Storage Troubleshooting
Use symptoms and test conditions to narrow the problem before changing hardware or settings.
Benchmark results
- CrystalDiskMark results lower than expected
- Make benchmark results more consistent
- NVMe speed drops as temperature rises
- Write speed drops during large transfers
- SATA SSD appears capped near interface limits
Health warnings
- CrystalDiskInfo shows Caution
- Reallocated sector count
- Current pending sectors
- Drive symptoms despite a Good health summary
- S.M.A.R.T. data missing over USB
Data first: if a drive is disconnecting, producing read errors or contains irreplaceable data, secure another copy before stress testing.