External drive not connecting properly

Question

External drive not connecting properly

Saeleos Blayney 20

I have an external drive (Crucial X9 Pro 1TB Portable SSD, CT1000X9PROSSD9.)

Screenshot 2026-10-25 154526

It is normally located on USB Mass Storage Device.

Whenever I plug it in, I can hear that a device has connected, and see this in my settings

Screenshot 2026-10-25 154746

Screenshot 2026-10-25 155533

But the drive does not show up in my file manager or disk manager. I cannot seem to do anything with it. Around 45 seconds later (I have timed it multiple times) I hear it disconnect, and a new device connect. I get this error:

Screenshot 2026-10-25 154829

The device looks like this in my settings

Screenshot 2026-10-25 155314

Screenshot 2026-10-25 155406

I have tested multiple different chords in different ports. I do not think that is the issue. My computer is up to date on updates. This is the information:

Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1335U (1.30 GHz)

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)

Graphics card Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB)

Storage 227 GB of 238 GB used

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Thank you for listening :)

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Answer 1

Clary-N 18,945 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Saeleos Blayney,

Thanks for sharing the screenshots. The SSD is detected briefly, but after about 45 seconds it reconnects as Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed). Since it never stays connected long enough to appear in Disk Management, this is probably not just a missing drive letter.

Have you tested the SSD on another computer? Also, does it contain any important files that aren’t backed up? If possible, open the unknown device’s Properties in Device Manager and let me know the full message and error code shown under Device status.

You can also disconnect the SSD, open Device Manager, select View > Show hidden devices and uninstall the related Unknown USB Device, USB Mass Storage Device and greyed-out Micron CT1000X9PROSSD9 USB Device entries. Restart the computer, then reconnect the SSD directly without using a hub or dock.

For now, don’t initialize or format the drive and avoid running CHKDSK while it keeps disconnecting.

If the same problem happens on another computer, the issue is likely with the SSD itself, so contacting Crucial about warranty or data-recovery options would be the next step. If it works normally elsewhere, please share the computer’s exact make and model so the PC’s BIOS, chipset and USB drivers can be checked.

Let me know what happens on the other computer and what error code you find.

Saeleos Blayney 20 Reputation points

2026-10-31T07:57:16.8933333+00:00

Thank you so much for the reply :)

I have tried the SSD on my friends computer, and it had the same result.

I don't think it contains any important files, just big programs my laptop is too small to store.

This is the information about the unknown device from the device manager:

I attempted to do the uninstalling thing, but the same result happened, so I think the issue is with the SSD. Thanks again :)
Clary-N 18,945 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-11-01T02:13:29.65+00:00

Hi Saeleos Blayney,

Thanks for checking that and for sharing the screenshots. That helps narrow it down quite a bit.

The screenshot confirms Code 43: “A request for the USB device descriptor failed.” Since the same SSD has the same problem on your friend’s computer, and reinstalling the device didn’t change anything, this points much more strongly to a problem with the SSD itself rather than your laptop or Windows.

Since you mentioned there aren’t any important files on it, I wouldn’t spend too much time trying further Windows troubleshooting. At this point, I’d recommend contacting Crucial support to check the warranty or replacement options for the SSD.

Glad we were able to narrow down where the problem is coming from and I hope you can get the drive replaced without too much trouble.