Is your internal SATA hard disk or SSD appearing as removable disks in Windows 11 or 10? This article will explain how to fix this problem.
In general, this problem may not appear until you have modified anything on your PC. But, Sometimes, Exceptions may happen. Also, you may see it on your brand new PC too. You can easily get rid of the problem if you can understand the reason. Even if you don’t know what is making Windows 11/10 treats internal SSD or HDD as removable drives, you can still overcome this problem.
How to Fix Internal Hard Disk/SSD Showing as Removeable Disk in Windows 11 and 10
To get rid of this annoying problem, there are several methods. Any of them will work for you. It depends on why Windows is treating Internal SSDs or Hard Disks as removable drives. Here are the most working methods to fix it.
1. Update Windows
When you face this problem, the first thing you should consider is “Windows Update.” If any known problem causes this issue on specific devices, a single Windows update is enough to fix it. To update Windows, follow these steps.
- At first, Press Win + I in the keyboard or you can directly go to the settings by yourself.
- Now, Go to Windows Update and click on Check for Updates.
- If it finds any update, download and install it.
- At last, Restart your PC.
It may help to fix internal hard disks or SSDs showing up as removable disks.
2. Update Drivers
If your SATA/ATA drivers are not up to date, this type of problem can often annoy you. As a result, updating these drivers have been of the most successful methods to fix internal hard disk/SSD appearing as a removable disk. To update drivers, there are mainly two ways. One is manual method and another one is automatic method. If you don’t want any hassle, use Driver Booster to update SATA/ATA drivers on Windows 11 or 10.
If you want to update these drivers manually, follow these steps.
- At first, Open the Windows Device Manager. For this, Press Win+R/open start menu, type devmgmt.msc and hit enter.
- Now, Find the SATA/ATA or any related drivers, right-click on any of them and choose update driver.
- Then, Follow on screen instructions and go forward to update the driver.
- Do it for all the related drivers one by one.
- Then, Restart your PC.
It should fix the problem if the outdated driver is the reason.
3. Enable Write Caching
If write caching is off for a disk drive, Windows may treat it as a removable storage device. So, You should make sure the write caching policy is active for the internal hard disk or SSD that is appearing as removable. To do this, follow these steps.
- At first, Open the device manager like method 2.
- Now, Expand Disk Drives and right-click on the disk which is appearing as removable and go to its properties.
- In properties, Go to Policies tab.
- Then, Tick on “Enable Write Caching on the Device” and save the settings.
- At last, Restart Windows 11 and see if it has fixed the problem or not.
4. Disable Hot Plug
Is the Hot Plug option enabled on your motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI? If yes, it is the reason you are facing this problem. So, To fix SATA hard disk/SSD appearing as removable storage, you must disable the Hot Plug. To do this, follow these steps.
- At first, Go to your motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI window. Usually, Pressing Del/F2 button when your PC shows motherboard logo during power on will lead you to BIOS/UEFI dashboard.
- There, try to find the SATA Hot Plug or similar options from Chpset/Advanced tab.
- Then, Disable it and save the settings and restart your computer.
From now, you will no longer encounter the Windows treating internal HDD/SSD as removable drive.
5. Modify Registry
If the problem still exists on your Windows 11 or 10 computer, you may try this method. In general, I don’t recommend modifying the registry until there is an urgent necessity. In your registry, you can modify some entries to fix windows treating internal disks as removable storage. To do it, you can follow these steps.
- At first, Go to the Device Manager, Expand Disk Drive and go to the problematic disk propeties.
- Look at the BUS number and remember it.
- Now, Open start menu, type regedit and hit enter to open Windows Registry Editor.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services\storahci > Parameters > Device.
- Now, Double-click on TreatAsInternalPort and add the values of the disk BUS number that you want as internal disk.
- At last, Save it and restart your computer.
These are the ways to solve Internal SSDs/Hard Disks showing up as removable storage on Windows 11 or 10. If you know any other effective way to get rid of this problem, you can add it in the comment box.
