Locked solid state disk

Question

Turned on my desktop using Windows 10 pro. Came up fine. Came back several hours later to use the computer but was unresponsive and showing a black screen. I turned it off and then turned it back on again. The screen is displaying a blue box asking to select the HDD. It displays 2 drives a Toshiba drive which is unlocked and a solid state drive which is locked. It will only let me select the locked drive. When I select that drive it asks for a user password. It is not my Microsoft account password. Bitlocker is not being used and there is no key. I have no idea what this password is.

Answer 1

![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/7c3cd545-e054-4ae5-9229-a8bbfad3f9cc?platform=QnA"https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/e11d6fd1-b412-41b6-b272-d255d1872736?platform=QnA" rel="ugc nofollow">The first photo is what appears when I first turn on the computer. Nothing is displayed before this. The next 2 photos are the bios settings under the security and boot tabs. Unfortunately, I have little knowledge about bios settings. This computer is about 3 years old and has run without any problems. This is the first time I have encountered this.

Answer 2

Hi Elaina. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, specializing in Installation, Performance, Troubleshooting and Activation, here to help you.

Is it possible a hard drive password was set in BIOS/UEFI setup? You can check by restarting PC and pressing the key given to access the BIOS/UEFI. Another method here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-enter-uefi-b...

While in BIOS check settings for UEFI (should be enabled unless you know Windows was installed to older Legacy mode), CSM (should be disabled except for Legacy mode), Secure Boot, and Boot order priority (should be Windows Boot Manager for UEFI, WIndows SSD/HDD for Legacy), report these back.

Can I see pictures of the message box you're getting? You can take a picture with your phone, then sign into this site with your browser, find the thread here from your Profile icon at top right, attach pictures using Attach Image button in replay post.

Based on the answers you post back I will have other suggestions.

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Answer 3

There's a blue screen from Windows with dual boot where you select the OS, there's the BIOS boot menu where you select a drive to boot, bitlocker stuff which you say isn't it, etc.

Is it the BIOS boot menu? And does it ask for a password immediately after or does it run boot for a small amount?

I'm assuming that its the BIOS boot menu and immediately after with no boot happening which would be a BIOS thing of some sort most likely.

There should be some indication of the screen you're on even if you have to research it.

I'm sure its not that other thing or hackers would give you a message I'm sure lol.

You might also need to provide more info such as the motherboard or computer model and also the drive model. Maybe a photo of the screen with the password.

You can also check in the BIOS for something related.