Boot drive suddenly goes missing and machine starts in BIOS

There is no Boot file on the 2TB SSD. If there was, when you boot the computer with the drive inserted or even using a USB Adapter,. Windows would assign a drive letter.

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If you mean the .efi file, that should be on the esp partition. Windows won't automatically assign a letter to the esp partition

In a default windows installation there are two .efi files . Both are on the esp partition.

SIW2 said:

It needs a drive letter to see it in explorer




The word Boot only shows in diskmgmt for the partition you are currently booted into. You wouldn't expect to see it on a different disk.

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Thanks for that info.
I assigned D: to the drive in Disk Management and I was able to see the Windows install on it.

I put it back in the machine m.2 slot and It still was not recognized by the motherboard. (which recognizes the Crucial drive) Not listed in the BIOS

I then I plugged it into the computer using via USB using the external enclosure and it show up in the BIOS. However, when I tried to boot from it in the enclosure, Windows said it need to be repaired. That eventually lead to a windows "Reset".

After the windows reinstall, the machine started with the OS ssd still in the external enclosure.

In the morning I'll try swapping back to the motherboard m.2 slot. Hope it works.

Ok, So as I said, the machine started from the drive in a an enclosure. However, putting it back in the mobo m.2 slot and it was not recognized. I then tried a couple other drives. newer Silicon Power 2TB, and an old 256GB. Both were not recognized and did not show up in the BIOS. Only the Crucial consistently does. I'll test with one more drive tomorrow, but I'm dreading that this is a MOBO problem and I have to return or RMA it?

CalypsoArt said:

Ok, So as I said, the machine started from the drive in a an enclosure. However, putting it back in the mobo m.2 slot and it was not recognized. I then tried a couple other drives. newer Silicon Power 2TB, and an old 256GB. Both were not recognized and did not show up in the BIOS. Only the Crucial consistently does. I'll test with one more drive tomorrow, but I'm dreading that this is a MOBO problem and I have to return or RMA it?

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As I mentioned above this really sounds like it's not a Drive issue but a problem with the way these mini ITX motherboards connect the main M.2 slot together. You have to ensure all the contacts are meshed together. Not simply the M.2 socket with the NVMe drive but the other parts. Again however not sure about this specific motherboard.

BamaInArk said:

You have to ensure all the contacts are meshed together. Not simply the M.2 socket with the NVMe drive but the other parts.

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I'm not sure what you mean? Are you referring to other components? I just can't explain why it originally worked, and now, of four drives tried in that slot, one drive is consistently found but the others are not. Also the second drive in the second slot is always found. Still, I find it hard to believe everything worked, and it suddenly went awry so soon.

Do you have any other disk management programs?
I use Disk Genius... DiskGenius: Data Recovery, Partition Manager, Backup & Disk Utilities