My PC was working normally yesterday, but today it started directly in the BIOS. The BIOS no longer detects my NVMe drive. I reseated the SSD and also tried it in a different M.2 slot, but it still doesn't appear. It's a 2 TB TeamGroup MP44L that I've been using for a few months. I've done some downloading and file transfers recently, though nothing unusually heavy yesterday. Is the drive likely dead, or is there anything else I should try?
2 Answers
You can carefully clean the SSD’s gold contacts and the motherboard connector area, then reinstall it firmly and test again. A clean, dry pencil eraser can be used very gently on the drive contacts, followed by removing any residue. For the motherboard side, use a small amount of isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab and let everything dry completely before powering on. If it still isn’t detected in either slot, the drive itself is probably faulty.
If the drive remains completely missing after reseating it and testing another M.2 slot, hardware failure is unfortunately possible. Try the SSD in another computer or use a compatible USB NVMe enclosure to confirm whether the drive is detected anywhere. Since it’s a TeamGroup MP44L 2 TB that has only been in use for a few months, check whether it’s still covered by warranty before attempting anything risky.
It has been working for a few months, and I’ve done some downloading and transferring, but nothing that seemed excessive. I’ll try testing it in another system if I can.