So, I've been trying to fix a sudden and unexplained hard disk drive failure that happened to me last night, and I haven't had much luck. I know the basics and that's it, so I think I've about exhausted my diagnostic capabilities. I read a bunch of Tom's Hardware and other forums for potential fixes, but it seems like my HDD is probably just dead. If anyone has some input or advice I would very much appreciate it. I will give you some details about the computer and what I've done so far.

It's a desktop computer from IBuyPower from about four years ago. Some parts:
Mobo: ASUS P7P55D LE
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-750 Processor (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz)
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 8GB 1600mhz DDR3
HDD: Hitachi 2TB 7200RPM SATA III
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
BIOS Version 0502 (build date 09/09/09)

The problem: Last night my computer was left on for an hour while I left the house. When I returned the were only the "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key" message on the screen.

What I've done so far: I went into BIOS by pressing DEL at the logo screen. I noticed that the six SATA ports only detected one device, my CD-ROM drive. Normally it should detect two (I only have one HDD and the CD-DVD drive). I checked the boot priority, which was set to 1) ATAPI CD-Rom, 2) Hard Drive, 3) Removable Device. I changed the boot priority to do Hard Drive first and restarted with no success. Next I checked system configuration is in IDE mode and Enhanced (not sure what that means). I changed from IDE --> AHCI and restarted, but no success. I also tried IDE - Compatible mode. No success.

I then went into my computer and checked the SATA cables, the HDD, the power cables, et cetera. I tried a combination of different cables, and found that the SATA and power cables worked on the CD-DVD drive (or BIOS recognized it), but never recognized the HDD. I also tried connecting through different SATA ports on my mobo, including doing SATA port 1, which I'd heard was what you should do for your HDD anyway. No success. I tried to tell if the HDD was spinning up at all--I put my ear to the drive while the power was on, but I couldn't tell if the sound I was hearing was the fan in the case vibrating or not. I think if the HDD was spinning up I would have been able to tell, right? I also unplugged everything and let everything sit overnight. Hooked everything back up this morning and still no success.

I (stupidly) lost my Windows 7 disc and don't have a recovery image. I made a recovery disk from my HP laptop with Windows 7 64-bit and ran that, and did Startup Repair about five times to no success. I also brought up the command prompt and did a diskpart command, but disk list showed no recognized disks. When I ran the recovery disk, by the way, it also didn't recognize any OS so I guess it's not reading the HDD at all? Doing Startup Repair led to an HP menu with some options, but the only one you were able to use was the command prompt.

So what can I do from here? Is the HDD likely to have mechanical/electronic failure and that's that? I know I could do data recovery, but I have my important documents backed up. What's on the HDD that I don't have backed up is a lot of media, games, pictures, et cetera, things I would like but am not going to pay a ton of money to get back.

Should I be looking at possibly fixing the HDD or is that a lost cause? Any input is really appreciated, I don't have a ton of experience with this so I may not know all my options.

9/18/2013 4:09:11 PM

Have you tried taking it out and hooking it up to your laptop via e-sata or something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066

9/18/2013 5:14:51 PM

I didn't think about that. This laptop has an eSATAp port but I wasn't really aware what it was used for. It has text that says eSATA then next to it the symbol for USB, so that means it's a powered eSATA port, yes? And eSATA cables would be different from the SATA cables that connect my HDD to the mobo, right (I assume so because it won't plug into the eSATAp on the side of the laptop.)

Would connecting it like this enable me to see if I can access the data?

9/18/2013 7:50:39 PM

The powered usb e-sata port should work I believe. Yeah it's a different cable.

9/18/2013 7:54:39 PM

Just to be certain, I don't need SATA --> eSATA, just an eSATA cable? Might swing out to Best Buy and see if they have one.

9/18/2013 8:27:47 PM

You need sata to e-sata. To go from your drive to your laptop. A regular e-sata cable has e-sata on both ends which won't work.

9/18/2013 9:13:52 PM

you also need one that has a usb plug, on the esata side and a sata power plug on the sata side. I would suspect some sort of power surge happened while you were gone. have you tried booting the machine with the drive plugged into a different sata port on the board?

9/19/2013 8:40:05 AM

^Definitely a power surge, I live on the Jones Franklinv - Athens - Avent Ferry grid, that shit is practically blowing up.

Yes, I tried both of my SATA ribbon cables and in every port (I have SATA 1 - 6 ports on the mobo).

Also, the cable I need, the side that actually goes into the computer is eSATAp--so that is both SATA and USB and should be powered, if I understand right. The other side is SATA and power then? Because I wasn't sure if eSATAp to SATA would power the HDD or not.

Bout to swing by Best Buy and take a look right now.

9/19/2013 1:54:11 PM

Blah, neo data was right to suggest an enclosure in his first post. The one he linked is just as expensive as an eSATAp cable with a power adapter.

9/19/2013 2:44:40 PM

Basically I haven't made any progress with this yet. I haven't decided if I will get an external enclosure and try that, or if I will just get a new SSD, OS, and call it a day. I don't understand, I guess, how the external enclosure would be any different than hooking it up straight to the motherboard, I guess.

The HDD itself seems to have failed mechanically. Can anything be done about that within reason?

Also, I don't have a Windows 7 recovery disc, but I have the product key. Maybe it's a stupid question, but does that mean I can make or acquire a Windows 7 disc (can you make an image somehow? I honestly don't know) and use my product key again?

9/23/2013 11:52:36 PM

Does it sound like the disc is actually spinning up? You'd be able to feel it spin up if you hold it and power on. Any other sounds? Particularly odd sounds like a clicking or scratching sound?

9/27/2013 7:14:13 PM

^^That, along with information from the SLIC in your BIOS, should be sufficient to re-activate Windows 7.

9/27/2013 7:33:22 PM

^^Nah, I can't feel anything or really hear anything. No odd clicking noises. I've heard failing hard drives before, and it didn't sound like that in the days leading up to the crash. Neodata mentioned maybe a power surge could have caused it, but I don't have knowledge of how that specifically would be affected. So basically I don't even think it's spinning up.

^I'm looking into this, I didn't realize SLIC was even a thing. How exactly does this help me if I don't have a Windows 7 disc or a created image? I didn't realize that SLIC actually helped anything.

9/28/2013 1:29:22 PM

I'm thinking the drive is shot, but you may at some point have a chance to get it to spin up once, where you should transfer all the data you want to keep

ie, go ahead and assume the drive is dead, get a new HDD / use another computer, go ahead and set it up how you want it, get a SATA 3 to USB kit, and try to see if you can access it

if the motor is dead you might be SOL, but it basically sounds like a hard drive failure

9/28/2013 9:25:50 PM

^This is my understanding now, basically. I'm just going to get a new HDD and see if I can't access the old one at some point.

Was waiting for a paycheck to come in before I bought anything new. This week I'll pick up an HDD replacement, probably an SSD from Newegg or TigerDirect. I'm thinking I'll go the route of an SSD in the 180GB range, put the OS on it, and use my external HDD as a file drive. Open to suggestions. My HDD bay can accommodate like eight drives and I only had one.

Still uncertain about how I can install Windows 7 on a new drive without the disc, but having the product key. I'm guessing download the ISO onto a USB drive, boot to it, then use my product key? I've never booted to a flash drive, but this computer should be able to.

9/29/2013 3:27:37 PM

So I just did some quick price checking on newegg and tigerdirect. A 180GB SSD is going to run you about $150 from either of those unless I missed something. You can get a 240GB for $169. So you may as well pay the extra $20 for double the space.

BUT... and this all depends on what you do with it, I'd probably just get a 64GB SSD for about $50 and then I'd spend $100 for a 2TB hd. My guess is that you wouldn't have trouble fitting whatever programs you regular use on a 64GB drive after Windows 7 is installed. But that really depends on what you do with it. For most people, it would be plenty if it's just used for the OS and programs (not file storage). And 240GB wouldn't be close to enough for me for file storage anyhow, so I'd still need more space. So for the same price, i'd still get the benefits of an SSD, but i'd get more than 8x the storage.

Your external drive may suffice for you as file storage. But if that's true, then I'd still really consider if you're going to use enough of the space on the SSD that it's worth 3x the cost of a 64Gb ssd. You could always buy the smaller ssd, and then expand with a disc drive later if necessary. Or larger SSDs may come down in price by then.

9/29/2013 7:28:56 PM

Okay, so you have some good points I hadn't considered.

The bulk of what I do that actually requires space on this computer is gaming. Like, 80+ Steam games, and those take up easily the bulk of things. I do some torrenting of TV shows, but most things besides PC gaming are streaming services or don't take up as much space (though the TV shows and movies adds up too, but I don't have a giant collection or anything). So yeah, bulk is OS + tons of PC games.

I assumed I would need more than a 64GB SSD if I wanted to put my OS and games on it. But I'm also assuming you get the same benefits from putting your games on the SSD.

9/29/2013 11:33:25 PM

I don't do any gaming, so I can't say for sure. But the main difference in the drives is going to be read/write speeds. That could definitely make a difference in game performance, especially load times. So I think you'd benefit from running your games off of an SSD.

I store A LOT of media and I don't game, so the best bang for my buck is different than yours.

If you'll get that benefit and you don't have a lot of other stuff to store, it's probably better for you to put the money toward a larger SSD so you can fit more games on there. But if you do go through newegg/tigerdirect, make sure you check the prices b/c the 240GB was really just $20 more. You'll always be able to easily add cheap storage later. It's more of a pain/cost to add more SSD space.

[Edited on September 30, 2013 at 12:43 AM. Reason : .]

9/30/2013 12:39:36 AM

Looking at some discussions on Tom's Hardware, apparently it's not all that critical to have your games be on an SSD. Supposedly it's only a few games where it increases performance in-game (open world games), otherwise you're just shaving some seconds off load time for the application, which normally isn't as big a difference as something like the OS. A lot of users suggest a hybrid setup where a few key games are on your SSD but everything else is on an HDD.

I should have mentioned before that I guess I do have enough media to justify a medium-sized SSD paired with a HDD. I think I'm going to definitely get another HDD internal at some point, but right now I can only afford to pick up an SSD. So I will go look at the sizes and get an idea of price / bang-for-buck. Debating between buying a small SSD right now and a HDD, or getting a mid-sized SSD and looking at additions later.

Also need to brush up on product differences with SSD, and see if there's any good deals.

9/30/2013 2:30:59 AM