computer crashes, then doesn't recognize hard drive

[AlexBT]

A couple of times a month my computer will freeze up and show a blue screen saying your computer has to restart. After it restarts the bios says there's no drive to boot from and to select another. Turning the computer off for about 10 minutes usually solves the problem and the computer will boot like normal. I've already replaced the sata cable and i don't have another hard drive to test with, so is there any possible way to tell if it's the sata ports on my motherboard or a problem with the hdd itself?

 

[Paul NZ]

Sounds like a corrupt / knackered BIOS. Reflash it to the latest BIOS (but not a beta BIOS)

 

[sora]

Reflash the BIOS and try to format the drive later on.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there AlexBT,

If the problem persists even after reflashing the BIOS, you may run a hard drive testing software as well. If the overall health status of the drive is bad, then most probably this is the cause of your issue.
Have you tried attaching the drive to another SATA port? If not, it may be a good idea to do so.

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

 

[AlexBT]

Hi there AlexBT,

If the problem persists even after reflashing the BIOS, you may run a hard drive testing software as well. If the overall health status of the drive is bad, then most probably this is the cause of your issue.
Have you tried attaching the drive to another SATA port? If not, it may be a good idea to do so.

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

I have tried separate sata ports but it still occurs. I updated the bios yesterday using @bios I'm not sure if this has the same effect as flashing it though and it still crashed earlier today and the drive actually had to be scanned and repaired. What drive testing software do you recommend? Thank you for your help.

 

[D_Know_WD]

You can just check in the HDD's manufacturer website. Most of the hard drive manufacturers have a brand specific testing software.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[fzabkar]

IMHO the best approach would be to perform a full surface scan in real DOS mode using a tool such as MHDD. MHDD will tell you which sectors are "slow". Most other tools, especially the manufacturers' diagnostics, are pass-or-fail.

 

[sora]

Hi there AlexBT,

If the problem persists even after reflashing the BIOS, you may run a hard drive testing software as well. If the overall health status of the drive is bad, then most probably this is the cause of your issue.
Have you tried attaching the drive to another SATA port? If not, it may be a good idea to do so.

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

I have tried separate sata ports but it still occurs. I updated the bios yesterday using @bios I'm not sure if this has the same effect as flashing it though and it still crashed earlier today and the drive actually had to be scanned and repaired. What drive testing software do you recommend? Thank you for your help.

Weird... What kind of BIOS do you use?