Your hard drive is failing, and you're looking for assistance.
Your hard drive is failing, and you're looking for assistance.
Windows sometimes handles boot partitions in unusual ways. If your HDD was set up during Windows installation, it might have ended up on the HDD instead of an SSD. A simple solution is to back up your files and reinstall Windows using only the desired drive. For a more specific approach, you could attempt recovery tools to rebuild a boot partition. In either case, you'll need a flash drive containing Windows installation media.
The simplest method to turn off a hard drive is by removing its power cable (while the computer is powered down). Have you checked the BIOS settings to change the boot device to another drive?
If the HDD remains connected, the PC will launch in Windows normally, but you won’t be able to access the HDD drive.
When HDD is connected, the system starts up normally. I want to turn it off or remove it because during certain games (like RUST), my PC crashes unexpectedly. This crash seems linked to a failing drive, possibly because the PC is trying to save data from a dead drive.
Open the Disk Management tool via Win Key + X on the desktop. Check for an EFI System Partition. If it's missing or appears on a different drive, your Windows bootloader is likely installed on that HDD—this can happen when you install Windows while another drive is present. It’s unusual and may indicate corrupted data. I’m not an expert in hardware troubleshooting, but this could explain your situation. You might find a solution here: https://www.tomica.net/blog/2020/04/move...windows-10. If it doesn’t resolve the issue, consider a fresh Windows installation. Always back up important files before making changes to storage devices.