I thought my HDD died but then it started working on another computer [help]

[jehrling]

I have a very strange problem that i wish to share and hopefully find an answer to.

A few months ago, when i updated windows 7 to 10, my computer started crashing occasionally and gave me a memory_management error. After rebooting, everything would be fine again for a while. Well, last weekend was the last straw, I decided that my RAM must be on the decline so i went out and purchased 32gigs of Crutial Ballistix elite, 1866 CL9 ram. After installing the new ram, my windows wouldnt load. FYI my windows is on an SSD, not my HDD.

I noticed a "clicking sound" coming from my HDD and i thought this was weird because why would my HDD die after changing RAM? I started doing some tests booting the PC in safe mode with the old ram, then the new ram, then a standard boot. It seemed after that, everything was fine with the safe boot the normal boot worked and my computer started. I considered this a random fluke, maybe a bug with Windows 10, but then yesterday when i returned home from work, i saw my computer restarted and it was stuck trying to run a windows 10 repair...

It seems the random fluke wasnt real and my computer wouldnt load windows no matter what. I thought it was weird that my computer wouldnt load because my windows is on an SSD, not my now clicking HDD.

I decided to disconnect the HDD, then BAM it loaded. It seemed like my failed HDD which had NO windows installation on it was preventing my comp from loading.

Now here is where it gets weird...

I was really panicked because i had very important data on the HDD that i didnt back up yet. After trying several times to reconnect the HDD while my comp was on then refreshing/rescanning for the drive via the device manager, the HDD wouldnt load. So i went over to another computer of mine to see If i could get the HDD to appear and then copy the files to my external drive.

On my very first attempt on computer #2, the drive appeared and I was able to copy over the important files. There was no clicking either. So i went back to my original computer, plugged it in and no matter how many times i tried, the drive would NOT appear in my computer. I tried changing sata ports, changing sata cables, swapping power cables, everything.

Does anyone have any idea what this is? Why would an HDD prevent my comp from booting, starting clicking after swapping RAM, then work fine when installed in computer #2, allow me to copy files to an external drive, then NOT work again when put back into my original computer. In my most recent test, there was no clicking but the comp wouldnt recognize the drive, in the in BIOS.

Heres my specs for reference.

Windows 10 professional
i7 4970k
32 gigs ballistix 1866, CL9
Asrock Fatality Z97X LGA 1150
Nvidia GTX 980ti
SSD 1: Kingston 120gig (boot drive)
SSD 2: Kingston 120gig (gaming drive)
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM (data drive)
800 Watt PSU

Can i get a short and long answer if possible?

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[geofelt]

On the ram:

1. Did you buy a 32gb kit? Exactly what ram did you buy?
2. Run memtest86+ to test the ram. No os is used, it boots from a usb/cd etc.
You should get NO errors for a couple of full passes.

On the hard drive:
1. obvious question.. Is it possible that the boot order put the hdd ahead of your ssd?
2. Download the hdd diagnostic app from Seagate and run it. On pc#2 first to verify that all is good. I think it is called seatools.
3. If you have an overclock on the 4790K, back that off to default.
4. What make/model is your psu? How old?

 

[jehrling]

On the ram:

1. Did you buy a 32gb kit? Exactly what ram did you buy?
2. Run memtest86+ to test the ram. No os is used, it boots from a usb/cd etc.
You should get NO errors for a couple of full passes.

On the hard drive:
1. obvious question.. Is it possible that the boot order put the hdd ahead of your ssd?
2. Download the hdd diagnostic app from Seagate and run it. On pc#2 first to verify that all is good. I think it is called seatools.
3. If you have an overclock on the 4790K, back that off to default.
4. What make/model is your psu? How old?

For RAM i purchased 2 16gig kits, the RAM seems fine now which is good.

My HDD doesn't even appear in my BIOS as a boot option, it only shows my two SSDs. EDIT: as mentioned above, after i booted the PC and was on the desktop, i plug it back in, heard the drive turn on, no clicking, and when i tried to refresh/rescan for the drive in the device manager, it wont show up at all.

Ive run Seatools in the past and it failed but the drive worked for many months after that. Why would it work fine on comp #2 though if it wont work at all on comp #1?

No OC on my CPU.

I dont have access to my comp at the moment, but Its a basic brand. Its about 3 years old.

 

[geofelt]

If memtest86+ runs well, you are good(and lucky)

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
It is safer to get what you need in one kit.
But, it is a bit more expensive because of the added matching of all the sticks to insure compatibility.

Hard drive not detected is likely a windows 10 issue, or possibly an incompatibility with your drive.

For storage and general use, I might buy a wd red of whatever size you want for storage.

 

[jehrling]

I dont think its an incompatibility with Win10 because ive been using it on my windows 10 comp for months AND the comp#2 i tested it with is also windows 10.

Are there any other reasons why this drive could be having issues?