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M.2 SSD not showing up in windows

Anonymous
2024-12-19T20:07:07+00:00

Hi,

I bought a new laptop quite a while ago to replace an old one and I decided since this one provided an extra slot for an ssd, I may as well use the ssd from my old laptop and repurpose it. I did the same thing with the 8GB RAM stick from that same old machine and gave it away to someone to use in their laptop which has worked and now they're running dual channel. I decided to take the gen3 ssd and put in the secondary M.2 slot in my current laptop. Now I now this SSD isn't faulty since I booted up the old machine with a ram stick that I had lying around and I could boot into windows just fine, this ssd hasn't been reset or reformatted or anything as well. I put it into the M.2 slot of my new machine as it was.

Now post taking the cover off my laptop and putting in the ssd, that drive did not show in windows file explorer. So I decided to check disk management and hit refresh/rescan a couple of times and still nothing, it only shows my current C drive and 2 partitions. I definitely know that the new ssd isn't there since the storage doesn't add. It also does not show as a boot drive in bios.

Did I put it in the slot the wrong? I don't think orientation matters though. Was there any settings that I should have enabled for this to work or any services? I am going to try and refit it to make sure its not just a connection issue however any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Aymeric-B 29,090 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-12-20T22:09:30+00:00

    No problem ! Glad I could help.

    Please let me know if you have any other question !

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Aymeric-B 29,090 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-12-20T17:53:46+00:00

    Thanks for coming back to me. After checking, your Legion 5 15ach6h has two M.2 slots, supporting NVMe drives only.

    However, the SanDisk Z400s drive you're using is a SATA one.

    As a result, the disk you're using won't work on your PC.

    Sorry for the inconvenience..

    Feel free to ask if you have any other question !

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-12-20T16:16:37+00:00

    Hey Aymeric, thank you so much for your reply. I have tried to refit the ssd into the M.2 slot but to no avail. Here is the info you asked for:

    The brand and exact model of the laptop is the Lenovo Legion 5 15ach6h and the SSD is a SanDisk 128gb M.2 2280 Drive. I have attached a picture below if that helps, looking forward to your reply.

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  4. Aymeric-B 29,090 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-12-19T20:47:26+00:00

    Hello ! I'm Aymeric, an independent advisor, and I'm here to help !

    Firstly, make sure the SSD is securely connected in the M.2 slot and check for dust or debris. After you've checked this, check again the BIOS to see if the drive is detected.

    Try updating your laptop's BIOS: sometimes, this can get things moving again.

    What's the brand and the exact model of your laptop ? Make sure that the secondary M.2 slot supports your SSD type (NVMe or SATA).

    If you prefer, please let me know the make and model of your PC and SSD, so I can check that it's fully compatible.

    Looking forward to your answer !

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-12-19T20:20:38+00:00

    If the drive is not shown in the bios then its not detected by your system

    If it was shown in the Bios then it would show in Disk Management

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