’t use it for important data.
Exactly—when the operating system sees the device but gets a capacity of 0 bytes, formatting or cleaning won’t fix it. The drive is reporting the problem at the hardware level.