How I Brought a “Dead” M.2 SSD Back to Life
A friend came to me recently because his laptop wouldn’t boot into Windows at all.
The first thing I did was check the BIOS, and right away I noticed the problem: the SSD wasn’t even being detected.
🛠️ Quick Hardware Check
I disassembled the laptop to inspect the M.2 SSD. At first, everything looked normal. But then I noticed something odd…
There was a small burn mark on the SSD sticker. I peeled it back and found a tiny component, likely a capacitor, that burned to a crisp.
🔍 Diagnosis
My guess? That burned capacitor was causing a short and preventing the drive from being recognized.
✂️ The Fix
To test the theory, I gently pulled the damaged component out using a pair of pliers. Then I reinserted the SSD into the laptop and powered it on.
Boom! the SSD was detected in BIOS again.
✅ Recap
To recap on what I did:
- Laptop wouldn’t boot
- SSD not detected in BIOS
- Found a burned capacitor on the SSD
- Removed it
- SSD came back to life
⚠️ Final Thoughts
This kind of fix isn’t guaranteed. I figured that if the SSD was dead anyway, what the hell, I might as well try. In this case, however, it saved the data and the SSD.
The moral of the story is: If your SSD is “dead,” a visual inspection might reveal the problem.