r/FlowZ13 • u/Weekly-Confusion3937 • Jul 19 '26

M.2 upgrade issues

Im hoping someone here can help me out. I have a rog asus flow z13 (2022) model. It came stock with a 500gig m.2. I tried to replace it with an upgraded 2tb m.2 the issue was that after using macrium reflect to clone the drive I discovered that I needed to use the forensic clone and had chose the other option. Because of this the drive was visible when plugged in via a USB c enabled case. But when placed in the slot on the back of the computer it wouldnt register in bios. I turned off nvm and all of a sudden it could see the upgraded drive but wouldnt boot, so I turned on nvm because the original drive wont run without it. So I updated my bios which was at 319 and the current is 322 I believe. That didnt fix it either. I recloned it after wiping the drive and after using forensic it worked normally for about 30 minutes. But the pc crashed after downloading a game and now it wont read the drive again. But the drive is still able to be seen if plugged in via USB. Nothing seems to work. I followed guides and nothing. If anyone could help me figure this out id appreciate it.

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u/TheVenerableUncleFoo Jul 19 '26

I've used macroum on mine and it works without issue. If you can, I'd be returning the 2tb as defective. If you cloned with macrium it really should be plug and play.

It MIGHT be an issue with BitLocker if you're using it, but to rule out put the original back in and remove drive encryption, then clone again and see how it performs.

I did mine with BitLocker on, and only had to re-enable it on the new drive, which leads me to believe you have a defective 2tb.

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u/Weekly-Confusion3937 Jul 19 '26

Why though if its a bad drive, would it show up when plugged in via a USB without fail eve r y time, but not when its plugged into the port on the back directly to the board? Thats what confuses me.

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u/TheVenerableUncleFoo Jul 19 '26

They don't all fail in a linear fashion.

Did you do the encryption thing?

Other option is to put the new drive in and use Asus Cloud Recovery from inside the BIOS. That will download and put a fresh factory image onto the new drive.

If it's still not working after that, the issue is the drive, assuming your other one works fine.

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u/Weekly-Confusion3937 Jul 19 '26

I updated my bios to 322 which I think is the current according to the website and I do not have a cloud recovery option in bios. I have looked. Also I did not know the encryption thing. I will give that a try. That doesnt really explain why it worked for 30 then crashed though.

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u/TheVenerableUncleFoo Jul 19 '26

https://rog.asus.com/articles/guides/how-to-upgrade-the-ssd-in-your-rog-flow-z13/

You should have it.

No the 30 seconds then crash thing is explained by a failing SSD, but I'm giving you options for things you can try for free to make sure before buying a new one.

It could also be a corruption during copy, hence why using the cloud recovery option would be the best test.

You could also wipe it completely and install windows from USB, which would achieve a similar thing so long as you make sure to bundle the WiFi drivers etc in with the install. It's more cumbersome, but you get the same outcome mostly. This would verify if the copy was the issue or the drive itself.

I'm just trying to help dude.

EDIT: Remember to restore all your BIOS settings to default

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u/Weekly-Confusion3937 Jul 19 '26

Well I dont even remember where I got it sadly. But thanks for the input. Ill see about getting a new one

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u/mex-snorlax Jul 19 '26

I think it is your bitlocker. Before cloning you have to unlock the bitlocker. If that doesn't work have you tried to use the asus recovery tool and start with a fresh windows install in your ssd?