Storage HDD (D:) Disappearance -- I DARE you to figure this one out!

knight15 · 13 Apr 2023

Windows 10, PC locks up mid-session, D: (storage) drive disappears from Explorer on re-boot. I took to the internet and tried the all the recommendations, with the following results:

BIOS sees the missing drive.
Disk management does NOT see the drive. (so can't fix partitions or re-assign drive letters)
Device manager does NOT see the drive. (so can't update the driver)
Sata cable replaced with one confirmed to be good.
Power confirmed on the HDD, and spinning with no funny noises
HDD drives WORKS fine when removed from the motherboard, dropped into a compatible cradle and plugged into a USB port -- on the same PC.
System Restore did not fix the problem.
No previous error messages or adherent behavior from the drive indicating impending failure.

Utterly stumped by an HDD that works, is seen by my BIOS -- and otherwise refuses to talk to my motherboard -- after doing so successfully for years. Anybody got anything for this? Thanks!

dalchina · 13 Apr 2023

Welcome to tenforums.

Forgive the silly question- if you configure a physically different drive in the same position, does that work?

knight15 · 13 Apr 2023

Not sure I understand your question. If you're referring to me removing the internal HDD from my PC, dropping it into a compatible cradle, then plugging it back into the same PC via USB, then -- yes -- it worked. It popped back up in explorer as the D: drive with full file access. But MUCH slower, obviously.

dalchina · 13 Apr 2023

You've removed the drive designated D from your PC.

So what happens if you take a spare drive and put it back in the same place as the removed drive occupied?

Does your PC see that drive?

knight15 · 13 Apr 2023

Ahh -- you mean connect a different HDD to the same SATA port on the motherboard and see if it works? I may have a spare drive to try that -- but I still need to figure out how to get my original drive talking on the motherboard if possible. (because it works on the same PC when I use it as an external drive)

dalchina · 13 Apr 2023

Exactly- prove there's no issue with the mb/connectors etc.

knight15 · 13 Apr 2023

OK Dalchina,

Swapped in an unformatted 3.5 HDD in place of my "invisible" D: drive, using the same SATA cable and SATA port on the MB: the drive appears in Disk Management as one would expect. Temptation is to conclude my old D: drive went bad, right? But if it's died (it's several years old), why can I read/write from it when I mount it as an external drive to the same PC? Why can I still see it in BIOS?

cereberus · 14 Apr 2023

knight15 said:

OK Dalchina,

Swapped in an unformatted 3.5 HDD in place of my "invisible" D: drive, using the same SATA cable and SATA port on the MB: the drive appears in Disk Management as one would expect. Temptation is to conclude my old D: drive went bad, right? But if it's died (it's several years old), why can I read/write from it when I mount it as an external drive to the same PC? Why can I still see it in BIOS?

That is often the nature of failing drives - you start to get random failures. Windows tolerates a certain amount of failures but eventually gives up the ghost.

In the end, new drives are cheap. First thing I would do is backup all the data you can in case drive fails completely.

Also other reasons for random failures could be a failing power supply, poor cables etc.
.

dalchina · 14 Apr 2023

One can speculate- some marginal issue in interface hardware- when a different driver is used...

Without it being visible under Windows, you can't run disk check programs.

Maybe @jumanji can suggest something..

knight15 · 14 Apr 2023

Yes -- and that is precisely what appears to have happened: last night I could read data off the drive when mounted in a dock, tonight I can only detect the drive letter -- with no access to the files. Not even my Data Recovery software (Reclaime) can access the disk without crashing. I'm hearing no sounds whatsoever, seems to be spinning without significant vibration -- so I'm hoping for no mechanical damage at this point. Professional data recovery at this point? Anyone have any other ideas?