The second drive is a 32GB Intel Optane SSD. It's typically used as a cache for an HDD. It seems redundant for an NVME SSD, but HP includes it on some models for no reason that is obvious to me.
I'm not sure why it shows as bitlocker encrypted. Regardless, it shouldn't be user accessible, unless you break the caching.
That comports with a Best Buy listing I saw just before, which said it had 32GB of SSD cache. And this is a Best Buy machine. Why a NVMe needs a separate drive for cache is beyond me. I supposed normally it's hidden from the file manager, but my clean install changed that.
As for bitlocker, I don't recall what made me conclude it was involved here. It may or may not be.
Thanks for the input. I guess the mystery is solved, nominally anyway.
Be well.
If possible post Speccy results.
Was it flash cache and what did you do with it?
Was there no files on it?
Are you planning to leave it as is or remove it?
I have no idea how it actually works, and it's RAW so I didn't explore it. I suspect Intel uses the second drive in a RAID-ish cache capacity, and then writes to the main drive opportunistically. As I said, I'm not going to touch it until we know all data is accounted for, and perhaps not even then.
I have a theory that the correct driver is required for Optane to work; and that with that driver the cache drive probably will become hidden from the user. If I get a chance I will test that theory.
The 32 GB SSD is flash cache.
I've removed one that had had boot problems.
The computer boot slowly now like other computers with HD's.
At sometime I was planning to replace the HD with a SSD.
There is no free space on the motherboard.
The Crucial scanner did not display Nvme options (only SATA).
The flash cache cannot store data.
It can be removed or turned off using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) software.
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