The mysterious disappearing HDD


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I do not even know where to start, my dedicated HDD for games (1 TB) just randomly disappears from the windows environment, most of the time when i reboot the drive will come back. I have checked physical connections, and they are solid, so I am lead to believe that the issue is within the drive itself, however according to HDD sentential, that drive is 100% healthy. My PSU is 1050 watts, almost brand new, the motherboard is <2 months old, but the HDD is a few years old. I already plan to purchase a few new drives in about a month or so as well as an SSD for the OS. My question is: Is the fact that the drive is disappearing a sign of a controller(HDD) or drive itself failing, or could it be something different then that?

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Could try to make sure your motherboard chipset drivers are up to date, maybe check AHCI settings and all that in BIOS to make sure your drives are running in the right mode too. Might even be worth updating BIOS.

 

This is the only drive with an issue?

 

Oh also, when it happens again, check disk management and see if the drive is detected but not mounted with a drive letter. This has bizarrely happened to me for no explicable reason on the odd occasion.

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Could try to make sure your motherboard chipset drivers are up to date, maybe check AHCI settings and all that in BIOS to make sure your drives are running in the right mode too. Might even be worth updating BIOS.

 

This is the only drive with an issue?

 

Oh also, when it happens again, check disk management and see if the drive is detected but not mounted with a drive letter. This has bizarrely happened to me for no explicable reason on the odd occasion.

All drivers and BIOS are up to date. This is the only drive with the issue. It happened again, and it does not show in disk management. I have triple checked the BIOS setting are set for AHCI, so I am at a lose as to what the issue might be.

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No. It also refuses to show up after unplugging its sata and power cords and resetting them, is the drive just gone?

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If the BIOS doesn't recognize it, there is no point worrying about windows not seeing it.

Try:

  • Changing cables
  • Plugging it into a different computer
  • Using a USB cable/enclosure

Plenty you can do to isolate the problem.

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I'm in the process of changing out the SATA cable, already changed the power. I do not have another computer to check the HDD in, the only other computer in the house is a laptop.

Edit: I changed the SATA cable out, twice, and neither times did the drive show up, I also changed the SATA port where it was plugged in and that has made no difference. I moved the power cable and swapped it out as well, still nothing happened. I am leaning more towards the drive is just dead now, but idk.

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So this morning, after being off for ~10 hours, the HDD is there and running, this is really an odd issue!

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>"just randomly disappears from the windows environment,"

 

Check Event Viewer and see if there are errors relating to the drive or controller.

 

Sometimes when a drive / controller has issues it will disconnect. 

 

If you've tried changing cables, tried in another SATA port then it may be that the drive is failing.

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Sounds like maybe a fault on the logic board for the HDD. Is it under warranty?

No, it's ~ 4 or 5 years old! Like I said in the original post, I have plans to replace these soon!

Edit:

I just opened HDD sentinel, and saw this on the status of the drive in question:

 

There are 2 weak sectors found on the disk surface. They may be remapped any time in the later use of the disk.

At this point, warranty replacement of the disk is not yet possible, only if the health drops further.

Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 1002 times.

It is recommended to examine the log of the disk regularly. All new problems found will be logged there.

No actions needed.

 

The drive found 2 bad sectors during its self test.
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No, it's ~ 4 or 5 years old! Like I said in the original post, I have plans to replace these soon!

Edit:

 

Yes? Your point? Currently you've neglected to share any specific information about it's manufacturer or model. I have a WD Black that's just coming towards the end of its 5 year warranty mark in a machine. Some HDD's are still from the 5 year warranty "golden age".

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Yes? Your point? Currently you've neglected to share any specific information about it's manufacturer or model. I have a WD Black that's just coming towards the end of its 5 year warranty mark in a machine. Some HDD's are still from the 5 year warranty "golden age".

post-243659-0-66002700-1422060088.png

Also, seatools says that the drive is fine...

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attachicon.gifseagate.PNG

Also, seatools says that the drive is fine...

 

If you want an RMA code from Seatools, just give the failing drive physical encouragement during the full / intensive scan.

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Seeing as you changed the SATA cable, power connector, SATA port it was plugged in to, and it reappeared after being off for 10 hours... it sounds as though the drive is the issue and the rest of your PC is OK. Without another drive to test on the same SATA cable, power connector and SATA port; I'd back up what I could while it is working and then accelerate the plan to replace it.

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Seeing as you changed the SATA cable, power connector, SATA port it was plugged in to, and it reappeared after being off for 10 hours... it sounds as though the drive is the issue and the rest of your PC is OK. Without another drive to test on the same SATA cable, power connector and SATA port; I'd back up what I could while it is working and then accelerate the plan to replace it.

Pretty much came to the same conclusion, the drive is 1744 days old, and may have had some issues when the last PSU died and took the motherboard with it, I am not really surprised!

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