Both of my internal hard drives intermittently disconnect and reconnect repeatedly. The problem may stop for a while, but accessing either drive—such as launching a program or game or copying files—often triggers it again. The issue can last for several days, disappear for a couple of months, and then return. I replaced the motherboard, which seemed to help temporarily, but the disconnects eventually came back. Both drives are connected directly to the motherboard through SATA. What could be causing this, and how can I fix it?
1 Answer
Since both drives are affected and they use SATA, start with the shared components rather than assuming both drives failed. Replace the SATA data cables, try different motherboard SATA ports, and reseat the power connectors. If both drives share one power cable or daisy-chained connector, try a separate PSU cable. Also check the drives' SMART health data and Windows Event Viewer for disk, controller, or power-related errors. If the problem continues across different cables and ports, the power supply or SATA controller is worth investigating.
They are internal drives connected directly to the motherboard with SATA, not USB drives.