Disappearing and unresponsive internal hdd in win 11

[quicky008]

i have a wd 2tb hdd that's roughly 7 years old.It has been working fine,but of late it randomly starts getting unresponsive,and sometimes completely disappears from file explorer in win 11.

When it disappears,it sometimes automatically reappears after some time,but continues to remain unresponsive ie files and folders dont open or take a long time to open and causes the pc to act sluggishly.

Once it even didn't show up in the bios at startup.But restarting the pc fixed that.

When it does work,i checked its stats using crystal disk info and everything appears to be ok ( Green).

What could be the issue with this hdd?Is the hdd about to fail but Crystal diskinfo is unable to detect it?

Can it be caused by a malfunctioning sata cable or power cable? The sata cable is actually quite old,and has been in use constantly over the last few years.The drive is powered by a RM 750e psu that's only a few months old (received it after RMA ing my malfunctioning TXM 750)-so i hope there's no fault with the power cable itself.

Also i didn't hear any telltale signs of hdd failure such as clicking etc from the drive.

So please suggest what should be done in this case.

 

[omega44-xt]

When it is not detected, check if it is powered? If it is, can rule out power issues in a way.

IMO try replacing SATA cable.

Also considering it is 7 year old, HDD failure is also a possibility, but even I rely on crystaldiskinfo to check that. At least I get a yellow "Caution" on failing HDDs.

but continues to remain unresponsive ie files and folders dont open or take a long time to open and causes the pc to act sluggishly.

I have observed the above in failing HDDs, not the disappearance & reappearance.

Try other software like Hard disk sentinel.

 

[quicky008]

Changing the sata cable seems to be the only way.... I have removed and reconnected both the existing sata and power cables to rule out any loose connection issues, but to no avail.

Let’s hope the hdd hasn't gone bad.

 

[quicky008]

despite changing the sata cable and even connecting it to a different sata power connector,problem remains.

Its pretty bizarre as i have never faced any issues like this earlier.

So it seems the hdd itself is acting up somehow,even though its smart data doesn't indicate that anything is amiss.

 

[omega44-xt]

Change SATA port on mobo as well as power connection slot on PSU.

IF issue persists, get a new HDD & move on. 7 years is old.

 

[patkim]

If HDD goes unresponsive it’s possible that Windows might log I/O or relevant error in System or Application log under Event Viewer. So next time it happens check event viewer for any meaningful message.

If you have any external casing handy, try using Ext Enclosure to test stability of the power supplied.

Check HDD temperature using suitable tools. CrystalDiskInfo can help.

Try clean boot approach on Windows 11 for a few days and see if the issue repeats.

Make sure that Turn off HDD after n minutes of inactivity is disabled in Windows advanced Power options.

Just a guess but I suspect the controller PCB circuit on HDD may be failing though the physical HDD may be fine.

For HDDs sometimes more than third-party tools like CrystalDiskInfo, the proprietary tools made by vendor may help, e.g. Seatools in case of Seagate, so check if vendor has any tool and check the status using that as well.

 

[quicky008]

Just a guess but I suspect the controller PCB circuit on HDD may be failing though the physical HDD may be fine.

yes thats what i thought too.

I have already checked by connecting it to a different sata port on the mobo as well,but it wasn't of any use either.

I think the power connector or the sata connector on the pcb of the hdd may be malfunctioning somehow.