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Unable to Boot Up My System Because Intel® Solid State Drive (Intel® SSD) is Crashing

Content Type: Troubleshooting | Article ID: 000028269 | Last Reviewed: 11/07/2022

Description Resolution

Description

System freezes and drive appears and disappears randomly, either from BIOS or from the operating system (OS).
Issue with Intel M.2 SSD installed in an Intel NUC as a boot drive with Windows* OS installed. After using the system for several months, the system won't boot into the OS and just shows black screen.
System restarts while booting to Windows, creating a booting loop.

Resolution

When the system shows symptoms such as SSD intermittently detected, unable to boot, screen is blank, or there are messages like Boot device not found, there is likely a hardware issue with the SSD. However, the following actions can also be tried to fix the system and recover the SSD back to its normal state.

Consider these possible actions:

Update the BIOS to the latest firmware. Consult your motherboard manufacturer for how to update it.
Check if the drive is detected in BIOS when the issue occurs. For steps on where to find the list of attached storage devices in BIOS, consult the motherboard manufacturer.
- If the drive is not detected by the system, follow My Computer Can't Recognize Intel® Solid State Drives.
Perform a firmware update on the drive using the Intel® Firmware Update Tool or the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool (CLI):
- How to Update Firmware on Intel® SSDs with the Intel® Firmware Update Tool
- How to Update the Firmware of an Intel® SSD with the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool
Perform a secure erase/low level format on the SSD:
- How to Low-Level Format an Intel SSD with the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool
- When to Run a Low-Level Format or Secure Erase on Intel® Solid State Drives and Tools to Use

If the issue persists, contact Intel Customer Support.

Related Products

This article applies to 15 products.

Intel® Memory and Storage Tool

Discontinued Products

Intel® Optane™ SSD 9 Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4801X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P5800X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4801X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD 900P Series Intel® Optane™ SSD P1600X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P5800X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD P1600X Series Intel® Optane™ SSD 900P Series Intel® Optane™ SSD 800P Series Intel® Optane™ SSD 800P Series Intel® Optane™ SSD 8 Series

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