Hard drive disappeared

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  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    Hard drive disappeared

    I installed a new SATA drive into my HP Win7 desktop PC a couple of months ago. I had to buy a separate power splitter because I was out. Anyway, I just noticed that the drive doesn't appear anymore. On reboot, Windows asks me how to open file "Paul". I don't remember naming the drive Paul, but I could have.

    Before I check the physical connections to the drive, anything in BIOS or Windows I should check?

    Thanks
    Paul
  • Condoman44
    Established Member
    • Nov 2013
    • 178
    • CT near Norwich
    • Ryobi BT3000

    #2
    SATA Connections

    I had a SATA that disappear at times. I would remove and reconnect the drive data cable and it would be good for another few months. After trying that see if it can be seen in disk management (diskmgmt.msc).

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    • atgcpaul
      Veteran Member
      • Aug 2003
      • 4055
      • Maryland
      • Grizzly 1023SLX

      #3
      Thanks. That worked although I still get that one message on startup. I'll have to look into that later. BTW, the hard drive is not named Paul.

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      • LCHIEN
        Internet Fact Checker
        • Dec 2002
        • 20920
        • Katy, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 vintage 1999

        #4
        SATA drives send everything over very fast serial lines, so all the data is on one or two signals. If the cable is intermittent or broken on that one line its over and the computer sees nothing.

        By contrast the old PATA used parallel data lines which were many. If one broke the computer could figure out that one of the lines was stuck and give a data error message indicating a bad drive.

        So its harder to detect a broken SATA cable... Sometimes the computer can only say, you asked for this drive and its not there.
        Loring in Katy, TX USA
        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

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        • LinuxRandal
          Veteran Member
          • Feb 2005
          • 4889
          • Independence, MO, USA.
          • bt3100

          #5
          The bios will tell you if the motherboard see's it. If not then you have two cables to check, power and the serial cable. You could test the serial cable by swaping it for one of the others, same with the power (just make sure nothing is loose first before swapping). Otherwise the drive could have died (does happen, just less likely).
          Also could paul not be the drive, but a file, or home directory on the drive?
          She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.

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