Hard Drive Falilure

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by whatitdo2010, Jun 7, 2010.

  1. whatitdo2010

    whatitdo2010 MDL Novice

    May 18, 2010
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    I have two internal hard drives. One is 1TB and the other is 1.5TB. For some reason when I am using Windows for a while the 2nd drive will disappear from My Computer. I will be downloading something or doing nothing and all of a sudden it goes away. I restart my computer and during the reboot it will reappear. I will go back to using my computer for a day or so (sometimes its less than that) and it disappears again. Please let me know what additional information you need so I can stop this from happening.
     
  2. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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    First thing to do is check the hard drive cables.
     
  3. Smorgan

    Smorgan Glitcher

    Mar 25, 2010
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    Check the cables and power settings to see if it powers down after a while....
    I concur with urie thou its prob the cables but you never know...
     
  4. whatitdo2010

    whatitdo2010 MDL Novice

    May 18, 2010
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    I already switched cables before I posted this. What exactly on the power settings am I looking for and where do I go to check that? Power Management?
     
  5. Syngensmyth

    Syngensmyth MDL Novice

    Sep 2, 2009
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    Update your drivers: chipset, storage, etc. Check your BIOS for what mode your are running i.e. AHCI or whatever. Check drive for condition chkdsk or HDTune. Could be a bad drive. Change SATA slots (if SATA?). Just shootin' ideas.
     
  6. Smorgan

    Smorgan Glitcher

    Mar 25, 2010
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    A few more ideas its in the power option menu dude just type power into the task bar also try switching the computer its plugged into if possible to remedy the problem...
    If that doesn't work switch the sata slots like Syngensmyth said then if all else fails check the warranty period and start contacting customer support for returning it...
     
  7. zedbra

    zedbra MDL Novice

    Jun 7, 2010
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    which Windows are you running?? most likely its in the BIOS, although Vista has reportedly had issues with multiple SATA HD's. exactly what you said. one minute it will show in Computer, but sometimes when writing or reading the PC will freeze and HD disappears. very frustrating!!

    also it could mean you need a mobo update... i recently upped to a newer board and Win7, no problems reading three or four HD's:D
     
  8. whatitdo2010

    whatitdo2010 MDL Novice

    May 18, 2010
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    The only thing I didnt do above was checking my BIOS. How do I do that and what am I looking for?
     
  9. whatitdo2010

    whatitdo2010 MDL Novice

    May 18, 2010
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    So how do I update the Motherboard? I have Win7 Ultimate. I have a MSI K9N2 Platinum board.
     
  10. FireGunz

    FireGunz MDL Novice

    Jun 25, 2010
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    Hi there,

    I just install Win7 Ultimate (SATA) for my 1st HDD (which I plan for MASTER) also as my DVD-Rom (SATA) this two is work fine. But when I add in 2nd HDD (IDE) during the booting it state ERROR OS... it seem unable to the primary HDD (SATA) as MASTER... so when I went in the BIOS (AMIBIOS) but not sure how to set the setting...

    Any ideal? Can some guide me along... As my PC spec at Signanture... o_O
     
  11. FireGunz

    FireGunz MDL Novice

    Jun 25, 2010
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    It Ok, solve... in side the BIOS under the BOOT tab just switch the HDD Position will do. :D
     
  12. dooby

    dooby MDL Novice

    Jul 8, 2010
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    Another diagnostic tool - the Windows Event Logs. Right-click "Computer", select "Manage", expand "Event Viewer", and select "Windows Logs", then "System". Are there any disk related errors here?
     
  13. compaq66

    compaq66 MDL Novice

    Oct 2, 2008
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    this might help!!!

    :biggrin:bad sectors on the drive and if you have external hd move all your stuff to it!....
    and use hdd regenerator!!!! and drive wipe and you most possable will not have any problems!!!! ,,just remember this ever thing's breaks in time: unless ,you use a ssd drive the no moving parts...one problems.....



    the computer guru......18 yrs of I.T instanity.....

    :p:p:p:p:D
     
  14. burfadel

    burfadel MDL EXE>MSP/CAB

    Aug 19, 2009
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    There is no master/slave setting with SATA. If you install another HDD and the boot doesn't boot off the drive you want anymore, the boot priority has been altered under the bios. You will have to look through the bios and change the desired HDD to be higher priority (such as 1st boot device) over the other drive.

    In terms of the drive disappearing, thats probably the driver. IDE controllers are no longer part of the chipset design, they are provided by a third party company. Thats true for p45, and I'm sure for the p35 chipset as well.
     
  15. v@g

    v@g MDL Novice

    Dec 15, 2010
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    More like: PCB overheating
     
  16. burfadel

    burfadel MDL EXE>MSP/CAB

    Aug 19, 2009
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    Even though I'm sure the problem is solved now this may help others...

    The boot priority changing in the bios with addition of drives catches a lot of people out. If you set your boot HDD as your first device, and the boot priority as having the HDD as the first boot device, you'd think it would stay there if you add an additional drive, or USB flash drive etc. Simple fact is, often it doesn't and that catches a lot of people out. I'm not sure whether thats with every computer, just intel chipset computers or certain manufacturers specific, either way unless you're at least a little computer knowledgeable, I'm sure there have been lots of calls to customer service and warranty returns for something as stupid as leaving in a USB stick!...
     
  17. acyuta

    acyuta MDL Expert

    Mar 8, 2010
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    It happens with MSI X58M too with core i7 920. In recent times, I had to do some hard drive swapping. That is fine. But even taking out and reinserting the SATA cable in the same disk can cause a boot priority change. Also have seen that what is the HDD order in BIOS (port 1,..., etc) may not be the same as in Windows 7 or acronis. Usually they get it right but sometimes they do it wrong and on reboot it gets right. This order in window 7 hardly matters but I prefer to see the hard disk 1 (C:) on top.

    Also is there is a solution to this: when I switch on esata, it always gets the top order.
     
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  18. WindDrake

    WindDrake MDL Novice

    Jun 2, 2008
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    You may also want to check the Airflow in your case. With the onset of the faster Southbridges requiring atleast passive cooling, overheating can cause voltage foldbacks and make SATA ports shut down.
     
  19. Happpy

    Happpy MDL Senior Member

    Jan 23, 2010
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    All are saying well but I say that check your hard drive for virus too.