If a Seagate external hard drive suddenly fails to appear in File Explorer or Disk Management, the immediate reaction is panic—especially when the drive holds irreplaceable photos, documents or a backup. The good news: this is a common, solvable class of problems. The bad news: rushing into...
chkdsk
data backup
data recovery
ddrescue
device manager
disk management
drive letter
drivers
enclosure
external hard drive
imaging
not initialized
professional recovery
raw partition
seagate
seatools
sector image
smart
usb
windows
Microsoft Weekly: what happened with the SSD scare, the 25H2 ISO delay, and what you should actually do now
Summary (quick)
A widely shared set of social-media reports in August 2025 claimed the August cumulative security update for Windows 11 (KB5063878 / 24H2 servicing stream) was causing...
24h2
25h2
3-2-1 backup
backup
data recovery
disk health
enterprise it
firmware updates
iso delay
kb5063878
microsoft telemetry
patch management
phison
release preview
smart
ssd
ssd failures
windows 11
windows insider
File system errors on Windows 10 and Windows 11 can look cryptic — a terse message, an error code, or “The parameter is incorrect” when you plug in a USB stick — but they usually point to fixable problems with system files, disk metadata, or the drive itself. This guide consolidates proven...
app repair
backup strategy
chkdsk
data backup
data recovery
disk health
dism
file system errors
hardware diagnostics
memory diagnostic
sfc
smart
store cache
system image
troubleshooting
update rollback
windows
windows 10
windows 11
wsreset
A wave of reproducible reports and a parallel burst of misinformation have combined to create one of the more consequential Patch Tuesday headaches in recent memory: Microsoft’s August 12, 2025 cumulative for Windows 11 (KB5063878) has been linked to SSDs disappearing under sustained, heavy...
Microsoft's August cumulative for Windows 11 version 24H2 (KB5063878, OS Build 26100.4946) has sparked a new round of alarm in the storage community: multiple reports say the patch is associated with drives disappearing, SMART information becoming unreadable, and — in at least some cases...
I am trying to find a new music player for Windows that supports .m3u playlists for regular playlist but also supports smart playlists. I cannot find a music player that supports smart playlist as a file except for Windows Media Player. Itunes supports smart playlists but each playlist is not a...
This day was a lot of excitement for me since my main harddrive did not allow me to boot.
Here is my attempt to give you an image of what happened and where I need your help:
- booting pc as usual: splash screen of bios/mainboard
- booting gets stuck while loading windows drivers
- random...
i have googled the web but could not come up with any answers. I have a windows softwareraid "5" (yes plz hate me for this) with 3x3TB disks, one disk recensently failed. I have just replaced the bad disk with a new one. But i have still no way to add the new disk to the "old" raid, and the bad...
basic
data recovery
disk management
disks
dynamic
failure
gpt
hardware raid
mbr
missing disk
movies
raid 5
replacement
smart
software raid
storage
storage solutions
troubleshooting
tv shows
windows
I haven't had any hard drive problems except for accidental partition deletion, etc. I got this message last night from 1 of my drives and also a boot-up warning telling me which drive is failing. I've already moved out all my data from it. I also run a DPS Self Test which gives me a Code 4...
Hi guys, noob here, obviously, and am having problems with my aging Gateway FX P-7805u Laptop (AVG Free is my Anti-Virus, and I believe I just am using the default Windows Firewall)...
Ok, so starting 2/21/14, as you will see in the attached files, I started having frequent BSODs with mainly...
Intel has released Link Removed of the SSD Toolbox, which includes a range of tools for managing the health and optimal performance of Intel Solid State Drives.
Download:
Link Removed
capacity
diagnostics
drive
firmware
health
installation
intel
management
optimization
performance
raid
smart
ssd
storage
support
system
toolbox
update
updates
windows
I have tried the western digital lifeguard tool, but it is unable to run the tests it simply crashes every time. The quick test throws up this error
FAIL
Test Error Code:
06-Quick Test on drive 1 did not complete! Status code = 07 (Failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 97...
In the past I've post an issue I had were I was getting a B(Blue)SOD but now
this is something different, I hope.
When I launch either of 2 games (Borderlands and The Secret World), after a
while, the screen will go dark and most of the time I'll hear a high pitched
wine, I'll restart the PC...
bios
black screen
borderlands
bsod
crystal disk
desktop
error
firmware
games
health
high pitched
pc issues
performance
raid
sata
smart
ssd
the secret world
troubleshooting
windows
Fixes an issue in which the Win32_PhysicalMedia class does not use the IOCTL_SMART_GET_VERSION control code to query the disk serial number. This issue occurs even when you use administrator permissions to run the query.
Link Removed
Hi everyone! I've had an interesting week, but I'll try to give as much information here as I can.
So I custom-built my PC last June (used the HDD from my old comp, which I made in 2006). I had one BSoD; however, since it just happened the once, I never worried about it again. A few days ago...
Greetings, Members!
Okay When i turn on my laptop it says:
"SMART Failure Predicted on Hard Disk 0: TOSHIBA MK3017GAS-(PM)
WARNING: Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent.
Press F1 to Continue"
and then when i push F1 it just have a black...
backup
black screen
computer
data recovery
diagnostics
drive issue
error message
failure
hard disk
hardware
help
imminent failure
laptop
repair
smart
storage
support
toshiba
troubleshooting
warning
i have a ECS Elite Group black series mother board
500gig harddrive and a 320 gig harddrive
amd phenom triple core
2 gig ddr3
600watts powersupply
gforce 8800gt 512mb
i was playing game online when my pc suddenly stuck n restared...then it says sata slave S.M.A.R.T capable status bad. backup and...
amd
backup
data recovery
ddr3
ecs
error
gaming
gt8800
harddrive
motherboard
partition
phenom
power supply
replace
restart
sata
smart
system crash
windows issues
My computer was stuck at the logging off (while shutting down) screen a few days ago, so I had to do a forced power off (pressed power button for 4sec).
When I tried to turn the computer back on, it would now stuck on the Windows 7 loading screen, without HDD activity. After several tries...
auto repair
boot issues
bootup
command prompt
data recovery
diagnostics
disk management
drive issues
file system
force power off
hardware failure
hdd
repair
shutdown
smart
software fix
troubleshooting
ubuntu
windows 7
10 days ago I received a new HDD from WD after the first one failed SMART. The PCB of the new HDD had some discoloring and kinda rusty look around the screws, but installed OK and passed SMART and Disk Check with three different utilities. The problems started after I tried to run the new...
amd
antivirus
asus
bsod
call of duty
corsair
dram
drivers
g.skill
game error
hardware issues
hdd
minidumps
performance
rma
smart
troubleshooting
video playback
vram
windows 7