Seagate Internal HDD: Sometimes Unresponsive

[Alexander Paul]

Hi. My name's Alex. This is my second post here; my first one was ignored but of a different topic.

Anyway, my only Interal HDD in my computer, Seagate 2TB 6Gb/s, has become unresponsive when accessing a certain partition. It is 3 years old. It is divided into 3 partitions: C, D, and E. One for the OS and Program Files(500Gb), Reserve (400Gb), and Games/Animes/TV/Movies (1T) respectively. Now, I've noticed that whenever I try to access, copy or move some/most files from Drive D: and E:, the HDD light would turn off and turn on every 2-3 seconds with a single clicking sound rhythmically everytime it turns off, while my computer would become unresponsive UNTIL I close the window accessing the files or stop copying/moving the files.

The problem started after I solved the BIOS Chassis Intrusion detected warning which locked me out of the system. It caused me to force turn off the computer many, many times through the power button in the process.

I already tried chkdsk /f and chkdsk /f /r, SeaTools, HD Tune, but those didn't work.
Any ideas? Should I format the whole drive? Do I format the two partitions only? And how do I format an HDD that contains the OS in it? Thank you and I hope for a kind response.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, @Alex!

I'd strongly recommend you backup all the data from that hard drive somewhere else (preferably off-site to an external drive, for example) before proceeding with the troubleshooting. You mentioned that you have tried running the brand-specific and another diagnostic utility, so what did the SMART results show about the health status of the drive?
I'd also suggest you try swapping the SATA cable that is connecting the HDD and also the SATA port where it is plugged to the motherboard to see how the system will perform afterwards. Another way to troubleshoot the drive would be to plug it in another computer and try running the diagnostic tests on it from there as well.

Give these a try and let me know how it goes.
Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Alexander Paul]

Hey there, @Alex!

I'd strongly recommend you backup all the data from that hard drive somewhere else (preferably off-site to an external drive, for example) before proceeding with the troubleshooting. You mentioned that you have tried running the brand-specific and another diagnostic utility, so what did the SMART results show about the health status of the drive?
I'd also suggest you try swapping the SATA cable that is connecting the HDD and also the SATA port where it is plugged to the motherboard to see how the system will perform afterwards. Another way to troubleshoot the drive would be to plug it in another computer and try running the diagnostic tests on it from there as well.

Give these a try and let me know how it goes.
Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

Hi. I already tried swapping the SATA connector. I even tried connecting the HDD to different ports, and each time I do so, the HDD and its partitions would become fine temporarily for 2-3 days, then the problem would be back again then I switch again to a different port but the problem is that, I cannot use a port that's already been switched to before. About the plugging in of the HDD to another computer; this is the only computer I have, so I can't. I am now about to do the SMART test by SeaTools and would let you know how it turns out.
Thank you for the fast response.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hi again, @Alex!

In the meantime you could also check if resetting BIOS from the settings will help as well. If it doesn't, check the motherboard /computer manufacturer's official website for any driver updates on the SATA controller & Chipset. While on it, make sure you have the latest BIOS version installed as well.

Keep me posted with the troubleshooting!
SuperSoph_WD