Hi all,
I have a strange problem with my desktop PC. I apologise if this issue has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything specifically relevant on the forums.
I currently run four internal HDD's simultaneously (one dedicated to windows 7 only, the remaining three are used for storage with no OS's installed). Other info: 850W coolermaster PSU, gigabyte EP35DS3 mobo, intel E6600 CPU, 6GB ddr2 ram (2x2 and 2x1), radeon 6950HD graphics. All four HDD's were originally formatted and all work as they should... except...
My problem is that my 2TB SATA2 drive (about 3 weeks old!) just randomly decides not to work. In other words, two things seem to happen: 1. Sometimes when I boot up, it is not recognised in BIOS or shown in my computer/device manager... as though it's not plugged in.. completely inaccessible.. or 2. Sometimes after startup the HDD is recognised and can be used normally, but then at some random point, suddenly it disappears! Most of the time however it is recognised/shown and operates normally, as do all the other drives. The OS does not boot from this drive so obviously I can boot up as normal whether it is recognised or not. I have tried using different SATA cables and/or different power connectors for the HDD and neither have helped. I have also performed a disk check and defragment on this drive yesterday (as I have recently added a lot of data to the drive), hoping it would solve the issue. Unfortunately it hasn't.
It should be said that this hard drive coincidentally has STEAM installed on it (along with all my games, maybe about ~80GB worth). While the disappearing act isn't solely caused by gameplay (the drive can disappear randomly during normal use, or just not show up at boot up WITHOUT playing games) I would say that playing games for extended periods (or even short periods) can cause the drive to disappear too. i.e. game crashes, steam crashes, and voila I find the drive is now not visible in my computer... Hope that makes sense. Apart from STEAM, the hard drive holds all types of files (it is the location of all my music, documents, and pictures which are referred to often via shortcuts)... don't know if that's relevant or not.
My question is WHY would this happen? why might a HDD sometimes show up and not others?
Thanks
I have a strange problem with my desktop PC. I apologise if this issue has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything specifically relevant on the forums.
I currently run four internal HDD's simultaneously (one dedicated to windows 7 only, the remaining three are used for storage with no OS's installed). Other info: 850W coolermaster PSU, gigabyte EP35DS3 mobo, intel E6600 CPU, 6GB ddr2 ram (2x2 and 2x1), radeon 6950HD graphics. All four HDD's were originally formatted and all work as they should... except...
My problem is that my 2TB SATA2 drive (about 3 weeks old!) just randomly decides not to work. In other words, two things seem to happen: 1. Sometimes when I boot up, it is not recognised in BIOS or shown in my computer/device manager... as though it's not plugged in.. completely inaccessible.. or 2. Sometimes after startup the HDD is recognised and can be used normally, but then at some random point, suddenly it disappears! Most of the time however it is recognised/shown and operates normally, as do all the other drives. The OS does not boot from this drive so obviously I can boot up as normal whether it is recognised or not. I have tried using different SATA cables and/or different power connectors for the HDD and neither have helped. I have also performed a disk check and defragment on this drive yesterday (as I have recently added a lot of data to the drive), hoping it would solve the issue. Unfortunately it hasn't.
It should be said that this hard drive coincidentally has STEAM installed on it (along with all my games, maybe about ~80GB worth). While the disappearing act isn't solely caused by gameplay (the drive can disappear randomly during normal use, or just not show up at boot up WITHOUT playing games) I would say that playing games for extended periods (or even short periods) can cause the drive to disappear too. i.e. game crashes, steam crashes, and voila I find the drive is now not visible in my computer... Hope that makes sense. Apart from STEAM, the hard drive holds all types of files (it is the location of all my music, documents, and pictures which are referred to often via shortcuts)... don't know if that's relevant or not.
My question is WHY would this happen? why might a HDD sometimes show up and not others?
Thanks