[SOLVED] My internal HDD keeps disappearing from my laptop

[Yooonjeonghan]

After a Windows 10 update my hard drive D is disappearing and sometimes appears again. I have an Asus laptop and it has never happened before that my HDD doesn't work. In the device manager the hard drive D disappears and reappears sometimes too. I tried removing the windows update and install the update again, but it didn't work. Is it because there is something wrong with the drivers?

 

[Colif]

i would back up anything that is on the hdd and get a new one. The drive could be on its way out.

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

i would back up anything that is on the hdd and get a new one. The drive could be on its way out.

I went to check if the HDD itself is damaged by using an adapter on another pc and it still could read all the files on the HDD on that pc. I made sure the HDD was put back securely into my laptop.

So could it be an software problem with the driver?

I noticed there was a warning about Kernel PnP 442

Also on the Blue screen of death it said Kernel data inpage error

Could something be wrong with the drivers?

 

[Colif]

Can you follow option one on the following link - here - and then do this step below: Small memory dumps - Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD - that creates a file in c windows/minidump after the next BSOD

1. Open Windows File Explore
   
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump
   
3. Copy the mini-dump files out onto your Desktop
   
4. Do not use Winzip, use the built in facility in Windows
   
5. Select those files on your Desktop, right click them and choose 'Send to' - Compressed (zipped) folder
   
6. Upload the zip file to the Cloud (OneDrive, DropBox . . . etc.)
   
7. Then post a link here to the zip file, so we can take a look for you . . .
   

it could be drivers

from your other post

Volume D: (\Device\HarddiskVolume1) must be taken offline for a full Chkdsk. Run CHKDSK /F locally from the command line or run REPAIR-VOLUME <drive:> locally or remotely through PowerShell.

you should perhaps run chkdsk on the hdd while its attached to the adapter

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

Thanks for your reaction.
Here is a link for the mini dump
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18mDq5yCOL3cj926QFuR2t25MwgvCUHg7/view?usp=sharing

Here is the automatic dumpfile as well (695 MB)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lyitAs-SJ31-v1ncTzySsGIuKCOQQAY8/view?usp=sharing

Can you follow option one on the following link - here - and then do this step below: Small memory dumps - Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD - that creates a file in c windows/minidump after the next BSOD

1. Open Windows File Explore
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump
3. Copy the mini-dump files out onto your Desktop
4. Do not use Winzip, use the built in facility in Windows
5. Select those files on your Desktop, right click them and choose 'Send to' - Compressed (zipped) folder
6. Upload the zip file to the Cloud (OneDrive, DropBox . . . etc.)
7. Then post a link here to the zip file, so we can take a look for you . . .

it could be drivers

from your other post



you should perhaps run chkdsk on the hdd while its attached to the adapter

 

[gardenman]

Hi, I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/1e3ap9hs/show This link is for anyone wanting to help. You do not have to view it. It is safe to "run the fiddle" as the page asks.

Spoiler: Dump File Results

File information:	061421-7250-01.dmp (Jun 14 2021 - 00:29:32)
Bugcheck:	BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO (74)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: Registry)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 00 Min(s), and 03 Sec(s)

File information:	061421-6687-01.dmp (Jun 14 2021 - 04:56:22)
Bugcheck:	KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 11 Min(s), and 10 Sec(s)

File information:	061421-6640-01.dmp (Jun 14 2021 - 05:21:55)
Bugcheck:	KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 06 Min(s), and 38 Sec(s)

File information:	061221-6562-01.dmp (Jun 12 2021 - 09:07:22)
Bugcheck:	UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION (154)
Probably caused by:	hardware_disk (Process: MemCompression)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 22 Min(s), and 20 Sec(s)

File information:	061221-14468-01.dmp (Jun 12 2021 - 09:40:48)
Bugcheck:	KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 02 Min(s), and 38 Sec(s)

Comment: 2 or more types of RAM are installed.

Possible Motherboard page: https://www.asus.com/us/SupportOnly/X556UQK/HelpDesk_Knowledge/
It looks like you recently updated your BIOS from 3.1.7 to 3.1.8. I see completely different versions listed on the support page, so I might have the wrong motherboard page. Don't update the BIOS... yet. Updating your BIOS can be risky. Never try it when you might lose power (lightning storms, recent power outages, etc).

This information can be used by others to help you. Someone else will post with more information. Please wait for additional answers. Good luck.

 

[Colif]

i don't see Bad system config info bsod very often, makes me think its hdd at play
they are all memory errors. I am not saying its ram but windows sees ram + page file as memory, virtual memory is sort of on both at once if it has any real locations.

error 2 happened on hdd, system was trying to write data to page file
is this win 10 Pro as I see mention of the bitlocker driver
system restore was also involved making a system restore image
error 4 happened after info was requested from hdd

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7A) normally happens after a bad block in page file. Chkdsk could fix this

they all point at hdd

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

I ran the chkdsk on both the C and D drive. Everything has been fine for a while. Recently the problem of the disappearing D drive(HDD) came back again. I was playing a game and then the game crashed after a few hours of playing. So my HDD is disappearing again and I noticed my OneDrive disappears along as well, since it should back up some files on the HDD.

I saw the event log had some errors and a few minidumps were generated.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OgsrygITxGQ00EsoUMT8ZF5oKCmctb-e/view?usp=sharing

Could it be that my laptop can't handle the game anymore, even though I haven been playing it for a year now? I was playing Valorant running it together with Discord.

 

[gardenman]

I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/a813y47z/show This link is for anyone wanting to help. You do not have to view it. It is safe to "run the fiddle" as the page asks.

Spoiler: Dump File Results

File information:	062821-14265-01.dmp (Jun 28 2021 - 13:49:29)
Bugcheck:	UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION (154)
Probably caused by:	hardware_disk (Process: MemCompression)
Uptime:	1 Day(s), 6 Hour(s), 43 Min(s), and 49 Sec(s)

File information:	062721-23250-01.dmp (Jun 27 2021 - 04:19:12)
Bugcheck:	UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION (154)
Probably caused by:	hardware_disk (Process: MemCompression)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 14 Hour(s), 37 Min(s), and 15 Sec(s)

File information:	062621-14890-01.dmp (Jun 26 2021 - 11:25:41)
Bugcheck:	UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION (154)
Probably caused by:	hardware_disk (Process: MemCompression)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 2 Hour(s), 48 Min(s), and 18 Sec(s)

File information:	061421-6687-01.dmp (Jun 14 2021 - 04:56:22)
Bugcheck:	KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 11 Min(s), and 10 Sec(s)

Comment: 2 or more types of RAM are installed.

This information can be used by others to help you. Someone else will post with more information. Please wait for additional answers. Good luck.

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

Thanks for running through the files. I encountered some BSOD again which generated more minidump files.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pZ7LBYY_4p6dajmmWC7WdZSNLmgw9nIe/view?usp=sharing

It was notable that a bsod came when I was playing Valorant, so I was wondering if there is something wrong with the laptop's system of with me running the game on the laptop.

 

[Colif]

not sure how much more evidence we need that its the hard drive.

Do you know what make/model ssd/hdd are in the laptop?
if no, run speccy - https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download
on the storage tab it might tell you name of the drive, or who made it at the very least.
Most hard drive makers have tools we can use to test drive

unexpected store exception
3 blame hardware disk
the store in the error is used by Virtual memory to track where the info is. Windows tells every application it can use way more space than you actually have and the store is used to track the virtual locations of the files.

error 2 above happened after CPU couldn't find the info it needed in ram so it looked on the hard drive and then crashed when the info it recieved wasn't what it was expecting

Kernel data inpage error - this occured on the hard drive. in the page file

If drive randomly just disappears, I wouldn't be still using it. I would have listened to my advice on the 2nd reply in this thread and got another drive.

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

not sure how much more evidence we need that its the hard drive.

Do you know what make/model ssd/hdd are in the laptop?
if no, run speccy - https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download
on the storage tab it might tell you name of the drive, or who made it at the very least.
Most hard drive makers have tools we can use to test drive

unexpected store exception
3 blame hardware disk
the store in the error is used by Virtual memory to track where the info is. Windows tells every application it can use way more space than you actually have and the store is used to track the virtual locations of the files.

error 2 above happened after CPU couldn't find the info it needed in ram so it looked on the hard drive and then crashed when the info it recieved wasn't what it was expecting

Kernel data inpage error - this occured on the hard drive. in the page file

If drive randomly just disappears, I wouldn't be still using it. I would have listened to my advice on the 2nd reply in this thread and got another drive.

Thank you for looking further into the problem.
So my Asus F556UQ-DM1298T came with
SSD: HFS128G32TND-N210A of 119 GB (Hitachi)
HDD: Toshiba MQ01ABF050 of 465 GB

I think I have to consider getting a new SSD with a larger capacity if I have to throw away the HDD, as there's not much space left on the SDD.
I searched for some reviews and the WD Blue 3D NAND 2,5 inch 250GB seemed like a good product at a fair price

 

[Colif]

i would replace both with a 500gb ssd (it depends on how much of the 500 you used before I guess)

I didn't know it had 2 drives, its possible cause is the ssd. as the page file should be on the ssd and that is where some of the errors occurred. 120gb is getting too small for windows and it doesn't have as much free space for error correction so its probably in need of retirement.
Are you sure D is on HDD? I should have asked you about drives before now.

Until we test both, the hdd itself might be okay and problem is ssd.

Hitachi are owned by Western Digital now, I wonder if this works on it - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en&p=279
as for Toshiba, they don't have anything on site for that model anymore

I would run crystaldiskinfo on both drives as well - https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

 

[Colif]

Is C drive on ssd?

I should have asked for this before
right click start
choose disk management
expand the next window so it shows all columns in top or bottom area
take a screenshot and upload to an image sharing website and show link here.

It will remove any questions I have as to what is what

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

Thanks for your quick reaction .
Yeah the SSD is the C drive and the HDD is the D drive,
For the amount of space that I used, I used less than half of the capacity of the D drive(around 200 GB) and on the C less than 100 GB

 

[Colif]

SSD are better if you can leave at least 10% free space on them as it keeps them fast. Also gives them more free space to use for error correction.

So I would get a 500gb one even if you never use the space on it, it will have more space to move data around and maintain its speed/health.
I was going to get a 500gb in this PC but they sent me a 1tb, I only using 156gb of space on it and will never likely use all of it. It should last a while.

 

[Yooonjeonghan]

i would replace both with a 500gb ssd (it depends on how much of the 500 you used before I guess)

I didn't know it had 2 drives, its possible cause is the ssd. as the page file should be on the ssd and that is where some of the errors occurred. 120gb is getting too small for windows and it doesn't have as much free space for error correction so its probably in need of retirement.
Are you sure D is on HDD? I should have asked you about drives before now.

Until we test both, the hdd itself might be okay and problem is ssd.

Hitachi are owned by Western Digital now, I wonder if this works on it - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en&p=279
as for Toshiba, they don't have anything on site for that model anymore

I would run crystaldiskinfo on both drives as well - https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

The Western Digital Dashboard didn't detect any drives. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this crystaldiskinfo 🤔

I was also wondering if maybe something somehow got damaged, like the connection to the SATA port, this part https://www.asus-accessories.com/hdd-board-for-vivobook-62582-65823.htm#f556uq|l
Or this part https://www.asus-accessories.com/30-pin-ffc-for-vivobook-63668-59984.htm#f556uq|l

 

[Colif]

You don't have to do anything for crystaliskinfo, it should just tell you on front screen (its the one on left here)

if the drive is okay or needs help. To switch between drives, you click on the icons in the top line

if you have any doubts about those parts you might be best having a shop look at laptop as it saves wasting too much money.