Microsoft has recently confirmed that Windows 11 may sometimes recognize and display built-in SATA drives as removable drives, causing confusion for users. In the user interface of the OS, internal HDD/SSD units appear as devices that you can safely remove.
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The issue is not exclusive to Windows 11. According to the appropriate page on the Microsoft's website, it also affects all OS versions starting from Windows 7.
Fix internal drives are shown as removable drives
To address this issue, Microsoft recommends that users update the BIOS of their motherboard and reset it to default settings. Users should also ensure that all connected devices on the SATA ports are defined correctly.
By taking these steps, users can ensure that their internal SATA drives are properly recognized and displayed within the Windows 11 operating system.
However, if the firmware update is not available for your device's motherboard, users can apply a different workaround.
You need to press Win + R and type devmgmt.msc to open the Device Manager. There, navigate to the "Disk Drives" section, find the disk affected by the bug, and open its properties.
Make note of the Bus Number parameter you see in the "Location" field.
Finally, open Command Prompt as Administrator, and type the following command.
For Windows 7
Type the following command in the previously opened command prompt and hit Enter:
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channelx\" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
Where x corresponds to the Bus Number.
For Windows 8 and later:
Type the following command in the previously opened command prompt and hit Enter:
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\Parameters\Device" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d x
Where x corresponds to the Bus Number you noted.
You will find some extra details on the official support page here.
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