Why is my 8TB Seagate SMR drive dropping below 1 MB/s during writes?
I bought an 8TB Seagate ST8000DM004-2CX188 second-hand and did not test it properly at the time. I know this is a shingled magnetic recording (SMR) drive, but I…
hard drive troubleshooting
Why does my 8TB Seagate drive drop to under 1 MB/s during writes?
I bought an 8TB Seagate ST8000DM004-2CX188 hard drive second-hand and did not test it properly at the time. I know this is an SMR drive, but I have…
Why Do Downloads to My D: Drive Keep Failing With Corrupted Files or Disk Write Errors?
Anything I download to my D: drive—whether it's a game, video, or another type of file—eventually fails with errors such as "corrupted files" or "disk write error." I…
Why Do Downloads to My D: Drive Keep Getting Corrupted?
Every file I download to my D: drive—whether it's a game, video, or something else—ends up failing with errors such as "corrupted files" or "disk write error." I…
10TB SATA HDD Only Powers On Through USB Adapter
My 10TB HGST Ultrastar DC HC510 internal SATA hard drive (HUH721010ALE601) is not detected and does not spin up when connected directly to my motherboard with SATA power…
External hard drive suddenly stopped being detected
My external hard drive was working normally while I was transferring older files from a laptop to my desktop. I couldn't find a safe-eject option, so I shut…
New 2TB External Drive Became RAW and Now Won’t Format
I bought a new 2TB Seagate external hard drive and tried to reformat it as exFAT with quick formatting disabled. The process failed with "The volume label is…
Windows Detects My 1 TB HDD, but CrystalDiskInfo Can't Read Its Health
Windows recognizes my 1 TB internal hard drive and it works normally, but CrystalDiskInfo and Hard Disk Sentinel don't detect it, so I can't check its SMART health…
WD My Passport Is Detected but Freezes Windows Explorer
My 4TB WD My Passport external hard drive was working normally until it reported that it was out of space while I was downloading files. I paused the…
Why is CHKDSK taking so long on my Lenovo IdeaPad?
I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 340-15IAP with a Celeron processor, and the Novo button is broken. The computer previously failed to boot and displayed a "BIOS not detected"…
WD Gold 12TB Powers Down and Clicks After Windows Starts—Is the Drive Faulty?
I bought a WD Gold 12TB hard drive, model WD121KRYZ, roughly six or seven years ago. It was shipped internationally, but the protective box was discarded during transport,…
My PC won't boot past 'Preparing automatic repair' - Help!
I'm having a major issue with my PC. Whenever I try to turn it on, it just gets stuck on the 'Preparing automatic repair' message and doesn't boot…
Accidentally Used the Wrong Power Adapter for My Hard Drive—Now It Won't Turn On!
I accidentally used the wrong power adapter for my 6TB Seagate Expansion Desktop external hard drive. I connected it to a power adapter that was rated for 12V…