Hard disk vanishes every time I download something?!

Garuna93 · 03 Dec 2020

My laptop has 2 hard disk partitions, C: and D: and is running Windows 10 build 19042.630. Recently I've been experiencing a very weird issue. Any time I download anything on D:, it vanishes. It disappears from My Computer however it shows up again once I restart my PC and I'm able to resume the download. However after some time it vanishes again. It's a normal 1TB hard disk (not SSD).

I've tried running error checking on D: and defragmenting it. The error checker doesn't show any error and defragmenting doesn't make a difference. I've tried running chkdsk in command prompt but the scan is unable to finish since the disk vanishes mid scan. What could be causing this issue and what can I do to fix it?

RJARRRPCGP · 04 Dec 2020

Sounds like a hard disk drive controller board fault.

Check the HDD PCB! Are there any corroded/rusty-looking contacts?

Garuna93 · 04 Dec 2020

RJARRRPCGP said:

Sounds like a hard disk drive controller board fault.

Check the HDD PCB! Are there any corroded/rusty-looking contacts?

I haven't opened my laptop to look at the hard disk. Could it be a software issue? This problem only occurs when something's downloaded on the disk. I run several games off the disk and have faced no issue.

RJARRRPCGP · 04 Dec 2020

Garuna93 said:

I haven't opened my laptop to look at the hard disk. Could it be a software issue? This problem only occurs when something's downloaded on the disk. I run several games off the disk and have faced no issue.

I also bet that the SMART is knackered!

jumanji · 05 Dec 2020

Hi Garuna93,

You said that while running checkdisk also that particular partition vanishes. So it is not only during downloads. This makes me think that your HDD has started failing. Why only the drive D? At the first sector of that partition , resides the Volume Boot Record ( also known as Partition Boot Record) from which the partition boots. I may assume that that particular sector has become weak and marginally bad. Sometimes or most of the times it is read. Sometimes it is not read. If not read, the volume fails to keep the boot and disappears. I can't find any other explanation for this behaviour. At the moment it is a pure conjecture - may be right , may be not.

Download the trial version of Hard Disk Sentinel and check the health of your HDD.
Hard Disk Sentinel Trial version - HDD health and temperature monitoring

Do read the overview, features and look at the screenshots to know what all it can do, to help using it.

And would you mind to furnish complete details of your laptop? ( Please see "My Computer" in this post. Go to Settings > My Settings > Edit System Spec to compile )

NMI · 05 Dec 2020

Also posted at Tom's Hardware: Hard disk vanishes every time I download something?!

jumanji · 05 Dec 2020

Thank you @NMI for catching it. The recommendation there also is more or less on the same lines.

"What version of Windows 10 are you on at the moment? You might want to also state the make and model of your laptop. Also look into the BIOS version at the time of writing. I think your HDD might be on it's way out. You should use CrystalDisk to see if anything is flagged as a problem on the HDD."

Let us wait for the OP.

Garuna93 · 06 Dec 2020

jumanji said:

You said that while running checkdisk also that particular partition vanishes. So it is not only during downloads. This makes me think that your HDD has started failing. Why only the drive D? At the first sector of that partition , resides the Volume Boot Record ( also known as Partition Boot Record) from which the partition boots. I may assume that that particular sector has become weak and marginally bad. Sometimes or most of the times it is read. Sometimes it is not read. If not read, the volume fails to keep the boot and disappears. I can't find any other explanation for this behaviour. At the moment it is a pure conjecture - may be right , may be not.

I made a mistake in my original post. The 2 partitions are 2 separate disks, C: is the SSD and D: is an HDD. I installed Hard Disk Sentinel and it showed that my HDD was in critical condition with its health at 9% and more than 17,000 bad sectors. Is there any way to save the disk? Will formatting it help? I've filled in the details of my laptop.

jumanji · 06 Dec 2020

Just 9% health remaining !!!!. Sorry , nothing will help. Copy as much as good data still present to another disk and discard the SSHD. ( data in bad sectors is already lost)

Note: Since it appears to be a costly laptop, you may avail the services of any ASUS service center nearby or any reputed computer repair shop and get the Seagate Firecuda 1TB SSHD changed. Tell them specifically that the job involved is just replacing the 1TB SSHD , the secondary data drive.

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Garuna93 · 07 Dec 2020

jumanji said:

Just 9% health remaining !!!!. Sorry , nothing will help. Copy as much as good data still present to another disk and discard the SSHD. ( data in bad sectors is already lost)

I'm not sure how Hard Disk Sentinel determined the disk health. I tried to perform a surface test on the disk in EaseUS to determine how many bad sectors there are but the drive vanishes mid scan. Is it possible the program isn't giving an accurate picture of the disk's health?