HDD error: Main Hard Drive is Bricked

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argo49

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I just finished disassembling and then reassembling my computer to test and see if a new graphics card I just bought and received yesterday would block out the sata ports on my mobo. Bad news is that it does but now I can't even boot up my computer. I've tried everything and I even bought a new 4-pin to sata connector to power the HDD but every time i get this same ******* error message:

"Loading Operating System ...
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"

It's really pissing me off. I've been online all day looking for answers. Please can anyone help?

I have:
PSU: X-Power 650
Mobo: Gigabyte UD2H Micro ATX
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 6gb/s SATA
GPU: SAPPHIRE ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCIe 2.1 x 16
RAM: 8g (4x2g) Gskill 1333ram
CPU: AMD Phenom X4 II Black Edition
OS: Windows 7

I built the system myself and upgraded it over the course of this past year but I've never seen this error before. I can't hear any sounds coming from my HDD and the hdd light on the front of my case isn't flashing, which is what led me to believe it wasn't getting any power from the psu, but now that i've replaced what I thought was a faulty connector (it WAS pretty beat up) it still doesnt work : > /
 
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argo49

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Actually I'm not sure. I unplugged both the cd drive and the HDD and I might have switched them. I'm using the same two ports but they might be reversed. I'll go try switching it right now.
[10 seconds later]
Nope. Didn't work.

I'm sure It's something to do with the power to the HDD or the HDD itself because i get the same error if i straight up unplug the HDD. But how can I check something like that?
 
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tomatthe

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If you can't hear the drive spinning up, it does sound like it isn't getting power, or the power connection on the drive got damaged when you took the system apart. When the machine is powered on, can you eject the cd drive? If so, try swapping the power cable that's on your cd drive to the hd, and see if that does anything. If you have a usb drive caddy you could test with, or a friend with another machine you could try hooking it to that would be good to know as well.
 
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argo49

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Yep already tried using the sata power connector that works on the cd/dvd drive to power the HDD, but it doesn't help the situation any. The HDD still isn't spinning up and I noticed the screen before the error message it says "no drive detected". I also tried with a different 4pin connector and it still doesn't work. Does this mean the drive is dead?
 
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argo49

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Not familiar with the freezer technique, but i'll look into it. It seems to me that it's more for failing or old and warped drives. My drive is only a year old, was working fine just yesterday and right now is literally just a brick. My PC reacts as if nothing at all were connected and there (as far as I can tell) is no power going to the HDD.

The only thing I did to it was unplug it and take it out of my computer case and rest it on a wood table, circuit board side up for max 5 minutes before reinstalling it into the HDD cage.

Are HDDs really that fragile these days?
 
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tomatthe

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Not generally, but anythings possible I guess. It's very odd to me that it would just completely die like that. Really all I can think to try is hooking it up to a different machine, or a usb to sata converter device. You are certain the piece that the power cable hooks to did not get damaged I take it?
 
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argo49

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Ya i thought it was weird too, that's why I came here :p

I've tried several different cables and adaptors to get some juice flowing to the HDD but nothing has worked so far. I guess it's possible the actual connection on the HDD itself is obscured/broken, but it looks alright to me. I also tried clearing it off with some compressed air to no avail. My other PC is an older one (seven years now?) which is still using IDE so I don't really have another option to test my HDD (also never had a problem with the 7y/o HDD lol).

I know that certain connectors on my psu are working since they provide power to either the fan or the DVD drive and i've tried those connectors with my HDD but again, it hasn't worked. I'm really thinking it's a problem with the HDD but I don't know how to be sure or what could have POSSIBLY caused it.

I'm always extremely careful when dealing with my computer's hardware and as such I can't understand how simply removing it from the case for no longer than five minutes could damage the drive :S
 
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argo49

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Just thought I'd try a crazy idea and follow the instructions on the error message and put my windows 7 Home Premium OEM DVD into the dvd drive and press enter. Nothing happened and the same error returned. Does the original error message mean that I need to put in a new HDD or something? I can't figure this one out : /
 
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tomatthe

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The error basically means the bios does not know what to boot from. You should be able to just boot to the cd even if your machine isn't picking up the hard drive. You can probably just reboot the machine and it will load the Win 7 disc assuming its in the boot order anywhere.

I don't know that I've ever actually tried putting the cd in when the message comes up and trying to boot from a cd at that point. Generally I would just reboot the machine and have the cd in on restart.
 
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mavroxur

mavroxur

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You need to check your BIOS boot order, and ensure that your hard drive is showing up as an available device, and that it's at the top of the boot order (or 2nd, behind the optical drive). Disregard the guy saying you need to freeze it. You'll end up potentially screwing up a perfectly fine drive if it's just a BIOS setting issue. Freezing works on drives that have experienced a hardware failure / tolerance issue, but in this case, i'm going to bet it's not that.
 
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argo49

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Ok I think I already did that and it didn't show up. It only said something about a card, but ill try again first thing in the morning. I have a feeling it's not going to show up again since the drive isn't even spinning up.
 
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argo49

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Did exactly that but for some reason even though I have the DVD drive listed as second in the boot order, it doesnt boot from the cd. just gives back the same original error.
 
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argo49

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Went to a local hardware store with the HDD. Turns out it's dead. The guy said it most often happens from power surges so I'm assuming it was my PSU that killed it when I turned the machine back on.

1 tb of data gone :'(
 
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