When connected, the ssd does not see it. The computer does not see the SSD drive after connecting: identifying the problem and solution

Development of technologies in the field computer hardware made it possible to achieve maximum performance and durability from any parts necessary for the operation of the device. Another issue is compatibility. It often happens that a completely new part, tested by many users, simply refuses to work properly. Or it is not located by the system at all. One of these situations is that the computer does not see new SSD-disk.

It is worth noting that this type parts are often purchased due to increased levels of performance, reliability, low energy consumption and some other parameters. Most often installed as system disk. However, even this can fail.

This material will talk about why this can happen and what to do about it.

Why might this happen?

A computer is a complex system. Therefore, in order to determine what exactly led to the appearance of this or that problem, you need to dig deep inside the system unit or laptop. And then, the answer will not always be received. In the case when the computer does not see the SSD disk, the causes of the error may be the following:

the device is missing a letter;
it has not been initialized;
present on disk hidden sections;
file system parts are incompatible with the operating room Windows system;
Often the cause may be incorrectly configured BIOS settings;
You should also not exclude the fact that if the computer does not see the M2 SSD, the media itself may be physically damaged;
connection parts may also be damaged motherboard and the device itself.

Let's take a closer look at everything possible reasons and ways to solve them.

The drive letter is missing

In the “My Computer” section, where all drives connected to the computer are displayed, you can always see what letter or name each of them has. However, there are times when the letter is missing and the SSD is not visible in My Computer. To solve the problem, you need to make sure that the device has a name. More on how to do this below.

How to assign a drive letter?

In order to perform this operation, you must use the "Run" function.

On your keyboard, press the key combination “Win” and “R”. In the window that appears, enter the phrase "compmgmt.msc".
This will take you to Disk Management.

Right-click on the line of the required SSD. IN context menu select the option to change the drive letter or path.
As soon as a new window appears, click on the “change” button.
Select a letter from the list that will not coincide with any other letter already on the computer.
Click the "OK" button.

As a result of these actions, the problem that the computer does not see the SSD will be solved.

Device not initialized

Sometimes the following problem can occur: absolutely new disk, without any damage, when connected to a computer it is not visible to the system. In this case, it may appear uninitialized. So, to fix this error, you need to follow all the steps given below.

How to initialize a disk?

The solution to this problem must again begin by activating the "Run" function.

On your keyboard, press the "Win" and "R" keys. In the window that appears, enter "compmgmt.msc".
In the Disk Management program menu, find the required drive in the list on the right and right-click on it. In the pop-up menu, activate the line
Make sure the box named "Disk 1" is checked.
Place a marker next to the item where MBR or GPT is mentioned. But before that you need to decide. If you have Windows 7 or earlier releases of Windows 10, you should select the Master Boot Record. If you always update your operating system to latest version, then place a marker on the table with GUID partitions.
As soon as this procedure will be completed, you can create new section on SSD. To do this, click on the disk and activate the function to create a simple volume. After this, a specialized wizard will open.
Here you need to click on the next button.
The volume size is now specified. The options may be as follows: the volume will be equal to the size of the entire disk or it will occupy a small part of it.
Once the required volume is selected, click the "Next" button.
On next stage a drive letter is assigned. This is almost the very end of the solution to the problem when the computer does not see the new SSD. It is necessary to choose so that new letter did not match the one already assigned.
Now you need to do formatting. Leave all recommended values unchanged.
Enable option quick formatting.
Click "Done".

After execution of this algorithm, the problem that the computer does not see the SSD will be solved.

A hidden partition has appeared on the disk

Having a hidden SSD partition is another reason for this problem to occur. This can happen when the volume was opened using third party programs, in order to prohibit access to data. To solve this problem, you will need to use the MiniToolPartition Wizard.

How to remove a hidden partition from a disk?

First you need to download this application to your computer. You can do this on the official website or torrent tracker.

as soon as the program has been downloaded and installed, it is launched;
Right-click on the drive you are looking for;
select the Unhide partition function in the pop-up menu;
after that, assign a letter to the hidden section and agree to apply the changes;
The last step is to check the Explorer window to see if hidden sections are displayed.

There are no partitions on the disk

Another reason why the computer does not see the SSD after connecting may be the absence of partitions. This can happen with a new drive or one that has not been used for a long time. Damage may result system file, infection with a virus or violation of the rules for using the device.

Often, when such a situation arises, it is recommended to initialize the disk. However, there is a high chance that you will lose all the data stored on it.

How to fix missing partition error?

If the computer does not see the M2 SSD due to missing volumes, then you should again use the previously mentioned MiniToolPartition Wizard program:

After launching it, select the disk you are looking for and go to the "Check Disk" menu, activate the line " Partition Recovery".
Here you need to select the disk scanning range. Among the options "Full Disk", "Unallocated space" and "Specified Range", select the first option and proceed further through the program.
Now you need to select a quick or full disk scan. In the first case, partitions that were hidden or deleted will be restored. The second option will scan all sectors of the previously selected range.
As soon as the scan is completed, a list of results will open in the form of found sections.
Select the ones you need and complete the operation. Afterwards you need to confirm the start of the recovery process.
As a result of these actions, the disk should appear in the Explorer menu.

BIOS program error

Another reason why the computer does not see the SSD (No. 1, 3/4) may be incorrect settings"BIOS". IN in this case solving the problem involves analyzing several directions at once, since there are many options for why the BIOS leads to such an error.

Incorrect SATA mode or completely disabled

To fix this error, you must perform the following steps:

Go to BIOS program. This is done when the computer starts, using a specific key.
Activate the advanced settings mode using the F7 button or the “advanced” parameter. Confirm the transition to a specific mode.
In the same tab, find the configuration of the built-in devices. Click on the Serial Port Configuration line.
In the Serial Port line, check the value of the switch. It should be "on". Otherwise, go to the parameter and install this option.

Incorrectly configured BIOS settings

This may also be the reason why the computer does not see the SSD. You can check by the system date value. If it does not correspond to the real data, then a failure has occurred. To correct the situation, you need to reset all settings:

First, the computer is disconnected from the network.
If we are talking about a stationary device, remove the wall of the system unit. If the problem occurs on a laptop, unscrew the bottom cover.
On motherboard There is a small battery, near which there is a CLRTC toggle switch.
Switch it to position 2-3 and wait half a minute. Then return it back to 1-2.
You can also simply remove the battery itself and return it to its place after the same period of time.

Cable damage

Another possible malfunction could be a damaged SATA cable. To make sure your guesses are correct or unreliable, you need to check all connections between the drive and the motherboard. All wires should lie flat and without strong bends. They can cause internal damage to the cable. And if this happens, then it should be replaced.

To connect SATA devices without problems, it is recommended to use cords that are longer than one meter.

Damage to the drive itself

If all the above methods did not have any effect and the computer does not see the SSD drive after connecting, you should carefully inspect it for any external damage. If there are none, you should return the device under warranty (if it is new). Many stores check returned items, so you can find out whether the problem is with the disk or part of your computer.

If the SSD is old enough, you should take care of replacing it as soon as possible.

Do you want to connect extra hard disk to the computer, but the system does not see it?
If you buy new computer or laptop, then there hard drive is displayed, but if you buy a hard drive separately, it is not visible to the system.
Not everyone knows that the hard drive is formatted, and only after that it becomes visible.
About how to format new hard this article will tell you about the drive.

Checking if everything is ready

1. Connect the hard drive.
As you can see, the power is connected and sata cable also connected.

(Figure 1)

2. Check if he can see it windows hard disk.
Open “My Computer” and see that hard drive No.
In the figure below we see only one hard drive on which the Windows operating system is installed.

(Figure 2)

Formatting the hard drive: creating two logical drives

1. Go to the control panel.

If you have Windows 7, then click “Start / Control Panel”.
In Windows 8, in the My Computer window, on the “Computer” tab, click the “Open Control Panel” button.

(Figure 3)

(Figure 4)

3. In the next window, click “Create and format hard sections disk."

(Figure 5)

4. The Disk Management window appears and a message asks you to choose how we will use the hard drive.
Click "OK" and select "Basic" boot record" so that you can install Windows on this hard drive.

click - ok

(Figure 6)

5. Move the cursor to the lower right corner of the “Disk Management” window and when the cursor changes and becomes multi-directional arrows, click left button mouse and drag down.
This way we increase the window size.
With all the contents of the window available, you can now see that there is only one 118.90GB drive at the top of the window
At the bottom of the window we see a 931.51GB (1 terabyte) hard drive, which is at the moment not visible by the system, since its capacity is not allocated.

(Figure 7)

6. Move the cursor to the strip indicating the disk and right-click. In the context menu, select “Create a simple volume”.

(Figure 8)

7. After clicking, the “Create a Simple Volume Wizard” window appears. Here we click the “Next” button.

(Figure 9)

8. In the next window, enter the size of the future logical drive and click “Next”.

In the figure below we see the hard drive capacity is 953857 MB. If we want to divide the hard drive in half, then 953857/2 and it turns out that we need to enter the number 476928 MB into the form. If we want hard drive C to be 300GB, then we need to enter the number in megabytes 300*1024 = 307200 MB.
In the remaining free space we will create another logical drive later.

(Figure 10)

9. We give the system the right to select a drive letter and click “Next”.

(Figure 11)

10. In the next window, we also leave everything as the system selected and click “Next”.

There is no need to change the file system, since your operating system works with the NTFS file system.

(Figure 12)

11. To close the window with information about the completion of creating the first logical drive, click the “Finish” button.

button - done

(Figure 13)

12. We return again to the “Disk Management” window, which we opened in step 3 and did not close.
Here we move the cursor again and free space on the strip indicating the new hard drive and right-clicking to open the context menu.
Select “Create simple volume”.

(Figure 14)

13. The creation wizard window appears simple volumes, with which we are already familiar.
We repeat steps 6 - 7 in the window the number you need will be entered indicating the entire remaining volume - 10.
In general, it is easy to see that you just need to click “Next” and “Done”.

14. After creating the second logical drive, simply close the “Disk Management” window.
If a reboot is required in Windows 7, then reboot the computer.

15. Checking appearance of hard disk.
Open “My Computer” and see two more logical drive that we created.

(Figure 15)

If you have questions, doubts or something remains unclear, write in the comments.

Increasingly widespread among users personal computers receive solid state drives (SSD) or so-called. external hard drives. These devices have greater mobility than conventional hard drives installed inside a computer case. Many external drives can connect to standard PC USB ports, which is very convenient when you need to transport large amounts of data. SSDs like these are essentially just regular USB devices, and they can have the same problems as any other similar hardware.

Basic SSD faults

An external drive may not be recognized by your computer for a variety of reasons. The most common faults are:

Problems with the operating system, including driver failures, malware, incorrectly configured system parameters etc.
Errors in the file system of the SSD drive.
Software malfunctions of the control controller (failures in the firmware).
Hardware failures of the disk, ranging from the inoperability of the USB port to the failure of one of the functional electronic components.

Many of the listed problems can be removed without the help of specialists. Let's start with the simple ones.

Incorrect Windows settings

When you connect any storage device to a computer, the operating system automatically assigns it a path, presented in the form Latin letter. We are talking about "Local Disk". If for some reason the SSD drive has not been assigned a letter, then access it using normal means (" Windows Explorer" or any third party file manager) will not be available.

This is easy to fix, but you need to keep in mind that all information stored on the drive may be lost. You can still try to save it or restore it after changing the letter when using special program(for example, R-Disk), but we will not consider this in this article.

The steps are as follows:

Open Control Panel, then go to System and Security or System and Maintenance (depending on your version of Windows).
Next, open the "Administration" section, then run system utility— "Computer management."
On the right side of the Computer Management utility window, open the Storage Devices subsection, then select Disk Management.
All existing " Local disks", a little lower - the system names of the information storage devices in which they were created.

Notice "Disk 2" shown in the image above. Opposite is the volume, followed by the file system name "RAW". This could mean that the disk has file system problems or a minor logic error. Even though the drive is assigned a letter (in this case, "F"), it may still not be recognized by Windows Explorer. The letter may not exist at all.
Right-click the area to the right of the drive name, then select the menu item "Change drive letter or path...".

A small window will open, click on the “Change…” button.
In the next window, opposite the line “Assign a drive letter”, select any of the following from the drop-down menu alternative options disc name, then click "OK". If a warning dialog box appears on the screen, click the “Yes” button in it.

If the problem was a small software glitch operating system, the Computer Management application window will display the name of the SSD drive and its file system type. Additionally, Windows Explorer will automatically open the contents of the disc.

Problems with the SSD file system

Any storage device has its own file system, which is, to put it simply, in simple language, a set of rules by which data is written to disk. The absence of a file system will make reading recorded information impossible without using a special software. The way out of this situation is to manually format the disk. As in the previous case, all information from the SSD will be deleted.

To format the disk, open the Computer Management system utility as described above. The absence of a file system can be determined by the information provided opposite the name of the SSD drive. The presence of the inscription “Not distributed” or the indication of the file system type “RAW” next to the disk capacity will mean the need to perform formatting.

If the volume is not allocated, right-click on the block labeled “Unallocated” and select “Create a simple volume”, follow the instructions on the screen. To format the disk, select "Format...". In the new window, enter the volume label, select the file system and cluster size (you can leave everything as the program suggests), then click OK.

If the problem was with the file system, after the last step external drive will have to be determined by the system.

SSD Driver Problems

Standard drivers for various types storage devices are installed with Windows. If there are no failures in the system operation, there are no malware, the settings are set correctly, no problems with operation external drives usually does not occur. If this happens, you should definitely check the availability of drivers. This can be done from system application"Device Manager":

Press the "Win + R" keys on your keyboard.
In the window that opens, enter "devmgmt.msc", then click "OK".
In the list that appears, find and open the section " Disk devices", which will display the storage devices connected to the computer, including the SSD drive.
If there is yellow next to the name of the SSD drive exclamation mark, the device driver may be faulty or missing altogether.

To fix this, the driver needs to be reinstalled. To begin with, it is recommended to remove installed software from the system. Just right-click on the name of the SSD drive, then select "Remove device".
The new driver can be downloaded from the external drive manufacturer's website.
An easier way to install the driver is to use an application for automatic installation drivers, for example - DriverHub. You can download the program from the developers’ website https://ru.drvhub.net/.

If the name of the SSD drive is not displayed in the "Disk Devices" section, also check the "Other Devices" and "USB Controllers" subsections.

Problems with SSD firmware

All solid-state storage drives are equipped with a microcontroller, which, in turn, is controlled by low-level microprogram or firmware. If for some reason the firmware malfunctions, the SSD will stop functioning.

Firmware malfunctions can be resolved by complete cleaning data (including information from protected system partition) on an SSD drive or by reinstalling it. This operation It is not recommended for users who do not have the appropriate skills.

However, the process of deleting data from an external hard drive and flashing its firmware is not very complicated. For example, for SSD company Kingston developers have created a special service utility Kingston SSD Manager (https://www.kingston.com/ru/support/technical/ssdmanager). To delete all information from the disk, including hidden system data, just click on the “Secure Erase” button, which is located in the “Security” tab of the main program menu.

From the same program you can reinstall or update the microcontroller firmware ("Firmware" tab).

Any other software has similar functionality. proprietary utility, created to serve SSD drives.

PC or external drive hardware problems

You can verify the absence or presence of PC malfunctions by connecting the SSD hard drive to another computer. If the disk is not detected there either, then the problem should be looked for in it itself. Take the drive to service center should be done if manipulations with OS settings, reinstallation of drivers, full formatting and other software operations did not help restore its functionality. Trying to repair the device yourself is highly not recommended, because... it can be disabled with one awkward movement.

The computer does not see the SSD — solid state drive Compared to hard, it has such advantages as high level performance and reliability, low power consumption, no noise and much more. Therefore, more and more users are choosing SSD as their system one. When connecting such a drive, you may find that it is not detected by the system or is not even displayed in the BIOS. This may look like the disk is missing in Explorer, Windows settings or in the selection list BIOS boot.

Causes of SSD connection problems

Problems with displaying the SSD in the system can arise for reasons such as a missing drive letter or initialization, the presence of hidden partitions and incompatible Windows file system. At the same time, this may occur due to incorrect BIOS settings and physical damage to the disk itself or one of the connection elements between the motherboard and the SSD.

Reason 1: The disk is not initialized

It often happens that the computer doesn't see SSD drive and is not initialized when connected to a computer and, as a result, it is not visible in the system. The solution is to perform the procedure in manual mode according to the following algorithm.

1. Press “Win+R” simultaneously and enter compmgmt.msc in the window that appears. Then click "OK".

2. A window will open where you should click “Disk Management”.

the desired drive

Next, make sure that the “Disk 1” field is checked, and place a marker next to the item that mentions MBR or GPT. Master Boot Record is compatible with all Windows versions, but if you plan to use only current releases of this OS, it is better to select “Table with GUID partitions”.

5. After completing the procedure, you should create a new partition. To do this, click on the disk and select “Create simple volume”.

6. The “New Volume Creation Wizard” will open, in which we click “Next”.

maximum size

8. In the next window, agree with the proposed volume letter option and click “Next”. If desired, you can assign another letter, the main thing is that it does not coincide with the existing one.

9. Next you need to perform formatting. We leave the recommended values in the “File system” and “Volume label” fields and, in addition, enable the “Quick format” option.

10. Click “Done”.

As a result, the disk should appear in the system.

Reason 2: Missing drive letter

Sometimes an SSD does not have a letter and therefore does not appear in Explorer. In this case, you need to assign a letter to it.

1. Go to Disk Management by repeating steps 1-2 above. Right-click on the SSD and select “Change drive letter or drive path.”

2. In the window that appears, click on “Change”.

3. Select a drive letter from the list, and then click “OK.”

After this, the specified information storage device is recognized by the OS, and standard operations can be performed with it.

Reason 3: Missing partitions

If the purchased drive is not new and has already been used for a long time, it may also not appear in My Computer. The reason for this may be damage to the system file or MBR table due to a failure, infection virus file, improper operation, etc. In this case, the SSD is displayed in “Disk Management”, but its status is “Not initialized”. In this case, it is usually recommended to perform initialization, but due to the risk of data loss, it is still not worth doing this.

In addition, a situation is also possible in which the drive is displayed as one unallocated area. Creating a new volume as usual may also result in data loss. The solution here may be to restore the partition. To do this, you need certain knowledge and software, for example, MiniTool Partition Wizard, which has the appropriate option.

1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard, and then select “Partition Recovery” from the “Check Disk” menu after specifying the target SSD. Alternatively, you can right-click on the disk and select the item of the same name.

2. Next, you need to select the SSD scanning range. There are three options available: "Full Disk", "Unallocated Space" and "Specified Range". In the first case, the search is performed across the entire disk, in the second - only on free space, in the third - on certain sectors. Leave “Full Disk” and click “Next”.

3. The next window offers two scanning mode options to choose from. The first - "Quick Scan" - recovers hidden or deleted partitions that are contiguous, and the second - "Full Scan" - scans every sector of a specified range on the SSD.

4. After scanning the disk, all found partitions are displayed as a list in the results window. Select all the required ones and click “Finish”.

5. Next, confirm the restoration operation by clicking on “Apply”. After this, all partitions on the SSD will appear in Explorer.

This should help solve the problem, but in a situation where there is no necessary knowledge and the necessary data is on the disk, it is better to turn to professionals.

Reason 4: Hidden section

Sometimes an SSD is not visible in Windows due to the presence of a hidden partition. This is possible if the user has hidden the volume using third-party software to prevent access to the data. The solution is to restore the partition using disk software. The same MiniTool Partition Wizard copes well with this task.

1. After launching the application, right-click on the target disk and select "Unhide Partition". The same function is launched by selecting the line of the same name in the menu on the left.

2. Then assign a letter to this section and click “OK”.

After this, the hidden sections will appear in Explorer.

Reason 5: Unsupported file system

If, after following the steps above, the SSD still does not appear in Explorer, the drive's file system may be different from the FAT32 or NTFS that Windows works with. Typically, such a drive appears in the disk manager as a “RAW” area. To fix the problem, you need to follow the following algorithm.

1. Launch Disk Management by repeating steps 1-2 from the instructions above. Next, click on the required partition and select the “Delete volume” line.

2. Confirm the deletion by clicking “Yes”.

3. As you can see, the volume status has changed to “Free”.

Reason 6: Problems with BIOS and hardware

There are four main reasons why the BIOS does not detect the presence of internal solid state drive.

SATA is disabled or has the wrong mode

GUI

2. Confirm the entry by clicking “OK”.

3. Next, find Built-in Device Configuration in the “Advanced” tab.

SATA mode

Incorrect BIOS settings

The BIOS will also not recognize the drive if the settings are incorrect. This can be easily checked by the system date - if it does not correspond to the true one, this indicates a failure. To resolve it, you need to reset and return to standard settings according to the sequence of actions below.

1. Disconnect your PC from the network.

system unit

Data cable is faulty

The BIOS will also not detect the SSD if the CATA cable is damaged. In this case, you need to check all connections between the motherboard and the SSD. It is advisable not to allow any bends or pinching of the cable when laying. All this can lead to damage to the wires inside the insulation, although externally the material may look normal. If there is any doubt about the condition of the cable, it is better to replace it. When connecting SATA devices, Seagate recommends using cables less than 1 meter in length. Longer ones can sometimes fall out of the connectors, so be sure to check that they are firmly connected to the SATA ports.

Failed SSD

If, after carrying out the above procedures, the disk still does not appear in the BIOS, most likely there is a manufacturing defect or physical damage to the device. Here you need to contact a computer repair shop or SSD supplier, first making sure that there is a warranty.

Conclusion

In this article, we looked at the reasons for the absence of a solid-state drive in the system or in the BIOS when it is connected. The source of such a problem can be either the condition of the disk or cable, or various software glitches and incorrect settings. Before proceeding with the fix using one of the listed methods, it is recommended to check all connections between the SSD and the motherboard and try replacing the SATA cable.

The computer does not see the SSD drive after connecting