Second HDD disappeared also freezes up Bios and PC when plugged in

[MajSharpy]

So I was renaming a Folder on my second HDD and the Windows Explorer window started to freeze up(not responding) so after awhile I decided to logoff while Windows Explorer was still loading, it took maybe 5 minutes to logoff then after that I logged back in but my second HDD disappeared.

I restarted my PC and it become stuck on the BIOS Loading screen(Blue Screen with the name of my Motherboard and options) so I shut it down and removed both the SATA Cable and the SATA Power Cable, which that sorted it.

I read a thread about someone with the same problem as me, I also read in the post about hot plugging to see if the HDD would appear in MyComputer which it didn't, all it did was make the HDD activity non stop and I couldn't use the PC(long loading times)

I don't know what to do, I need my second HDD for Animation Work.

Just an extra detail, when my second HDD has both cables in it makes a Ticking sound for about 5-10 secs then stops if that helps you for anything. The HDD has been removed or damaged in anyway.

Hard Drives:
Seagate Barracuda ST3320 320GB (Primary HDD Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit)
Seagate Barracuda ST2000VX000 2TB ( HDD that is causing me trouble)

System Specs:
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0303 25/05/2010
Motherboard: Asus p6x58d-e
CPU: Intel i7 950
GPU: EVGA GTX 760 2GB
PSU: EVGA GQ Series 650W

 

[SchizTech]

It sounds a lot like the hard drive is malfunctioning, which effectively means replacement (easy) and data recovery from the other drive (could be iffier).

What do you see in the disk management utility with the bad drive plugged in? To get there. you can search on the start menu or start screen (depending on whether it's win 8.x or 10) or right-click on the start button (8.1 or 10) or a spot all the way in the lower left corner (8.0) and select "disk management" from the list of options that pops up. If it asks to format a disk, don't. Just look to see if a 2TB drive is reported at all.

As for recovery, the utility Recuva has some good press. http://www.piriform.com/recuva

 

[SchizTech]

If you see that disk there (but not in explorer) a recovery utility like the one suggested or another should be able to see the drive. If not, things get more challenging.

 

[MajSharpy]

I plugged the HDD in while I was on my Desktop but the drive didn't get detected in the disk management utility, I really hope it isn't broken.

It's so random, why it would do this? no warning and no strange errors from the past days ect just out of the blue.

 

[SchizTech]

Pardon me, I didn't observe the note that you have win 7, though it makes little difference in practice here (mostly in how to navigate). As to how/why, it's hard to tell. Being a PC tech, this isn't the first time I've come across a story like this though. Whatever the cause was, the symptoms point to a bad drive.

 

[MajSharpy]

Is there nothing else I can do?

 

[SchizTech]

If the drive won't show up in disk management and you can't boot with it in, options become more limited. There's always the option of sending it out to a data recovery lab (which can be expensive).

Do you hear anything from the PC when you attempt to hot-plug the drive? Windows should make a sound similar to what you hear when you plug in a flash drive, through the speakers (which indicates that it has detected a new device). If it's not being detected this way, make sure in your BIOS settings (for an ASUS board it's usually F2 or DEL) that hot plug is enabled for that port. Also, try different SATA ports (either with the drive attached before boot or otherwise if the first option doesn't work).

One other thing you might try is using an Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, which has a more windows-like interface but is otherwise similar under the hood) boot disk. Either one gives you the option to run off the DVD without installing, as what they term a "Live CD." The image can be downloaded for free from Ubuntu.com (or kubuntu.org) and either burned to a disk (using disk burning software, under the option "burn disk image" or something like it) or copied to a flash drive. Then the media created can be used to boot the PC (try with the drive already attached first). When you get to a screen with options to install now or try (k)Ubuntu, select try and the desktop will load off the dvd. It won't be as fast as an install to HDD and will have other limitations but it will work (and it understands Windows formatted disks).

 

[MajSharpy]

Before I do any of that, I just want to let you know my PC knowledge is limited, how do I enable hot plug?

 

[SchizTech]

Once you get into the BIOS setup utility (probably pressing F2 or DEL during bootup - before Windows comes up - should get you in there) you can navigate with the arrow keys on the keyboard. The location of any particular setting can vary by board model but there is a gallery of what appears to be P6X58D bios images online, where SATA devices are shown on the first page (MAIN). Expanding the arrow under each of those ports might show a setting for Hot Plug, where you can first observe whether the status is "enabled" or "disabled" and if disabled, change to enabled. The way to do that again can vary by board but the images show that the plus (+) and minujs (-) keys can be used. Then F10 should save the settings and reboot.

 

[MajSharpy]

And now so I don't mess anything up, How or what is hot plug? I know I said I hot plugged in my question but I just want to know what it is and how I do it so I don't mess it up.

 

[SchizTech]

Hot plugging means plugging in a device when the PC is on. The classic example is any USB connected device (which can be plugged in and disconnected with the PC running). I don't know if you remember the old mice and keyboards which had a circular connector (called PS/2); those were not hot-plug enabled, so they wouldn't work unless plugged in before the PC is started. Most internal devices that go into slots are emphatically NOT hot plug capable (attempting it can destroy the system) though HDD can be - if the motherboard's BIOS supports it. So, if that HDD hot plug setting is there enabling it can let you plug in a SATA device "hot" like a USB stick. If it weren't previously enabled in the BIOS that would explain why the PC wasn't seeing it at all during your previous attmepts.

Do make sure you try different SATA ports on the board too.

 

[MajSharpy]

So I took a picture of my BIOS SATA 6 port and I don't see any hotplug option

http://imgur.com/a/mmvAd

 

[SchizTech]

Not all MOBO have the option to enable HDD hot plugging; that model just might not support the feature. So, anything you try to do will have to be done with the HDD connected before booting. You can try other ports and an Ubuntu disk to see if you can get anything to see the drive. Otherwise, it may have to be sent out to a recovery lab if the info is that important.

 

[MajSharpy]

I tried another SATA Port but no luck, it did however load up to my desktop after waiting on the BIOS Loading Screen for 5 mins, also it didn't show up in Disk Management sooooo Dead Drive?

If the drive is dead(Probably) what should I get? I had a look at what model the 2TB Barracuda is, it's a ST2000VX000 which have of a max of 3 reviews on AmazonUK. I bought it new off Ebay in 2013 for £60 but it's over £70 now but I wouldn't want to buy another one anyway, I just want it to be the same, 2TB 7200 RPM 64mb cache 6 Gbit/s in the £60 margin.

I was using it for storing my Videos,Photoshop Designs, Music & Sound Effects, Dxtory Recordings, Recording Gameplay with DxTory and playing Steam Games off it.

 

[SchizTech]

Well after a quick look there's a Toshiba drive in that price range here (the biggest competitor to Seagate, Western Digital, has their WD Black a bit more expensive):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-P300-7200RPM-SATA-Drive/dp/B0151KM4VG/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1472621010&sr=1-2

Though to a fair extent hard drives are similar brand to brand, this one has as good a combination of reviews and strong brand reputation as I could find for that low a price. The 6GB/s (SATA 3) matter won't change much for a desktop HDD compared to SATA 2 at 3GB/s since standard HDD aren't that fast anyway. It's no harm to have but it's something of a gimmick on anything but an SSD (though those are increasingly turning toward new PCIe technology nowadays).

Also, consider a backup solution for anything you'd rather not lose (could be cloud nowadays). HDD failures are too common to trust everything to one drive. (On that note, the drive indicated has a 2 year limited warranty).