Is this HDD dying, or could it be some other issue?

[Felidire]

It just suddenly disappeared when I went to access it from the "This PC" menu. It's not listed under Computer Management > Disc Management. and isn't listed in BIOS, EaseUS, or Seagate SeaTools

I have music files stored on that HDD, which are saved to a playlist and they're still playable... despite me not being able to access the actual files. If I try to access a file on the HDD via "Quick Access", then I get the "Location is not available" error.

I'd like to try and salvage some of the files if it happens to be dying, but if it's not being detected then I'm not sure if there's anything I could do? Reset twice, shut down once, haven't tried a new cable yet but they're fairly new.

 

[Felidire]

Solution: Connect the fucking 12v SATA power input, you idiot.


No idea if that drive was running for a full 24h without it, or if ghosts are real and like to troll people... but hopefully my panicking over potentially losing 3TB of important business data and sentimental crap collected over the past 15 years made someone's day.

 

[panathas]

Lol. Hard drives are very fragile. Always back up all your important files in order to avoid common horror stories. Better be careful than sorry.

 

[ArtPog]

Insofar as you (or *something*) neglected to connect the SATA HDD to a power connector isn't necessarily "idiotic". Any of us who have worked with PCs for some time and consider ourselves reasonably competent & experienced in the ways of PCs have done worse - I can assure you.

BUT WHAT IS IDIOTIC...

Is the fact that you have some 15 (FIFTEEN!) years of apparently valuable data - business & otherwise installed on that drive - and you don't have a comprehensive backup of its contents.

That is truly "idiotic"...