My fu$#@& computer just died

This sucks. I came downstairs and my monitor wouldn’t wake up so I shut the computer off. When I tried to reboot it came up with some Dell diagnostics error hard drive one incorrect status 9 critical warning read only no space available. It had plenty of space available when I last left it. Then it said the NVMe needed to be replaced. My warranty ended less than a month ago. And it look like the only options I have or to mail the whole system to Dell and then it takes them a week or two and they mail it back. Why can’t they just mail me the part faster and I could put it in? I’ll have to call them tomorrow since they’re closed right now and see if they could just send me the part which I’ll have to buy.

I wish we hadn’t been going through a computer part storage otherwise I would have bought a system that had standard parts I could just replace myself instead of having to go through Dell

Ugh, sorry, Rob. Yeah, when SSDs (and SD cards) die, they seem to make the system think they’re full and then die completely. At least, that was my experience.

With the warranty period having ended so recently, it’s worth at least trying to see what they can do for you. If they want to charge for a repair, probably better to just grab a new drive – prices are way down.

I’d save the headache and just grab a new drive, as @Editer suggested. You can grab a 1tb SSD for anywhere from $50 to $100 bucks depending on the type and speed.

Amazon.com : ssd

Best time for it to die is during Black Friday sales though.

Lucky if it is just the nVme, that is an entirely easy thing to replace yourself.

Drive warranty (if even processed since yours happened after the period) is never for data recovery, just a refurbished or new replacement drive that always takes a while to process so you’d be best buying a new drive, reinstalling and considering the replacement when it arrives as a bonus.

If I buy a new drive I’ll have to buy a copy of Windows too since the computer didn’t come with Windows Media. Since it’s a Dell and they use a lot of proprietary stuff should I be able to just buy the drive and windows 11 and install it and have it be good?

If your existing windows license is tied to your MS account, you should not need to buy a new one.
I used rufus to create installable windows when I was last formatting.

Also, condolences. PC HW problems are so damn annoying.

Should work. You may need to install some Dell specific drivers if Windows doesn’t auto find ones that work.

Is there any specific type of NvMe I need to look for, such as different specs or are they all compatible? My current one was a Samsung PM9A1 2 TB.

Dell should have a compatibility list with drive info specific to your model. I recently upgraded my NvME in my Dell and used that resource to find a good replacement. Any good NvME SSD should work. You just need to verify the specs to get one that fits.

Windows should be easily installable after you make a USB boot using the Win10/11 media creation tool and you shouldn’t have to enter a CD key.

If I have a Windows 10 USB retail product from another computer, should I be able to use that to reinstall Windows on my new NVMe on my current computer? Or are you talking about something different?

I’m referring to this:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

The “download tool now” button will make a tool that will use up a USB to download and make an installer with latest updates preapplied.

My NVME drive failed, and I just created a windows boot/install usb, and when the replacement came, it installed and works like normal.

Not that it helps now, but I keep a bootable usb stick with an ISO of a new-ish version of Windows 11 on it, with my local folders copied over to that same USB for re-installing software and notes for my settings. Once you get your new SSD in place, I do recommend something similar to keep (I mostly keep it in the event of a virus or somthing, or if I just want to nuke and pave the PC for a clean install. When I’ve had to resort to it, the process takes less than an hour).

Yikes, the NVme tech isn’t that old and I’m surprised to hear tales of so many failed drives.

Thanks everyone for the help. I ordered:

I was going to get the Samsung , but Amazon was out of stock and wouldn’t deliver until Jan

I also ordered a 32 GB USB drive to make a Windows recovery tool and a GB USB drive to be able to back stuff up.

It looks like Dell has their own OS recovery tool:
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000123667/how-to-download-and-use-the-dell-os-recovery-image-in-microsoft-windows

Do you think I should go with the Dell tool or with the Microsoft one @rei linked to above? Maybe the Dell one will have any drivers / settings particular to my setup/

If you had an activated Windows 10, install using that motherboard, you won’t have any trouble activating Windows 10 or 11 during a reinstall. Skip the serial number when it asks you during setup. Once it connects to the internet after first boot it should activate no problem.

I would definitely stick with the Microsoft media creator.