Laptop having trouble booting/detecting hard drive/etc. but HDD health is reported as Good

newbcake

Honorable
Feb 25, 2013
1
0
10,510
UPDATE: Every 2 reboots, if the HDD was previously undetected, the 3rd boot brings it back.

I have the new Alienware 15.

It came with an SSD which has Windows 8.1 installed on it, and a secondary 1TB WD HDD.
CrystalDiskInfo reports both drives as Good and Healthy.

However, here is my problem.

1. Occasionally, when putting the laptop to sleep (i.e. closing the lid), it will not wake back up and I have to turn it off and on.

2. Problem 2 (probably has something to do with problem 1 or vice-versa) has occurred twice, 1.5 weeks apart.

What this problem is is that the secondary drive (the HDD) will completely disappear and Windows will not be able to detect it (not even in Device Manager), but in BIOS it is fine.

I would have to reboot the computer a few times before the hard drive comes back.

3. The third problem is not too common. What I understand is SSD improves boot time, but some boots of my system take longer than an HDD boot.

I know any other sensible person would send in this computer to have it repaired and such, but the reason I'm trying to avoid that is that this is my only laptop right now. Is it something I can easily remedy?
 

SuperSoph_WD

Estimable
Jul 30, 2014
168
1
4,910
Hey there, newbcake!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD HDD. :( I'd suggest you to try connecting it with a different SATA cable and check your motherboard/laptop manufacturer if you have the latest SATA drivers for your model. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.
However, if it persists, I'd recommend testing the WD drive on another computer (if you can get your hands on another one) and see how the HDD will be detected there.

Keep me posted! :)
SuperSoph_WD