The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Intermittent Hard Drive Recognition??

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by dugt, Jun 14, 2012.

  1. dugt

    dugt Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    About one out of four times that I reboot my computer it fails to recognize my second hard drive. It always recognizes the SSD which has the OS. Is there a way to test to see if the problem is the hard drive or the computer? Is this usually caused by the hd or the computer?

    This Alienware computer is still under warranty but Alienware refuses to help because I didn't buy the WD drive from them.

    Thanks for any advice!
     
    dugt, Jun 14, 2012
    #1
  2. Bartlett

    Bartlett The Prophet

    Reputations:
    336
    Messages:
    1,860
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    56
    One thing you can do is download CrystalDiskInfo and verify your hard drives health with it. It should be able to determine the health for you off the bat but look for things such as pending and reallocated sectors.

    Firstly, I would just reset your BIOS to defaults and attempt to boot from the WD drive.

    But you can download CDI here
     
    Bartlett, Jun 14, 2012
    #2
  3. dugt

    dugt Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Can I boot from the WD drive even though the OS is on the other drive?

    I downloaded CDI and ran it. It says the WD drive is "Good". The pending sector count is 200. The reallocation count is also 200. Is that good or bad or???

    Thank you!
     
    dugt, Jun 14, 2012
    #3
  4. Bartlett

    Bartlett The Prophet

    Reputations:
    336
    Messages:
    1,860
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    56
    To boot from the WD, the OS will need to be on the drive.

    I would call WD and get a new drive right away; you should still be under warranty. The pending sector count is quite high, and although they are all reallocated, it will adversely affect drive performance and reliability.
     
    Bartlett, Jun 15, 2012
    #4
  5. dugt

    dugt Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thank you very much! I will ask WD for a replacement as soon as I get this bad drive backed up which will be in about a week when I get a new 2tb drive and an external enclosure for it.

    dt
     
    dugt, Jun 15, 2012
    #5
  6. Bartlett

    Bartlett The Prophet

    Reputations:
    336
    Messages:
    1,860
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Great, glad I could help!
     
    Bartlett, Jun 15, 2012
    #6