WD harddrive suddenly stopped being recognized...

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craigsnedeker

Honorable
Sep 26, 2012
20
0
10,510
This hard drive is pretty new, I bought it earlier this year and it worked flawlessly since. Three days ago, I turned it off before bed and the next day I turned it on but it didn't boot. Here's what happened:

The Gateway boot screen flashes, and a few other screens that follow also flashed. That's all normal. Then, instead of booting the OS, I get a flashing underscore.

Nothing happens except the flashing underscore.

In the boot settings under the boot priority, there are no harddrives listed, only CD and USB. It's like it doesn't see that my HD is even there.

I've tried different Sata cables and nothing happens. I can hear the HD turn on and spin so I know it's physically working but I'm at a loss of what to do.

Any ideas?
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD

You can perform the power troubleshooting on a desktop as well.
Also I can suggest you to reset the CMOS and see if this will result in any improvement on the issue. Just make sure to reset the day and time as well.
http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-BIOS
If really none of the drives you connect get recognized, you might be dealing with a bad cable or connector on the mobo.
Try to disable...
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Hey there, Craig!

Sorry to hear about the issue you are facing. The reasons why this is happening can be of all sorts, but I can suggest you a couple of things that you can try to resolve it.
1. I found a lot of people who tried this and it worked. This is a solution if the problem lies in the power supply.
- UNPLUG THE POWER
- REMOVE BATTERY
- HOLD POWER BUTTON FOR 30/60 SECONDS
- REATTACH POWER AND START THE LAPTOP
- SHUT BACK DOWN
- PUT IN THE BATTERY

2. A Windows recovery would solve the problem if it's a software one.. So I suggest you try to use your hot key(s) to start the recovery process, however different manufacturers use different combinations. For example, my ASUS uses F9 and my Compaq uses F11. I found an article that will help you find yours if you don't know what the key combination is:
http://www.wintips.org/laptops-recovery-instructions-keys/

3. If it's a hardware problem then you need to troubleshoot most of the components somehow and check what needs replacing. :(

Hope this helped.
Keep me posted and good luck!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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craigsnedeker

Honorable
Sep 26, 2012
20
0
10,510
I don't have a laptop, I have a desktop. ;) I'll take a video of what happens so people can understand better. I Tried the recovery but it doesn't help because it needs a harddrive to do a recovery and the motherboard doesn't think there is a harddrive.

I've tried other harddrives and get the same result.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960

You can perform the power troubleshooting on a desktop as well.
Also I can suggest you to reset the CMOS and see if this will result in any improvement on the issue. Just make sure to reset the day and time as well.
http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-BIOS
If really none of the drives you connect get recognized, you might be dealing with a bad cable or connector on the mobo.
Try to disable AHCI or SATA Native Mode in the BIOS and see what happens?

Hope this helps.
 
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