Computer Sometimes Does Not Boot With Second Hard Drive.

My OS is installed on SSD, I also have internal HD that I use for back up and storing files. I also installed new power supply, now sometimes the computer hangs up on the HP screen and won't boot. This only happens some of the times. I don't see a pattern of occurrence of when it will or won't boot. My computer specs are Windows 10, i3, 8 Gig memory, 450Watt power supply Corsair CX450, HD WDC WD10EZEX.

 

Why?

Did you go back and make sure every power cable is securely connected? You should also double-check to make sure you did not knock loose any data cables.

 

Ok so your OS is on the SSD?

This should be your first boot priority in bios.

What do you mean, "computer sometimes does not boot with second HD", is that not for storage only?

 

I installed the new power supply because I added a second hard drive and a video card and ram so it seemed like it would be a good idea to upgrade the power supply. Your right that it's possible that this isn't necessary.
Yes, I checked carefully that all of the connections are secure.

 

Yes, I have that set up properly in the bios.

Yes, that second hard drive is used just for storage. For some strange reason the computer doesn't boot usually when the second hard drive is connected to the sata cable (which is then connected to the motherboard).

I'd say it would boot about ten or fifteen percent of the time when the second hard drive is connected. I don't notice any pattern that might help us explain why it sometimes does and it sometimes doesn't.

 

And if you leave the 2nd HD disconnected, it does boot correctly every single time?

Was this 2nd hard drive you added new?

 

Yes, with the 2nd hard drive disconnected it boots every single time.
The second hard drive came with the computer originally. I had had it disconnected for about 2 months because I was a little concerned that it was a little too much for the power supply.

The only new variable that I introduced recently is the power supply.

 

Hard drives typically consume less than 10W so if your supply was already being taxed so much that 10W made a difference, that supply was already way too small.

Since you already said you bought a new supply because you added hardware, it does not seem likely you bought too small. What graphics card did you buy?

It sounds likely this hard drive is faulty and either drawing too much power, or putting short on the circuit.

 

I don't think that I was cutting things close with the size of the previous power supply. By replacing the power supply, I was just taking an extra precaution because I know that if you don't have sufficient power, you can create problems, and you might not have a warning that those problems exists. If I remember correctly, it was the possibility of data corruption that concerned me.

MSI Radeon R7 240

I might have an old hard drive that I can try to see if that solves anything.

 

We are talking SATA arent we?

Double check configurations in the bios.

If IDE, could it be a jumper issue on the mobo?

 

Doing some research Ok so R7 240 requires a 350Watt power supply.

Not knowing your CPU i can't tell if a 450 watt is enough.I would recommend RMA the power supply you bought and buy a 600 watt just to be safe.

We need to know what kinda cpu you have.450 watts is not enough for this system.Most likely you are reaching close to 450 watts.Or you are over the limit with cpu added.If the cpu is over 65 watts then you are maxing out the power supply.Hence the reason why you are having issues with your other hard drive.

 

I would recommend on this power supply.This 650 watt should give you plenty of head room.
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Modular...6069156&sr=8-10&keywords=600watt+power+supply

 

From what i am reading from other sites it takes 200 watts to 350.Radeon cards take a lot of power.

I need to know what (i3 processor you have).There are a lot of i3's out there.

On Tom's hardware some are saying 200watts to 350 watts for that card.

 

If you remember correctly?? WTF.
I would certainly remember if data corruption was a concern?

What type of Core i3?.....your kidding right?

This thread has nestled under the Magic Faraway Tree!

 

Some of his parts he listed in the first post.Yes i3 is real lol.

I am not sure what i3 the OP has.All that is listed is i3.

The Cpu watts range from 65 watts to 100 watts.There is a possibility the op could be going over 450 watts and not even realizing it.

Just because a site says 30 watts does not mean it uses more.I use to use older cards.And there are few and far between that use that low of a wattage.2013 was not that long age older Radeon cards tend to be power hungry.Even if they don't have a 6 or 8 pin connections like now.

All so Radeon cards,If pushed hard.They can all so create a lot more heat then the newer ones.

 

Ummm, there seems to be come confusion here. TDP is NOT the same thing as power consumption. TDP is the maximum amount of heat generated the device's cooling can deal with.

Power consumption could easily be 40 or 45W - when pushed to the maximum. But note those would be momentary demands, not continuous. Most of the time it is likely pulling less than 20W.

But that hardly matters since a PCIe slot can support power demands up to 75W. But that card does not draw near that much so I agree with Phillip and 350W is likely more than enough for the entire system.

I am a little surprised at that TPU review. It says,

Being a single-slot card has nothing to do with it. I am sure they know that and it is just not worded right.

 

Yes, Sata.
The bios looked fine (if there was an apparent order to the list of drives, it was in the right order. I don't remember exactly how it looked as it was a couple of weeks ago when I looked at it. I could go back and look at it more, if needed).

 

i3-4130
My guess is that Tom's Hardware is referring to the total that your system needs if you have this card as your graphics card.

 

"remember correctly" as in I was reading about the issues that pop up if you have too weak of a power supply. I think that I remember data corruption being one of the possibilities.

 

So your I3 is below 65watts.Power: 54watts needed to run.

So you are well below 450 watts i would say.It's all ways good to confirm this.I have had power supply issues in the past were when i first built one.I put the wrong power supply in.And what happened to me was.The system was drawing more power to compensate.And my system required at least 500 watts.What happened to me one day was when i came home i started to smell burning plastic.There was so much over draw that one of my fans power cords started to melt the plastic due that i was running a GTX 550ti.

And i could all so feel that my power cord that went to the power supply was hot to the touch.And i mean hot from drawing the extra power.

 

Interesting. Maybe the gauge of the wire should have been different (I'm assuming that there is variance available in the market for the 2 parts that you mentioned).

 

Silverthunder If you are still having issues with the hard drive.

You will have to set the jumper properly as a secondary drive on the hard drive it self and the bios.

 

It's not IDE. Even my 11 year old computer has all sata drives.

 

And if IDE, the jumpers in question would be on the back of the drives to set Master, Slave or Cable select, not on the motherboard.

 

Actually, I just realized that my 11 year old computer does have an IDE DVD drive. The drive belt broke a few months ago and so I removed the drive. I don't know if there is a way to buy a drive belt for much less than what a totally new drive would cost. But anyway, the 11 year old computer is not the one that I started this thread about.

I connected the drive without changing anything and right now it's on a 2 boot "streak" of working. It's not too surprising that it worked as it has worked a lot in the past.

 

After hooking back up the second hard drive, the computer booted up 3 times without any problems. On the 4th boot, it was unsuccessful. I then disconnected and reconneded the sata cable and the power cable. After that, it worked. So, current hypothesis is that disconnecting and reconnecting the drive fixes the problem.

 

Thank you. I will try that.
Today when I was trying to boot the computer up for the first time of the day, it would not boot with the 2nd drive connected. Interestingly, the computer was hanging on the first windows screen (win 10) that shows the windows icon and the spinning circle of dots. For several weeks prior to this, I think it was always hanging on an earlier screen, which is just an HP icon.
When I disconnected the power and the sata cable from the drive and then reconnected those 2 cables, I then got to a screen that had the windows icon and a message "preparing automatic repair." I let the computer hang on that screen for about 5 minutes and then forced a shut down, disconnected the drive, and I am running the computer without the drive, at the moment.
I will try another sata port, like you suggested.

 

So far, I tried my 1 free sata port that was not already being used. Did not fix the problem.

 

If you are talking about a IDE cable for the drive you can buy this here below.The go for about 6 dollars on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/18in-Dual-Dr..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=JBWRYXQGC4WFY9VMJV0G

It's just cheaper to buy a new CD rom drive.

https://www.amazon.com/Lite-SOHC-48...161&sr=1-3&keywords=Lite+one+IDE+drive+CD+rom

 

I was talking about the drive belt, which is a rubber band looking part. I believe it uses the power generated by the motor to move the tray of the drive. Think of it like a belt in a car. I looked on Ebay but I couldn't find any such inexpensive Chinese after market parts. I am thinking that maybe the listings call it something else (another term meaning the same thing). So, I guess I will just have to wait until I have to buy something else at Newegg and then order it along with that (which probably wont be for quite a while).

 

I knew what you where talking about.The belt in side the Cd ROM drive.

It's Some times easier to replace the whole part.And cheaper to do it that way.Some stuff be comes so hard to find.That it makes it more expensive to fix.Just like newer cars for instance.The older your computer part gets the harder the parts will be to find.

I normally install a LITE on Cd rom drive.I have had the same one for about 9 years now.No parts broken nothing perfect working order.Of course i did not use it as much as a external drive.