1TB HDD suddenly doesn't exist?

[DavinatorXD]

Hi, I own a 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 notebook. When I purchased it on amazon 2 years ago there was an option to fill the drive bay with a 1tb hdd, which I selected. I have never had issues with this drive before. However, after booting up my laptop yesterday I saw that my hard drive no longer appeared to exist. In task manager, only my C drive is shown. In file explorer, only my C drive is shown. In steam, all of the games installed on that drive are shown as greyed out. Windows 10 is fully up to date. My laptop's boot drive is only a 256GB SSD so I really need the extra capacity. How can this be fixed? 

[DavinatorXD]

Also, someone let me know if I should include this post in the laptops forum instead of storage. 

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, DavinatorXD said:

Also, someone let me know if I should include this post in the laptops forum instead of storage. 

it should be under troubleshooting, but thank for at least trying

most new comers just post wherever they want

welcome to the forums, btw

remember to quote or mention the person you're relpying so they'll get a notification

 

8 minutes ago, DavinatorXD said:

How can this be fixed?

is it still under warranty?

if not you could open up the laptop to see if it disconnected or have a bad cable

do you have another PC around?

[DavinatorXD]

11 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

it should be under troubleshooting, but thank for at least trying

most new comers just post wherever they want

welcome to the forums, btw

remember to quote or mention the person you're relpying so they'll get a notification

 

is it still under warranty?

if not you could open up the laptop to see if it disconnected or have a bad cable

do you have another PC around?

Unfortunately, the laptop is no longer under warranty. The 2.5 inch bay has a one screw compartment, so it's pretty easy to get to. I did open it up, but I don't really know what to look for and didn't want to break anything so closed it. No, I don't have another PC around. 

[DavinatorXD]

Also, thanks for the warm welcome!

[Moonzy]

6 minutes ago, DavinatorXD said:

I did open it up, but I don't really know what to look for and didn't want to break anything so closed it.

can we get a picture? maybe i can point to which cable you should look at

[DavinatorXD]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

can we get a picture? maybe i can point to which cable you should look at

I don't have a camera at the moment, but I'll try to post something later tonight.

[Moonzy]

Just now, DavinatorXD said:

I don't have a camera at the moment, but I'll try to post something later tonight.

your phone will do

[DavinatorXD]

7 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

your phone will do

 

[Moonzy]

Just now, DavinatorXD said:

 

when you power on the laptop (with this cover uncovered) do you feel the disk vibrating (spinning on the inside) or make any audible noise? dont move or tilt your laptop too quickly when the disk is spinning though, do it slowly and gently

 

if it's not vibrating, shut down the laptop, unplug it from the adapter, then unscrew those 4 black screws around the silver casing, then the drive should be able to be extracted

try unplugging it and plugging it back in, then put it back and put on the 4 screws, and try powering on your laptop again

 

[DavinatorXD]

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

when you power on the laptop (with this cover uncovered) do you feel the disk vibrating (spinning on the inside) or make any audible noise? dont move or tilt your laptop too quickly when the disk is spinning though, do it slowly and gently

 

if it's not vibrating, shut down the laptop, unplug it from the adapter, then unscrew those 4 black screws around the silver casing, then the drive should be able to be extracted

try unplugging it and plugging it back in, then put it back and put on the 4 screws, and try powering on your laptop again

 

yep, it vibrates 

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, DavinatorXD said:

yep, it vibrates 

meaning it's receiving power

but your system is not recognising it hmm

 

try unplugging and plugging it back in with the steps i listed above

i suspect it's a loose/broken cable

[DavinatorXD]

4 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

meaning it's receiving power

but your system is not recognising it hmm

 

try unplugging and plugging it back in with the steps i listed above

i suspect it's a loose/broken cable

i’ve removed the screws. how do i extract the hard drive?

[Moonzy]

Just now, DavinatorXD said:

i’ve removed the screws. how do i extract the hard drive?

try lifting it up gently, it should just come out

[DavinatorXD]

2 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

try lifting it up gently, it should just come out

i’ve lifted it out. there is a thin silver paper like thing connecting it to a hole in the computer

[Moonzy]

 

look around this part, is there a cable connecting to this connector? or it's just that silver ribbon?

is the silver ribbon loose or tied to something?

 

can i have the specific model of your laptop so that i can find a teardown guide

[DavinatorXD]

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

try lifting it up gently, it should just come out

i’ve lifted it out. there is a thin silver paper like thing connecting it to a hole in the computer

 

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

 

look around this part, is there a cable connecting to this connector? or it's just that silver ribbon?

is the silver ribbon loose or tied to something?

 

can i have the specific model of your laptop so that i can find a teardown guide

i have the acer predator helios 300 ph315-51-78np. the bottom of the ribbon has like 5 little cables of the same silver color. the ribbon is tied to something, i feel a tug if i pull at it

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, DavinatorXD said:

i have the acer predator helios 300 ph315-51-78np. the bottom of the ribbon has like 5 little cables of the same silver color. the ribbon is tied to something, i feel a tug if i pull at it

that's fine, dont tug on it

try disconnecting the connector at the end of the hard disk

it should slide out with a bit of force

here's a picture of what it should look like when unplugged, as a reference

 

and then reconnecting it, and screw the drive back in place

 

[DavinatorXD]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

that's fine, dont tug on it

try disconnecting the connector at the end of the hard disk

it should slide out with a bit of force

here's a picture of what it should look like when unplugged, as a reference

 

and then reconnecting it, and screw the drive back in place

 

done. now screwing it back in

[DavinatorXD]

11 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

that's fine, dont tug on it

try disconnecting the connector at the end of the hard disk

it should slide out with a bit of force

here's a picture of what it should look like when unplugged, as a reference

 

and then reconnecting it, and screw the drive back in place

 

drive is secure. should i boot?

[Moonzy]

Just now, DavinatorXD said:

drive is secure. should i boot?

yeap, give it a go

[DavinatorXD]

13 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

yeap, give it a go

I've got good news and bad news. 

The Good: The drive shows up now. Yay!

The Bad: It might as well not, because attempting to interact with anything from the drive (launching a steam game or trying to click on a picture in file explorer) sends the host program into a spiraling hole of not responding. 

[Moonzy]

Just now, DavinatorXD said:

The Bad: It might as well not, because attempting to interact with anything from the drive (launching a steam game or trying to click on a picture in file explorer) sends the host program into a spiraling hole of not responding.

yikes... do you have anything important on there?

[DavinatorXD]

Just now, Moonzy said:

yikes... do you have anything important on there?

yes and no. 

I don't care if the drive is wiped. But i do need to be able to use it. It's my game drive, so...any pictures are screenshots that I have backed up. 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, DavinatorXD said:

yes and no. 

I don't care if the drive is wiped. But i do need to be able to use it. It's my game drive, so...any pictures are screenshots that I have backed up. 

now im not sure if it's the laptop's port that is broken or the hard disk

it's hard to tell unless there's a 2nd PC

but since it's detected, you can try running Crystal Disk Info to check if there are any errors with it

if there isnt any, it's probably the laptop