Brand-new Western Digital HDD disconnects randomly from my PC

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evelynre7

May 29, 2018
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Hello!

So I attempted to speed up my old Dell Inspiron 570 with a Samsung Evo SSD. That same day, the existing original Seagate HDD, which was the storage for documents, music, pictures, and videos, had trouble. First, the Documents and Music folders said that D: (the HDD) is unavailable, or something along those lines. After about a half hour, Pictures and Videos followed. Eventually, the HDD was undetectable, even if set up externally. The SSD was hanging on one screw, since the bracket didn't have the right holes for this PC. I thought that could have been the issue. So I got a new HDD from Amazon.

The day of installing that new WD Blue HDD, again problems similar to, but not exactly like, the Seagate HDD came up. Desktop, along with the media folders, were set to the HDD, and it disappeared, all at once. We used this HDD for only a couple of hours before that happened. The SSD has a new bracket that fits- that can't be it. It's as if I just pulled out the HDD from the computer. In fact, that's what Event Viewer told me. When rebooting, the Dell Boot Screen gets stuck at almost the middle until I do a cold boot. Sometimes, if I shut it down from Windows and turn it on later that happens as well (boot screen freeze). That only started with this HDD.

Event Viewer had Error 51 a few times whenever this happened, and it ends with Error 157.
Error 51 states: "Error on device \Device\Harddisk1\DR1 during a paging operation."
Error 157 states: "Disk 1 has been surprise removed."

They used to say Disk 0 at the beginning of this issue, but I switched the SATA Ports, Data cable, and switched the SSD and HDD's power cables as a troubleshooting step. The SSD is fine. The HDD still gets this problem.

I don't think it is the same issue as the old HDD, since this one disappears completely and can come back with a (successful) reboot. The old one stopped being detected. But I thought I'd mention it just in case, since it might matter.

In short, the things I have tried are:
- Switching the HDD's SATA data cable with a new one, and moving it from Port 0 to Port 1
- Switching the HDD's power cable with the SSD's (No other cables could reach it, so I risked the SSD and the SSD turned out fine)
- Checking Windows Event Viewer, which as I said had errors 51 and 157. It also has Error 10016 which is some permission one that seems to be caused by the same issue. It has a series of 51 Errors when it happens, and ends with a 157.
- Checking Windows Disk Management- When the drive is working, it shows up. When it isn't working, it disappears, even when I tell it to rescan. Figures.
- Using Windows 10's Chkdsk from This PC-D😛roperties-Tools-Scan. No errors were found. When the issue is happening, I can't try this because the drive will not appear in This PC.
- Contacting Western Digital- They told me to try it in another PC. Right now, this is the only desktop we have. They said it is in warranty, so I can replace it (which would be a huge hassle for me at the moment), but I should check if it is really the hard drive or the computer.
- Using Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic program on a quick scan- no errors were found. I'll try a long scan later, but it might disconnect in the middle...

Specs:
Dell Inspiron 570
Windows 10 Home x64
4 GB RAM
AMD Athlon II X240 Processor
Samsung 860 EVO SSD 250GB
Western Digital Blue HDD 1TB

So the question is- what is causing this issue?
Please do not tell me to just toss this computer and get a new one. I know it is 8 years old. I'd prefer to use it until it breaks- and I am wondering if it is currently breaking.

Hopefully, I put in all the details needed.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Hello !

I experienced same issues as you. My second drive ( SSD or HDD, were the operating system is not installed ) was disconnecting randomly.
I had a SSD then another then a HDD as secondary drive, everytime same problem. I changed SATA port and SATA Cable and Supply Cable, in every association possible with the drives, no matter.
Ran CHKDSK
Second drive is where Games are installed. Drive is disconnecting randomly.


This fixed the problem for me : Disabling the "Agressive Link Power Management" in the BIOS.
 
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Thank you for your answer! But I can't find "Aggressive Link Power Management" anywhere in the BIOS, or anything similar. Even under the "Power Management" tab. Any other ideas?

Also, I switched my folder locations back to the SSD, except for Pictures, Videos, and Music. Since the Desktop is now on the SSD, either I haven't noticed the HDD disconnecting or it actually stopped disconnecting. I don't see how having Desktop and Documents off of the HDD could actually solve the problem, so I find it hard to believe.

Update: It is definitely still happening, about once a day. The remaining folders I have on there still disappear when the HDD disconnects. I suppose I will try to get it replaced. I just really hope it isn't the computer, otherwise it'll kill the next HDD as well, somehow.

My next thoughts would be a virus or the PSU, but I use SuperAntiSpyware with Avast, and they both say there are no problems. Maybe it's the PSU? Is that possible? I guess it could make sense- SSDs don't take up much power, but for some reason the PSU can't handle the SSD with the HDD, and drops the HDD since it takes up more power..? I am really clueless as to what's happening with it.
 
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I am here just because no one is. I am not regular here anymore, but I still have overclocked Inspiron 570 (with Phenom 965 II x4 BE CPU).

Power supply not suppose to do this, unless you have quite strong video card. Original 250 watt PSU is more than enough for everything except power hungry GPU (video card).
BIOS out of the question - previous poster don't have this particular Dell - no such option there.

By now, Inspiron 570 is at least 7 years old, if not more - there is a possibility that SATA connector on motherboard is getting loose, if it is, it can kill your attached drives.

If you need this PC as is and it is enough (processing power) for your needs, I would recommend checking PCIE x1 or just PCIE SATA III addon card, all you need is 1 extra SATA port inside your PC.

I used those cards before, they, generally don't last long (1-2 years), but they don't break anything when are dying, your hard drive speed is getting slow, this is it. And those cards cost no more than $50, vs new PC.
I have no time checking this to help you so good luck.

Just another 2 cents.
 
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That is a very good suggestion, and I'm glad I'm not the only one here with a 570. But if it was the SATA connector in the motherboard, wouldn't the SSD fail as well? I have also tried switching the cables between the SSD and the HDD, and still the HDD fails...

Also, I think it's either my imagination or the HDD is starting to make noises as well. But that's probably because it is being "surprise removed" so often.

I'm receiving a replacement tomorrow, so I'll update this thread as to whether it really is this HDD, and it's a coincidence that 2 have died in the same PC in almost the same way, or the PC itself is going to be killing 3 hard drives.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, this PC does still run fine after I upgraded it to an SSD. It's impressive how long desktops can hold up.
 
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OK

Last question about your drives. So, you have now 1 SSD and 1 HDD plus optic drive, correct?

Original configuration would be something like this, C drive attached to SATA 0 port on motherboard, optic drive attached to either SATA 1 or SATA 2 ports and you have total 4 SATA ports on motherboard.
Now you have added SSD, so you still suppose to have one spare SATA port on motherboard, correct?

When you said about changing cables, you meant you change for an example SSD from SATA 0 (C drive must be attached to SATA 0 for BIOS to function well)to SATA 1 (if your HDD was attached to SATA 1, and you attached HDD to SATA 0, did I understand you correctly?

Have you tried to use all SATA ports on motherboard for HDD, even optic drive one? If not try this switch option first.

You also mentioned HDD noise. Is it very fast and shallow, like something scratches or it is like a mechanical watch sound, like loader and more clear, lke if you take screwdriver and knock on some hard metal very fast? If it first sound, it is OK, if second, it is the beginning of the HDD end.

You did not say, do you have video card or not, if yes, what is it?

Just in case, save all your valuable info and DATA ASAP, it is very slow and painful to recover lost data, I did it twice in my PC life and I don't want to even talk about it.

Anything else I missed?

Do you have any PC store near you, like Fry's or Best Buy or similar, where you can get parts and return them without restocking fee?
 
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Yes, that's something like that. I'm not sure if the original was SATA 0, 1, and 2, but what I did was just switch the cables on the hard drive's end instead of the motherboard so that I didn't confuse anything. But yeah, pretty much the same thing- I took out the plugs from the SSD, put it in the HDD, and vice versa. I will try the fourth port ASAP, as well as the optic drive port which I did not yet try.

I think it was the first noise. I am really not sure, since anything could be noise from outside (and it is noisy out there). By the time I lean down to see if the noise is from my PC, it stops. I've thought I have heard both the first and second noise, but it could be neither. But if it was dying with clicking noises, wouldn't it show up in the HDD scans?

I don't have a video card.

It's been backed up since before I put in the SSD :) Thanks for the advice, though.

Unfortunately, we don't have stores like that here. We do have a PC repair shop, but they wouldn't do that.

I should also mention that I tried the HDD externally, with a USB adapter, and it had the issue. But I tried it on the same PC...I don't think it's the SATA, but it could still be the PC.
 
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Please clarify, "you tried HDD externally with USB adapter"
You mean, you have an external USB enclosure, which also disconnects? Or you somehow attached purchased HDDs to the external USBs?

Also, get CPU Z intal and run it, open third tab MAINBOARD, and look down - what BIOS version you have, V. 05 is good, anything below is not. You also can enter BIOS by tapping F2 during boot up, first TAB System Info, has BIOS version as well.

Actually, regarding BIOS, have you change any settings there after installation of SSD?
 
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A few more things to check/answer.

WIn 10 installation.

Have you upgraded to Win 10 for free, when it was possible and stayed this way till now? If yes, you might need fresh clean instal of Win 10, as it could relate to driver issues.

In Power Management, do you have sleep/hibernate enabled? If yes, put your drives to never sleep/hibernate.

And lastly, I think I found another solution, but only after you answer all previous things and play with cables. We can try this one, if nothing helps, before windows reinstall.

That would be - preventing HDD heads from parking. I remember doing this sometimes ago. WD cheap hard drives have parking enabled (sorry, right now I am using WD Enterprise HDDs, damn expensive, but my WD Black died on me from excessive use, so money are not the option for me).
We will go this way at the end.

Now it is your turn.
 
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if it one drive that dropping it can be the drive controller is going south. some drives over the years have had bad firmware. see if your drive has the newest firmware. on the drive itself make sure windows is not putting the drive to sleep. if it not a sleep issue you may have power issue if your using the stock power supply. may not have the voltage for the ssd and hard drive.
 
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External USB enclosure. That's the term, wasn't remembering it.

BIOS version is A06 - AMD AGESA V3.5.5.0. Does that mean it's under version 5?

I changed the boot order when I installed the SSD. I also installed it with the original HDD unplugged, since it was recommended in order not to have Windows rely on the HDD. I plugged the HDD back in afterwards, and that day it died.

Thanks for following up, by the way.

Oh, there was more. Didn't see that. We did the free upgrade, as this computer had Windows 7, but I'm pretty sure I did a clean installation since then, as one of my attempts to speed it up a bit as it aged. Is there a way to check?

I changed "Turn off hard disk after" from 20 minutes to Never. I hope that doesn't do anything bad to the SSD.

I thought the parking thing was only on WD Green drives, but I could be wrong.

smorizio- Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think it's the power supply, or it would also be affecting the SSD. As for the firmware, I assume you mean the driver. On Device Manager, the hard drive is shown using Microsoft's driver from 2006. It doesn't find any newer ones.

You guys could be right about the sleep setting. I noticed it happens often when the computer wakes from sleep. I'll see if it worked (it takes some time for the errors to occur).

Also, CPU-Z stated the graphics is ATI-Radeon. I think that's AMD's integrated graphics. I never put in a card.
 
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OK

1. WIn 10 instal. Have you upgraded to Win 10 when you had HDD as C drive, and later you got SSD and did clean instal on it (you mentioned that HDD was disconnected). If this so, nothing to worry here.
2. Power supply. Original is 250 watt, which is more than enough for everything, you can even add any video card which doesn't require additional connectors, up to GTX 1050TI if you wish. Just one question, have you had power outages in the past, when PC was disconnected from power (very bad for PSU and HDDs), a few of those disconnects maybe OK, if it happened quite often, PSU might be degrading.
3. Have you tried changing SATA ports, as we talk about, using optic drive SATA port for HDD? If yes, still disconnects?
4. External USB enclosure. Have you put your new HDD in this, or you have purchased external hard drive, which also disconnects? Please clarify.
5. BIOS A06 is the latest one, nothing to worry here, I still have A05 (previous version) and I don't have any problems.
6. Regarding your hard drives, since you are requested RMA from WD, that means that you got newer HDD correct - you suppose still having original HDD (which came with Inspiron 570), correct? Or you placed original HDD first and it died from disconnecting, then you purchased new WD Blue, and it died as well, is my assumption is correct? Or you still have old HDD alive? Please clarify.

7. Lucky number seven. Head parking. Previously enabled sleep/hibernation could force WD to park heads more often then it should. WD newer generations of cheap HDDs are basically rebranded WD Greens - check you HDD specs, if it 5200 rpm, it is Green, if it has InteliPower speed, it is Green and if it called Mainstream, it is Green. Only if it has 7200 rpm, it is true Blue.
Continue. After you tried and clarified everything above (1-6), we go to head parking.
Get CrystalDiskInfo, download .exe version, install and run.
Select you HDD model (once selected look at information listed, the last info is named Features, you will have there listed first S.M.A.R.T. if you have APM listed there, you have control over head parking, then proceed further), look and go to Function TAB, next go to Advanced Feature, next select first from the top option AAM/APM Control, there on the bottom you will see a slider.
Before you do anything, select your WD HDD again from the drop down selection, if you have control over slider check the number in the bottom right corner (my Enterprise HDDs are set for 80h), what is yours.
This is a place where we should proceed carefully, so first report your finding, then we proceed further.

When replying to my post, please use numbers to answer (example, 2. no power outages and etc), this will make it more organized and easier to follow. And please, do not quote, it takes too much space.

Your turn.
 
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Sorry, I always just clicked reply and it would put in a quote.

1. Ah right, totally forgot. Yes, it is a clean install, on the SSD.

2. We have had power outages before, but not since the newer HDD was installed. I have no idea how many outages. We don't get them often, maybe once or twice a year. Sometimes once in 2 years. But I may be remembering wrong. Is there any software to diagnose the PSU?

3. Apparently I already tried switching it with the optic port before I started this thread. That's what I've been using, and the optic SATA cable was in the one that the original HDD used. In short, I have tried every SATA port and the problem persisted.

4. The first. I put this HDD in the hard drive enclosure, and it did a disconnect, which makes me think it is the HDD itself. However, it was connected via USB to this PC, as I don't have others to try this out on for more than a half an hour.

5. Just curious- Why are you sticking with A05?

6. Original HDD (the one that came with the PC, about 8 years old) died when I installed the SSD. And I am hoping the SSD is not connected to this issue. I then bought a new WD Blue HDD, which is the one we've been diagnosing since it does work but it is disconnecting- unlike the original which, in one hour, Windows was seeing less and less of it's files and folders until the whole thing was gone. It also said it (original HDD) was healthy one day before the SSD was installed, and when it started failing it said it was going bad and Windows kept "fixing" it. The newer WD Blue HDD still says it is healthy. I do think the problem is separate, but the cause could be the same. Meaning, whatever made the original disconnect is making this one disconnect, the difference being that the older one was old- so it died right away from the sudden removals.

7. This HDD states on the label that it is 7200 RPM, so I am assuming I don't have to check the head parking.- correct?

So, to be clear, the current status of my HDDs are:

- SSD (Boot drive) - Healthy, working
- Original Dell Inspiron 570 Seagate Barracuda HDD - Died the same day as installing the SSD, from a disconnect it seemed to do itself. It is detected in the BIOS when installed, not detected at all in Windows, even if being used in the USB hard drive enclosure.
- WD Blue HDD - Disconnecting, but healthy.
Update - New WD Blue HDD replacement for the disconnecting one, which is what I am using now. I will update again if it has an issue. The older WD Blue is able to be diagnosed further through the USB enclosure (The PC has only 2 HDD slots). I am currently copying files to it, and hopefully it will not disconnect like the old one did. The RMA I mentioned was to get a replacement for the previous WD Blue, and this is it.

I really appreciate your assistance.

Another update - I'm at a loss. I believe it is the PC, the question is what. I will try to be as clear as possible:

So, booting the PC with the new WD Blue hard drive was fine and there was no getting stuck on the Dell boot logo. I logged in, and went to This PC-->Manage to format the new, raw, WD Blue HDD. It would not open. I tried waiting a minute, clicking again, waiting another 2 minutes, clicking again, nothing. Then I tried opening Windows Event Viewer, and again nothing happened. Settings opened fine, but if I search for and select Manage and create new partitions, nothing happens, while everything else works fine in Settings. Chrome also worked fine, that's when I typed my answer just before this update.

I did a restart, and it booted fine again. Then I tried to log in on a suddenly low resolution screen (The VGA cable was not screwed in and therefore not in correctly, I think- I tightened it when I noticed that right before Windows came up) and it spun around for a while, which never happened on the SSD, and went to a black screen. Using CTRL+ALT+DEL, which worked fine, I restarted yet again. This time, the resolution was normal, but logging in did the same thing- except I can see the mouse. I did CTRL-ALT-DEL again, and instead of restarting, since it seems hopeless, I logged into my local non-administrative user account. That worked, slowly as well, but it logged in successfully. Even played the Windows 7-10 startup sound, which hasn't happened in a long time. I went to This PC-->Manage again, but could not access it since I'm not on an admin account. So I tried signing out and signing into the first (administrator) account that I have not been able to access because of this, and it still has the same issue. I went back to the local account, looked at Event Viewer, and of course I see an error from sometime after I installed the new drive- "Disk 1 has been surprise removed." That is the new HDD. Also disconnecting, and before I could even format it! That error came up twice before I finally removed it, in order to save this one from also being destroyed.

So this issue somehow affected my ability to log into that specific account. On that blank screen, by the way, Task Manager will not open. I tried Googling the problem, and every solution I saw tells me to open Task Manager. No can do. I should also note that only on that account, it has a Windows 8.1-style Welcome screen. Meaning, instead of saying Welcome under the user name and picture with a circle when logging in, which is what Windows 10 does, it has a whole blue screen with Welcome on it (with the loading circle).
I am going to try troubleshooting this right now, and all I can think of is restarting again or going into Safe Mode, as my being able to access the administrative account is crucial. I still have no idea how the SSD is working so well, and any of these HDDs, new or old, just won't. The CD drive runs fine as well, whenever I've used it. It would be very unfortunate if I have to get a new PC, so any help is really appreciated.

Update yet again I took out the HDD, to prevent it from being destroyed. I still cannot log into the administrative account. However, on Safe Mode, I can. I can also log onto it with Safe Mode With Networking, although the internet doesn't actually work there for some reason (It's connected to the network and not to the internet, but on regular Windows the internet is fine. The PC uses Ethernet. Probably unrelated to this issue, though). This is a little stressful, as it is needed for work tomorrow...But hopefully that will help diagnose the issue. I'm thinking GPU problem, PSU problem, or the SSD is killing the PC very slowly. I'm hoping that it's something much cheaper and simpler.
Also, just adding that I ran Dell Diagnostics pre-boot before I tried Safe Mode and it came up fine.

I apologize for the ridiculously long post...
 
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The issue is seemingly fixed. I tried to install Samsung's Magician software, but the installation kept getting stuck. So then I went to This PC-->C:-->Properties-->Tools and ran a disk check on there. The SSD now says it has problems, although it was fine before. It froze whenever I tried to click on "More Details", but I think the SSD either caused this whole thing, or whatever it is just damaged the SSD as well.

I took it out, put the new WD Blue HDD back in, and installed Windows from scratch. Right now, it's showing no problems except for it being slightly slower (Surprisingly, on this PC an SSD is not so much faster than a 7200 RPM HDD. The processor and 4 GB RAM probably can't handle going that fast). If I start getting errors like that again, though, it has to be the PC. I'm hoping those two "surprise removes" that happened on this new HDD didn't damage it already. The other HDD (The replaced WD Blue) had some screwdriver scraping noises for 5-10 seconds when I got data off of it, so I wouldn't trust it to be used.

The most recent issues, like the blank screen, were likely caused by corruption since the SSD, which Windows is on, was failing. But an SFC scan came up with no problems when I was still using the SSD. I will request a replacement from Samsung.

Thank you again.
 
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I am busy today, will able to come full force tomorrow. So, slow down.

First of all about speed of SSD. This Inspiron has SATA II, not new SATA III, so SSD speed is not as advertized. I have an old Intel SSD (like a year younger than my Inspiron), it is not fast, but faster than HDD, so your speed is interface limited.

I beginning to suspect software issues, more like virus or malware. I seen somewhere in your post that files are disappearing, so, basically, you see that your HDD has less files, then less again and then drive disconnects, is this seems to be correct assumption of your problem? If yes - software issue. If it is hardware issue, drive will just disconnect.

What you need (can not provide links, very little time). You need to get CCleaner and ATF cleaner (very old but very good junk cleanup app, works with Win 10), then Malwarebytes free version and HijackThis. Once you get all tools, run CCleaner first (in default configuration), next clean the rest with ATF cleaner, next run full scan (do customization and select all options, root analysis etc) with Malwarebytes and report if it found anything. highjackthis tool is for different purpose, which will be needed if Malwarebytes will find infestation.

Do this first before RMA SSD (is it EVO or PRO). I think you can run Malwarebytes in Safe Mode (not sure, again no time to check mine).

Will comeback tomorrow PM Pacific Time. If you can complete scan by that time, it would be great.

Also, forgot to ask. do you have any PCI cards in your PC (other than originally sold with).

To prove my point, try to do a clean install on your Samsung SSD (have you changed your BIOS to AHCI SATA Mode for SSD), I bet your new installation will work good at the beginning, for sure. Just disconnect your secondary drive while doing so. If it is your PC at home, install Win 10 without email and password (on SSD). Once Win 10 installed, install Magician right away and run OS optimization.

Will back with more tomorrow.

P.S.. You must not run defrag of SSD - it will kill it!!!!!!
 
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Sorry about that. Just kept trying things and updated as I went.

That would explain the speed...So it isn't really worth it to get an SSD for this machine, from that information. This HDD is definitely better than the original, by far. Probably because it's 7,200 RPM.

About the files disappearing- That is exactly what happened on the original HDD. But on the WD Blue HDD, it disconnects completely. I was thinking it could be a virus of some sort, but we run CCleaner, along with SUPERAntiSpyware, almost every day. We also have Avast! installed as an anti-virus.

For now, the PC is running fine with the HDD, so you don't need to rush if you're busy.

The SSD is a Samsung 860 EVO- not PRO. Before I stopped using it, Windows was saying that the SSD has a problem. I just tried using Samsung's Magician Software on it while it's connected using the hard drive enclosure, but since it is detected as a USB the program said it isn't a compatible SSD. I did another Windows hard drive check on it (chkdsk, I presume) and it said it was healthy. So it could very well be that copy of Windows.

I would try the steps you provided, but I only have this one license of Windows 10, the one that came with the computer. Wouldn't it screw things up if I activate it again on the SSD?

Where would I find AHCI SATA Mode?

I haven't run a defrag on it, thankfully.
 
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I have only 5 minutes now, so I will be short.

You can install Win 10 on 1 (one) PC at the time, so when you change drives in one PC it is really doesn't matter. Win 10 info (serial number) is embedded in original Win 7 left overs on your PC, I doubt you entered serial when you installed Win 10 correct? So nothing to worry here.

ACHI is an option in BIOS. to get there, Press F2 during boot and go to Advanced TAB, next go to Integrated Peripherals Configuration, highlight first entry (actually it already highlighted once you open that window), press Enter, you need to highlight (if it is not done already) ACHI, save and exit BIOS.

If mode was ATA, you would have at least slower speeds, if not more problems. I really don't remember how it was by default.

more Monday.
 
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I hope everything is OK.

One last question. When you installed Win 10, did you load all relevant drivers, or just Win 10 and that was it?

That could contribute to the problems you are having.

I personally used Drive Magician to copy all Win 7 drivers in case of future needs. There is no Win 10 drivers for Inspiron 570, however, majority of of Win 7 drivers (for Inspiron 570, Dell drivers) are supported by WIn 10, except a few like Realtek or AMD CPU drivers.

so how you did it?
 
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Hi, sorry for the delay. I've been very busy this past week as well. I will do that ASAP- But I will need time to test out the SSD again with the AHCI settings. I will let you know as soon as I do that.

I loaded the drivers from Dell's website. I didn't do that this time, though, with the new HDD. Everything is working, but should I do it anyway?
 
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I would load all necessary drivers for sure (weird problems require true diligence and accuracy). You have problems with HDDs, so SATA controller driver has to be loaded.
If you need help to identify drivers, let me know (you did it a few times, so I presume you know what are you doing, correct).
 
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I am out till August 2, has to finish new Dell cleanup for my friends - privacy like removed Cortana, convenience disabled Win 10 Updates (I hate when updates suddenly starts and it takes sometimes forever), removed Dell supplemental software and loading with good software.

If something urgent, I may answer if easy, if not urgent - will wait till August 2.

Sorry for the inconvenience.
 
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Windows Update is doing a good job at the driver detection so far- I just got one called "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc driver update for AMD SMBus". I'll try the software you suggested to be sure (and to look for the SATA controller driver).

Yeah, Windows 10 does have a few downsides to it as well...Good luck with that!

Update: Sorry for the long wait...I haven't had the time to do the whole thing (Which I need to do all at once, since I can't just keep swapping out my hard drives). Hopefully I will get this done by Sunday, August 12th.
 
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I hope you are loading SSD as this would be final attempt.

I tried Win10 when it was free (so I can upgrade to win10 anytime now) and downgraded back to Win 8.1. I use ClassicShell latest version (It no longer supported, but still works as of July 2018), so for me Win10 and Win 8.1 all look almost the same - as Win 7.
So except for DX 12 Win 10 has nothing to offer, but headaches, at least for me.
As long as I can play my few games on DX 11 and Win 8.1 I have nothing to worry about. Win8.1 will have updates till 2024. By that time Iwould most likely change all my PCs, and then, will deal with Win10 or what ever it would be.
 
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Hi, I finally got around to putting the SSD back into the PC. Sorry about the delay.
Malewarebytes came up with no viruses, only some spyware. It still could be something Malewarebytes didn't detect, which does happen from time to time, so I'm not ruling that possibility out.

I reinstalled Windows, and I noted that it took longer than it should have. As soon as I started up the PC from my USB flash drive to install Windows, it hung on the Windows logo for about 2 minutes (Usually it takes about 30 seconds for Setup to start, for me at least). I don't know if that's related to the flash drive or if Windows was surprised by something with the SSD. Then, when it said "Just a moment...", that also took longer than the last time I installed Windows on this SSD, from what I remember. I don't know how long that took, since I came back into the room while it said that. When it finally got to asking me what keyboard layout I want, it also didn't respond for about half a minute.

Not the biggest deal, since Setup still only took about 20 minutes, but I am hoping there is no problem with the SSD.

Windows is currently installing updates, and the only program I installed so far is Samsung's Magician software. I told it to optimize the SSD, and the Run Optimization button went away, but I can't tell if it finished or not. I didn't enable RAPID Mode. Beforehand, I also ran Windows' disk check, and it came up with no issues this time. I don't see anything on Samsung Magician to check the health status of the SSD.

What I think is that on the previous installation, Windows got corrupted very early on, and that was somehow killing the drives. Or it was the SSD, and Windows now won't detect issues on it, even though the corrupted Windows did detect issues. Or it was a virus that wasn't detected. All I know for sure is that something really messed up in the registry.

I'm still not very confident that I can use this SSD with my new HDD without killing yet another HDD...Right now, I am running Windows only with the SSD and the HDD is unplugged. I'm going to switch it back for now, and if there is more to check on the SSD (Or if you think it's reliable enough to use with the HDD), I'll switch it back.

Update- Optimization lets me click on "Optimize Drives" now. However, upon doing so, a window pops up with the Defrag logo and a choice of drives. On the SSD it says that I never optimized it. I am not running it for now, because I'm afraid that it really is Defrag. But it does say on it that it is a Solid State Drive.

I missed it somehow, but Magician says Drive Condition: GOOD on the top of the window.
When I clicked S.M.A.R.T., it showed me the details of its self-test. Unfortunately, it won't let me copy it. Some things, like CRC Error Count, says OK under Status but it has a Current and Worst Value of 97, not 100. I don't know what that means but it doesn't seem right. They all say OK, though.
 
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