Need help - New Hard drive

[PcolaTy_1]

Hello everyone.

I recently bought a Western Digital Black hard drive for my personal computer after my old 2TB Seagate SSHD started going out. Anyways, I've been having some issues with getting the hard drive set up and would like to help. Below are two scenarios that I've tried.

1. Boot computer to windows than plug in the new hard drive. The issue arrises when for what ever reason that Windows decides that it will become unresponsive.

2. Boot computer with my primary SSD and new HDD plugged in and powered. The issue is that for reasons that escape me, the BIOS does not recognize that there are any hard drives, but when I disable the HDD, it picks up the SSD and vice versa.

Here are my specs for those who are wondering:
CPU: Intel Core I5-6600k
MOBO: ASUS Z170-A
GPU: EVGA Geoforce 770
RAM: 8 Gigs of DDR4 2200
SSD: Intel 530 Series 180Gig SATA 3
HDD: 2TB Black Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive.

Thank you for any and all help.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, PcolaTy_1.

Sorry to hear about the issues you're experiencing with your new drive.
So from what I understand from scenario 2, your BIOS recognizes the HDD if the SSD is disconnected/disabled, right?

It could be an issue with the BIOS, so I'd recommend that you try updating or resetting it, to see if the same thing happens. I'd also recommend that you try the drive with a different computer, to see if it's properly recognized and if you'd be able to initialize it: How to initialize or write a signature to a secondary hard drive or Solid State drive in Windows. Once you've initialized the drive, download DLG (Data Lifeguard) and run both tests (Quick and Extended), to see what's the situation with the HDD and if it's in good condition: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[PcolaTy_1]

Hey there, PcolaTy_1.

Sorry to hear about the issues you're experiencing with your new drive.
So from what I understand from scenario 2, your BIOS recognizes the HDD if the SSD is disconnected/disabled, right?

It could be an issue with the BIOS, so I'd recommend that you try updating or resetting it, to see if the same thing happens. I'd also recommend that you try the drive with a different computer, to see if it's properly recognized and if you'd be able to initialize it: How to initialize or write a signature to a secondary hard drive or Solid State drive in Windows. Once you've initialized the drive, download DLG (Data Lifeguard) and run both tests (Quick and Extended), to see what's the situation with the HDD and if it's in good condition: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Thank you for your reply Boogieman and onto your questions.

Yes, the BIOS does indeed recognize both the HDD and SSD when they are plugged in, but not at the same time. From what you've said, it seems logical that the first place to start would be a BIOS update and if I can get into my SSD, I can download DLG and test both of them out.

An interesting note that I discoverered is that the HDD is in fact initialized adn up and running as I was able to get Windows 10 downloaded onto it without an issue and even managed to boot right up on it, until the BIOS lost track of the HDD that is. So, I will update the BIOS and report back to you.

Edit: Just out of curiosity, if it is indeed just needing a BIOS update, than would there be anyway to wipe my 2TB HDD clean, or should I just boot up the HDD and uninstall everything than plug the SSD back in?

Update: The BIOS update seems to have done the trick for keeping the system stable for several hours; however, it just recently started loosing track of the SSD again when I am in desktop.

 

[PcolaTy_1]

Update: I've run the "How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows" on my Intel 530 Series SSDSC2BW180A4K5 Model and this is the results.

SMART Status: Pass

Here is the advanced list

Attribute Name ID Value Threshold Worst
Reallocated Sector count 5 100 0 100
Power on hours count 9 100 0 100
Driver power cycle count C 98 0 98
Unknown AA 100 10 100
Unknown AB 100 0 100
Unknown AC 100 0 100
Unknown AE 100 0 100
SATA downshift error count B7 100 0 100
End to error count B8 100 90 100
Reported Un. errors BB 100 0 100
Airflow temp. BE 26 0 50
Emergency Retract Cycle C0 100 0 100

*Everything else is 100 0 100

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You could reformat the drive while booted to Windows via your SSD. If you want to do that, here's how: How to partition and format a WD drive on Windows and macOS.
Other than that you could use the Windows installation media in order to reformat the drive as well.

The SMART status of the SSD seems fine, but I always recommend that you use the respective drive manufacturer's tool. And it would be great if you could run the Quick and Extended tests on the HDD to see what happens.