SSD failures are not all that common, but when they do happen, it can be catastrophic for your data and your PC. So, you definitely want to know the warning signs so you can stay ahead of it. Here’s how to know when a drive is going bad, and what you can do to save your data while you’re at it.
Frequent “read-only” errors
Not writing, just reading
Solid-state drives rely on NAND flash memory. And the way it works is that those flash modules degrade slightly every time data is written to or erased from the drive. This process is measured in Program/Erase cycles, commonly referred to as P/E cycles. Every SSD has a finite write endurance threshold specified by the manufacturer during its production. When a drive reaches the end of its designated lifespan and depletes its available P/E cycles, the internal controller typically triggers a protective mechanism that locks the drive into a strict read-only mode.
I’ve argued in the past that it’s really, really hard to reach this threshold, and most people won’t ever do it. I still stand by it. But it’s not impossible, especially if you’re one to frequently write data to the drive over the course of a few years. If you suddenly find that you can open and view your files but are completely unable to save new documents, modify existing data, or install new applications, this is a glaring indicator that your SSD has exhausted its usable life. In this read-only state, the operating system will often throw generic error messages indicating that the disk is write-protected or that you lack the necessary permissions to make changes, even if you are the system administrator.
- Storage capacity
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2TB
- Hardware Interface
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PCIe Gen4x4
Unlike mechanical hard drives that might suffer catastrophic physical failures and take your data with them instantly, a read-only lock is actually a failsafe designed to preserve your information so you can back it up safely. However, it also means the drive is functionally dead as a primary storage device or operating system drive. Continuing to use a drive in this state is impossible for normal computing tasks, as background processes, temporary files, and system updates all require constant write access. Thankfully, because the data is still accessible, your immediate priority should be cloning the drive or copying all critical files to an external storage device or cloud service before the controller completely fails and renders the data entirely unreadable.
Noticeable drop in read/write speed and performance
A drive grinding to a halt all of a sudden is also worrying
One of the primary reasons users upgrade to SSDs is their blistering speed, so a significant and sustained drop in performance is a major red flag indicating potential hardware failure. As an SSD ages and accumulates wear, individual memory cells begin to degrade and eventually fail, creating what are known as bad blocks. The drive’s controller constantly works in the background to detect these failing blocks, map them out, and relocate data to healthy reserve cells through a process called wear leveling. However, as the number of bad blocks increases over time, the controller has to work exponentially harder to manage read and write requests, bypass damaged areas, and verify data integrity. This excessive background processing manifests to the user as severe system sluggishness.
You might notice that boot times become unusually long, applications take a frustrating amount of time to launch, or large file transfers unexpectedly stall or drop to speeds reminiscent of older mechanical hard drives. Sometimes, the system might freeze for several seconds at a time while the SSD struggles to process a basic input/output request. While a nearly full drive can also cause performance degradation due to a lack of space for the controller to perform background maintenance, a failing drive will exhibit these severe slowdowns even with plenty of free capacity.
Running diagnostic software to check the drive’s built-in self-monitoring data can confirm if performance drops are tied to an escalating uncorrectable error count or exhausted spare blocks. If you have ruled out software bloat or a full drive, a persistent, unexplainable sluggishness is a strong physical warning that the flash memory is failing and the drive needs to be replaced immediately to avoid sudden and permanent data loss.
Frequent crashes
BSODs are always bad
Finally, experiencing frequent system crashes is one of the most disruptive and alarming signs that your solid-state drive is on the verge of total failure. When the basic architecture of the SSD begins to break down, the operating system inevitably struggles to read critical system files or write temporary background data. This hardware-level communication failure directly results in sudden system freezes, spontaneous reboots, and severe fatal error screens, depending on your specific operating system. Often, these crashes occur quite randomly, whether you are simply browsing the internet or performing heavy computational tasks. A particularly ominous crash pattern involves the system freezing completely, forcing you to perform a hard physical reset, only for the computer to reboot and display an error message stating that no bootable device was found.
This happens because the failing SSD temporarily drops out of the system entirely, failing to initialize during the power-on self-test phase of the motherboard. Power cycling the machine a few times might bring the drive back to life temporarily, allowing the operating system to load once more, but this is merely a temporary reprieve rather than a resolution. The underlying flash memory or the drive controller is actively failing, causing a breakdown in the physical connection or data retrieval process. Software bugs, faulty RAM, or failing power supplies can also cause system instability, but if these crashes are accompanied by file corruption errors or require multiple reboots just to detect the primary storage drive, the SSD is almost certainly the culprit. In this scenario, the drive has moved past the early warning phase and is actively corrupting the computing experience. Immediate data evacuation is the only responsible course of action before the drive refuses to mount entirely.
Catch it before it catches you
SSD failures can come at extremely unpleasant and inconvenient times. Thankfully, though, it’s relatively easy to see the writing on the wall and take steps towards keeping your data secure.
