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July 29th, 2017 09:00

Alienware 15 Hard Drive not displaying and long boot time

Good day,

I've have a Dell Alienware 15.  Recently my 1TB hard drive has stopped appearing in windows and dell support assist.  It appears as though it isn't there, even though it appears when I check the BIOS.  In addition, my boot time has increased as well since this happened.

Windows does still start, and my SSD does appear and allow me to accomplish my day to day work without incident, but if possible I would like to get my hard drive back without replacing it.

I've tried the steps lain out in an article I found elsewhere in the forum (link below) which advised flashing the BIOS and running  Dell Enhanced Pre-Boot System Diagnostics (ePSA).  Neither of these have worked.

Alienware 15 internal hard drive not showing long boot times 

 

I flashed my BIOS to A08 using the dell website auto detect function.  After my laptop rebooted post flash, it started with automatic repair, and it took several boot attempts to get it running.  The BIOS says it is version A08 though, and I don't know enough about BIOS to try messing with it.

The ePSA diagnostic ran for about 45 minutes for the initial scan, and than about 3 and 1/2 hours for the extended memory scan.  It reported that there were no problems.

I would appreciate any advice anybody has on my situation.  If I need to provide more information, please let me know.

3 Apprentice

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4.4K Posts

July 31st, 2017 09:00

Hi ‌,

What's your system revision (R1,R2,R3).

Try by resetting the HDD, this could also be related to the HDD cable. 

July 29th, 2017 13:00

Hi skychaser.

so it does not show up in Windows Explorer anymore?

can you see the HDD in Device Manager next to your SSD? if yes, does it show up in Windows Disk Management with a Drive Letter (D: for Example)?

also download and run Crystal Disk Info. usually it shows Health Status for all connected Drives.

looks like your HDD is Dead TBH. can you hear rapidly clicking or scratching Sound coming from your Laptop?

2 Posts

July 31st, 2017 14:00

My system is an R2.

I pushed down on the HDD cable and everything works fine now.

I guess the cable came lose while sitting on my desk for who knows how long... somehow.

Thanks for the help!

3 Apprentice

 • 

4.4K Posts

July 31st, 2017 16:00

You're welcome!

July 31st, 2017 18:00

Hi Alienware-Eimy.

seriously now. sometimes you are so on point, it is almost scary.

how did you do that? i meen it's not like you have the System in Front of you.

just Boom! One and Done.

3 Apprentice

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4.4K Posts

August 1st, 2017 08:00

Daily practice 

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