1st time builder - Need help with 2TB HDD and Windows 10.

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Bussey83

Commendable
Oct 4, 2016
3
0
1,510
Hey all,
hopefully this is the correct place to ask this, but it seems I am having a major issue with my Seagate 2TB internal hard drive. I have a M.2 Samsung 850 250gig SSD which has windows 10 installed and set as the primary boot drive. I can cut my PC on with just the M.2 hooked up, and my PC will boot up to windows 10 in less than 6 seconds. It will also work perfectly with no issues. The moment I hook up my 2TB Hard drive it will do one of two things.

1st. If I already have windows up and running (by using the first SSD to boot, then hooking up the 2TB hard drive) windows will act sluggish, refuse to acknowledge that the drive is there, and file explorer will crash every single time.

2nd. If I boot up and it is already installed I get stuck at the Asus start screen and it will not go past it. However, if I unplug the HDD while it is stuck at the screen it will immediately take me to my login info for windows.

I am confused on what I need to do to get this hard drive working. I cannot format it due to it not showing the drive or disk management refusing to load while it is plugged up (It gets stuck at "connecting to virtual disk service") . I do not have the money to purchase another 2TB hard drive so that is out of the question. Thank you in advance for any help, I hope I can fix this.

My current PC specs

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Storage 1(M.2 SSD with windows): Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage 2(HDD I am having problems with): Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: Corsair RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Hey there again, @Bussey!

Let me know how the troubleshooting is going once you get the chance, I will be here. :)
As for the brand-specific diagnostic tool, it's highly recommended to use it. These tools are specifically designed for the hard drives manufactured by the same brand. It should work properly. Please take a look at the values of your SMART data results and share them here.

Go into Disk management if you could and check how the HDD appears there. IF it's RAW format indeed, you won't be able to run chkdsk because the tool cannot run on such drives. I suspect that the issue could be caused by a failed HDD, that's why I strongly recommend checking its performance in another PC.

Keep me posted with the troubleshooting...
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Welcome to Tom's Hardware, @Bussey83!

To answer your question, it's possible that a failed connection/port or HDD could be downgrading the boot up process and influence the whole system like that. This happens because it is trying to access & read data on this secondary drive. When the system is unable to read it properly, it would boot slower than usual and just like you mentioned, it would take time to acknowledge that the drive is there.

I'd recommend you check how the HDD would get recognized if you use a different SATA cable and a different SATA port on the motherboard. If the issue is still present, you could try to access your data from the drive externally via USB, in order to back it up ASAP! You can do that using a docking station or an external 3.5" enclosure (with an AC adapter). Once you manage to back up your files, it will also be a good idea to test the drive's health and SMART status using its manufacturer's brand-specific diagnostic utility.

Let me know how it goes!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Bussey83

Commendable
Oct 4, 2016
3
0
1,510



The HDD had no important files on it. It was brand new, so backing it up isn't really a issue. I used two different Sata cords that came with my motherboard, and also plugged it into 3 different Sata ports and it experienced the same thing.

I did pull up the SMART readings via my BIOS for it, and honestly couldn't understand what any of it meant. Haha.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Well, that's good news, @Bussey83! At least you won't have to go through the hustle of recovering important files.
I suspect that the HDD could be faulty, however, I'd still recommend you check its performance from another PC. You could check some of diagnostic tools I shared in my previous post and check what they would show about your secondary hard drive's health & SMART. I don't think there's a BIOS that can perform these tests though. Maybe you just saw that SMART is enabled or disabled? Either way, posting a picture or a screenshot would be really helpful.

If the drive is giving you such a hard time booting with the secondary HDD inside, you could also use the DOS Version of the HDD manufacturer's brand-specific diagnostic tool. It would perform the tests without booting into Windows. You should be able to find it on their official website, together with the step-by-steps on how execute the tests.

Give it a try and keep me posted.
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Bussey83

Commendable
Oct 4, 2016
3
0
1,510
Sorry for these late replies -- school, work, etc lol. Anyway, from my BIOS I had an advance SSD/HDD smart reading. From there I was able to see the drive and it had values such as current, worst, threshold, value.. etc. However, I have no clue what any of it means.

I will try to use one of the programs. The question is if I use SeaTools driver tester will it execute properly? Because as it stands right now with the HDD plugged in it keeps most of the Windows functions from working properly.


EDIT: Been reading on these forums and across google, and it looks like I may have found a solution. After I boot up, and replug in the hard drive it shows under "This PC" as "Local Disk (B: )" however it has no storage space associated with it. Some people on these forums have said that it means the hard drive is all RAW(?) data and that I can go to the command prompt: chkdsk B: /f and it should force the hard drive to format. Hopefully when I get back home this will fix it. Will keep y'all updated.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Hey there again, @Bussey!

Let me know how the troubleshooting is going once you get the chance, I will be here. :)
As for the brand-specific diagnostic tool, it's highly recommended to use it. These tools are specifically designed for the hard drives manufactured by the same brand. It should work properly. Please take a look at the values of your SMART data results and share them here.

Go into Disk management if you could and check how the HDD appears there. IF it's RAW format indeed, you won't be able to run chkdsk because the tool cannot run on such drives. I suspect that the issue could be caused by a failed HDD, that's why I strongly recommend checking its performance in another PC.

Keep me posted with the troubleshooting!
I'm following your thread, so once you post back I will get a notification and get back to help out! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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