Strangest hard drive problem

[Mark Sashegyi]

I encountered the strangest problem the other day. My computer shut off randomly while I was streaming something. I initially thought it was just an overheating problem but I doubt it as it's a relatively new build with plenty of fans.

Then it happen again, and again. The computer was as cool as can be. The next time I logged on I noticed my internal hard drive was no longer showing up under My Computer, just my DVD/CD drive, my SSD (which is my C:/ drive) and an external 2TB Seagate I had plugged in. I also had a 5TB external plugged in as well that wasn't showing.

Upon further investigation, I found all the drives in the BIOS but then noticed one of the externals was listed in the bootable drives and above my internal(I don't know which one as it only said Seagate in the BIOS). Which shouldn't matter as only my DVD/CD drive and SSD were the only ones in the actual boot order menu, as they've always been.

Then I went into disk management and saw that the external 2TB was now in the Partition 1 slot instead of internal drive. Under device manager I found the external 2TB under Portable Devices and the other 5TB external under Devices along with the SSD. The internal drive, with its original drive name still intact, was under Other Devices.

I'm sure if I can just replace the external drive with the internal one in the Partition 1 slot under Device management, things ought to go back to normal. I'd prefer to do this without having to format any drives if possible but I'm afraid to click the wrong button at this moment.

Also, things we're moving very slowly within the BIOS and my computer still shuts off by itself anywhere between 5-30 mins after I log on.

I would appreciate any help in the matter. Thanks.

 

[captaincharisma]

if its running slow in the BIOS it sound like it might be a problem with the mobo. the first thing i may do is to see if there is a bios upgrade to flash and that may clear it up. but with the problems you are having it could be risky

 

[smorizio]

could be few things. one to many devices at power up on the usb port and causing the mb to lock up. try booting wiht just the hard drive plugged in or you may need a powered usb hub. you got a bad power supply. it rippling or not holding. try booting into the bios env screen and atch the voltage from the power supply. make sure it stays within atx spec.

 

[Mark Sashegyi]

Okay, so what I did was power down my pc as well as flip off the power supply unit. Then I unplugged all external drives, (keyboard and mouse still attached), power all the way on. Everything started normally with the speed I'm accustomed to, still no HDD drive showing up under My Computer or in Disk Management. But it was in Device Manager under Other Devices. I simply right-clicked on Update Driver, and did so from the internet and viola, the HDD drive was back under Disk Drives and showed up every where else.

I guess it got unmounted or whatnot somehow. I then plugged back in both my externals and everything seems fine. Thanks everyone!