How do you fix a critical warning for a ssd storage device

Question

Warning: Reliability Degraded
Estimated Remaining Life : Limited
Available Spare : 97%
Temp : 37°C

Answer 1

For a critical SSD warning with “Reliability degraded” on Windows 11, the issue is with the drive’s health, not something that can be “repaired” in software. The correct actions are:

1. Back up data immediately
   • Copy important files to another drive or cloud storage as soon as possible.
   • Use any backup method described in the Windows backup guidance: Back up your data.
2. Confirm the warning details in Windows 11
   • Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes.
   • Select the affected disk > Properties to review:
     • Critical warning: “Reliability is degraded” means there are significant media-related errors or an internal NVM subsystem error.
     • Estimated remaining life: “Limited” indicates the drive is near or at its expected wear limit.
     • Available spare (97%) and Temperature (37°C) are still normal, but the reliability flag indicates the drive is no longer fully trustworthy.
3. Plan to replace the SSD
   • A “Reliability is degraded” warning is a predictive failure signal. The drive may still work now, but it is at increased risk of failure.
   • Replacement of the SSD is the appropriate fix; software tools cannot restore its reliability.
4. After replacement
   • Reinstall Windows or restore from a backup image to the new SSD.
   • Keep monitoring the new drive’s health via the same Disks & volumes properties page.

Windows only monitors NVMe SSDs for these health attributes; the warning is based on the drive’s own telemetry and should be treated as serious.

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References:

• What to do about a critical warning for a storage device