How to Fix M2 Drive Disappeared (3 Ways)
Why did M2 Drive Disappeared?
NVMe disk disappearing can occur on various brands of computers rather than specific computer models. This issue can occur for a number of different reasons, below are some common ones.
- Disk Management Overdue: Disk Management is a tool for performing advanced storage-related tasks. It is mainly used for installing new drives. If it's out of date, it won't show the new drive.
- Boot Secure Boot: Secure Boot notices interference from boot loaders, operating system files, and illegal ROMs. Installing a new drive prevents detection to evade attacks on the system.
- Enable CSM: The Compatibility Support Module (CSM) is a part of UEFI firmware that provides legacy BIOS compatibility. Enabling CSM does not make modern drives authorize to UEFI.
- The M.2 port is shared with other PCIe and SATA slots: Installing other drives could render your M.2 SSD useless. Also, two drives being called the same can make one of them disappear.
How to Fix M2 Drive Disappeared
After you understand what might be causing this problem, you can continue reading this article. This article will introduce three methods to solve this problem for different reasons in turn. You can choose according to your needs. Each method includes a detailed graphic tutorial.
Fix 1. Configure M.2 SSD
The first solution is to solve the problem of M.2 drive disappearing by configuring M.2 SSD. You can follow the steps below to operate.
Step 1. To access BIOS, turn on your computer and press the F or DEL keys, depending on your motherboard manufacturer. This key can be different based on your motherboard.
Step 2. Next, head over to Storage Configuration.
Step 3. Under SATA Configuration, click on Configure SATA as.
Step 4. Then, choose IDE by pressing Enter.
Step 5. Finally, press F10 to save your new BIOS settings and exit.
If you configure your SATA device to something other than IDE in BIOS, your NVME drive may not show up.
Fix 2. Disable Secure Boot
Enabling Secure Boot can also cause this and similar issues with M.2 drives disappearing. To fix issues caused by this situation, you can disable Secure Boot by following the steps below.
Step 1. First, reboot your computer and press the dedicated key for your motherboard to get into BIOS.
Step 2. Next, go to the Security tab and click on Secure Boot.
Step 3. Select Disabled from the menu.
Step 4. Then, head over to the Save & exit tab.
Step 5. Press Save Changes and select Yes afterward. Make sure not to choose Save Changes & Exit.
Step 6. Go to the Security tab again.
Step 7. Choose Delete all secure boot variables and select Yes.
Step 8. Finally, select OK to reboot your computer.
Fix 3. Set the PCIe setting to M.2
There is also a way to solve the problem of M.2 drives disappearing by setting PCIe as M.2. Here are the specific steps, you can follow the tutorial below to get started.
Step 1. Reboot your PC and press the designated key for your motherboard to enter BIOS.
Step 2. Select Advanced Settings. For some motherboards, you can also press F7 to access the menu.
Step 3. Then, under Onboard Devices Configuration, search for PCI Express slot Bandwidth.
Step 4. After that, set its value to M.2 mode if it is not already that.
Step 5. Press F10 to save the changes and exit.
Bonus Tip: How to Backup M2 Drive to Prevent Data Loss
Regular disk backup can effectively protect your M.2 drive from problems such as M.2 drive disappeared. When you need disk backup, you need to choose a safe and reliable backup software, such as Qiling Disk Master Standard, which can not only help you back up disk for free, but also provide various backup functions to protect your data comprehensively.
- Scheduled backup: This software allows you to set up scheduled automatic disk backups on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, so you can always keep your M.2 SSD with the latest backup version.
- Incremental backup: You can choose the incremental backup method to perform your backup tasks. Incremental backups will only back up the changed parts, so this method will help you save backup time and storage space.
- 2 backup services: It supports Microsoft's VSS and Qiling's backup services, so it can ensure that your backup tasks will not be interrupted in the middle.
- Different paths: You can backup your M.2 SSD to different destinations, such as local disk, external disk, HDD, SSD, USB drive, NAS, etc.
You can download and install this professional backup software, and then start backing up M.2 according to the graphic tutorial below. If you are a Windows Server user, you can choose the Qiling Disk Master Server version.
Step 1. Open Qiling Disk Master Standard. Open the software, click Backup > Disk Backup.
Note:
Except for Disk Backup, it also provides System Backup, Partition Backup and File Backup, you can choose them if you need.
Step 2. Click Add Disk to choose the M.2 SSD that you want to backup.
Step 3. You need to select the destination for your disk backup and then click Proceed.
Notes:
- Schedule Backup: You can set the fixed intervals to run the disk backup task automatically such as daily, weekly, monthly event trigger or USB plug in. The last two are available in the Pro version.
- Backup Scheme: You can select 3 different backup methods (Full/Incremental/Differential). You can also enable automatic backup cleanup feature to save disk space. Differential backup and cleanup features are available in the professional version or higher versions.
Summary
This article explains why the M.2 drive disappeared issue and how to fix it for different reasons. The article provides three useful methods that you can learn from according to your own needs. After fixing the problem that the M.2 drive disappears, in order to better protect the disk data security, you can use the professional backup software Qiling Disk Master to help you back up the disk data regularly.
This software lets you set up scheduled automatic disk backups on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, keeping your M.2 SSD always up to date with the latest backup version. You can also choose different backup methods and backup destination paths to store your M.2 drive backups. You can download this software to explore more.