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I recently upgraded my PCs SSD storage from 500gb to a new 1tb disk. I've removed the 500gb and placed it within an external SSD enclosure.

When plugging it into the USB port it's not recognised as a disk drive and when I try to initialize it there's an error not allowing me to proceed.

I never wiped the SSD and its in the exact format that it was when I was using it in my PC... Do I reinstall it to the motherboard, boot from it and wipe it there..... Or?

I'm hopeful there's some way I can wipe it and format it via the USB connection to use it as an external drive.

Many thanks for reading.

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    You give no details about the enclosure, but it might be incompatible.
    – harrymc
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 9:22
  • @harrymc the enclosure: SSK Aluminum M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter, USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 2. The SSD: Western Digital Blue 500GB M.2-2280.
    – RubyMax
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 11:46
  • I should also mention the Enclosure had been used with the new 1TB SSD I swapped in for the 500GB to clone it. So I know up to that point the enclosure worked fine and there's no reason that should have changed moments later.
    – RubyMax
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 11:49
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    @RubyMax What error did you receive when attempting to initialize, as an initialization failure is indicative of a hardware issue (do not try to initialize again, as the SSD isn't the issue) with either how the SSD was seated (reseat the SSD, keeping pressure on it while you screw in the locking screws), the USB cable (try a known-good USB cable), or the enclosure's PCB (reinstall the 1TB drive in it and test).
    – JW0914
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 12:24
  • Is the SSD you remove NVMe? M.2 connections support both NVMe and SATA but the controller chipset in the enclosure typically only one or the other. What you're reporting here suggests exactly that.
    – ChanganAuto
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 17:06

1 Answer 1

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Your enclosure is NVMe, but your disk is not.

See the WD Blue 3D SSD (M.2) Review, where it's said:

Therefore, the good news: On the WD Blue 3D SSDs, it's SATA, so it's widely compatible. The bad news is, well, it's SATA, as this means it'll likely offer the same level of performance we've seen from SSDs for the past three years or so. But that's a SATA problem, not a WD one.

Your SSD is not NVMe, so doesn't work inside that enclosure. It can work at SATA speed, which is 6 Gbps, but not at NVMe speeds.

M.2 is a form factor, so only detailing the shape of the disk. It does not relate to its technology, which can be either SATA or NVMe.

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