SSD Driver Just Disappeared … anyone had this happen?

General Forum
1

Hey everyone – so my SSD just disappeared out of nowhere. I’ve had it for about 2 years with no problems, but now it’s not showing up anywhere except one spot.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

  • Reconnected all cables
  • Reconnected RAM
  • Reconnected the graphics card
  • Updated all drivers
  • Last windows update was on 11/17, and it was working fine until yesterday

The SSD still shows up fine in Disk Manager, but it’s completely gone everywhere else. There’s not even a folder. Disk Manager says everything’s up to date, though. Weird.

I checked Disk Management and it’s not showing up there either.

I’m on Windows 11 Pro, and the drive is a PNY CS1311 240GB.

Any ideas? Could it be the cables causing this?

2

Making changes to your BIOS or disk setup can cause data loss. Always check your backups first before changing anything.

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3

Sounds like a typical SSD failure, where it just dies suddenly. It seems like you’ve already tried a lot of the right things, but make sure you follow up on the suggestions in the top comment.

Look up the SSD model, some of them go into a read-only mode temporarily.

Hopefully, you have a backup of your data!

4

@CathyGenesis
Exactly.

5

@CathyGenesis
Thanks! I’ll definitely check the top comment. Do you have any advice on a good backup system for an SSD? Should I use cloud storage or another external drive?

Luckily, it’s just a bunch of steam games, so nothing super important.

6

@Ari
It depends on your needs and budget. I prefer an automatic system. Personally, I do both cloud backups and local backups to a NAS.

7

I’m dealing with a similar problem!!
Except it won’t let me access my C:\ drive and says I’m not the Administrator…

8

It shows up still in Disk Manager

I checked Disk Management and it isn’t there either.

These two are not the same thing, right? Or do you mean Device Manager? Sounds like your SSD might be dead. A lot of times when an SSD fails, it just happens out of the blue.

9

  1. Check Disk Management closely:

    • Open Disk Management (Win + X > Disk Management).
    • Look for your SSD and check:
    • Is it online? If not, right-click and select ‘Online.’
    • Does it have a partition? If not, it might need reformatting (but that will erase everything).

  2. Run CheckDisk (CHKDSK):

    • Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
    • Run: chkdsk X: /f /r (replace X with your SSD’s letter).
    • This will check for file system issues or bad sectors.

  3. Update Drivers:

    • Open Device Manager (Win + X > Device Manager).
    • Expand the Disk Drives section.
    • Right-click your SSD and choose ‘Update Driver.’
    • You can also uninstall it, restart, and let Windows reinstall it.

  4. Check BIOS/UEFI:

    • Restart and enter BIOS/UEFI (usually F2, F12, or Del on boot).
    • See if the SSD is listed in the BIOS.
    • If not, there could be a hardware issue.

  5. Test the SSD in Another System:

    • If you can, try connecting the SSD to another computer.
    • This will help you see if the issue is with your PC or the SSD itself.

  6. Try Different Cables/Ports:

    • Swap the SATA cable or try a different port.
    • If it’s an M.2 drive, reseat it and check for any dust.

10

@Baylen
Thanks for all that, ChatGPT. That was totally unhelpful.