Trying to format an old HDD but PC won't boot when I hook it up

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iiskyle

Commendable
May 25, 2016
2
0
1,510
So I have a PC with a 250 gb SSD with Windows 10 on it and I was wanting to take my parents old 1tb HDD and connect it to my PC, format it, and use it for bulk media storage. however, After I connect the old HDD, the PC can't get past the Windows 10 loading screen. I disconnect the HDD and it loads just fine like normal. It should be noted that the HDD has Windows 7 on it and I already made sure the boot order was correct in the BIOS. I also don't think my power supply is the issue.

So my main questions are: why is this happening? And how can I format the HDD and use it with my SSD?
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Welcome to the community, iiskyle!

Unfortunately, if that old HDD is causing such freezes in your system, it is highly likely that the drive might be damaged. I'd suggest you attempt to plug it to a different SATA port on your motherboard and also use a different SATA cable. If this doesn't help, you might want to use a DOS version of a HDD diagnostic utility that will allow you to determine the health and SMART status of the drive without booting into Windows. There are some hard drive manufacturers that have such a testing tool on their official website, so I'd suggest you try to find your brand-specific one as well. Keep in mind that you will need to create a bootable flash drive with this specific software in order to...
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Welcome to the community, iiskyle!

Unfortunately, if that old HDD is causing such freezes in your system, it is highly likely that the drive might be damaged. I'd suggest you attempt to plug it to a different SATA port on your motherboard and also use a different SATA cable. If this doesn't help, you might want to use a DOS version of a HDD diagnostic utility that will allow you to determine the health and SMART status of the drive without booting into Windows. There are some hard drive manufacturers that have such a testing tool on their official website, so I'd suggest you try to find your brand-specific one as well. Keep in mind that you will need to create a bootable flash drive with this specific software in order to be able to test that old HDD of yours.

Hope it helps. Keep me posted! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Solution
I

iiskyle

Commendable
May 25, 2016
2
0
1,510
Yep I believe you are right. The HDD is like 6 years old so that makes sense. I was just trying to save $50, but I guess I'll just buy a new one. Thank you for being such a tremendous help. Love the community on this site. Lots of people with helpful information.
 
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