Backstory:
This Hard Drive started out as a Secondary Drive in a PC I hardly ever use. This PC was used by guests only and the purpose for the Secondary drive was to give me a place to archive programs, backups and files in general. The PC itself was only turned on during times that I was accessing/writing files on the HD or when a guest was using the PC. This was not very often as I only transfered files to the drive when I had enough worth turning on the PC and taking the time to tranfer. Also, it was not very often that guests are over and using the PC either.

I have recently ordered a new notebook that has a large enough HD to store what I need archived.

The above being said I have recently removed the Secondary HD from the above PC as my wifes HD started making knocking noises and needed to be replaced. I figured since the HD from the other PC was rarely used and fairly new (no more then 1yr old) I would swap them.

Since I was installing a new HD I figured my wife could use a fresh install of the OS/Software too for a crisp system. So, in between her using the PC I would remove the cables from the Original HD and hook up the new one to work on the installs.

Issue:
One day I sat down, swaped the cables, pushed the power button and to my suprise the system says "Hard Disk 0 could not be found" >.<.

I opened the PC put my ear to the HD and >Click, click, click, click<

What happened? and what do you do when you have a HD that is not even a year old and it fails?

On top of it, my wifes HD was purchased the same time as the one that failed and her HD is also failing.

2x Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM HD's

I guess I wouldn't buy Maxtor again. You should probably verify the drive has actually failed. First thing is to watch the startup screens. All drives should be identified by model number. If the drive doesn't show there then check the BIOS to see if it is configured there. Maybe the cable is loose. All drives make some noise. I am not suggesting the drive isn' defective. Just suggesting you verify. You can also run the Maxblat tools to verify. That will be necessary if you intend to RMA the drive. Download the drive fitness tools form Seagate for the maxtor drive.

What happens is, I get the above message and then I get 2 options. The first, F1 to continue and the second, F2 to enter the bios. If I choose F1 it says, "invalid system disk please replace and restart the system". If I choose F2 to enter the bios the drive is listed as "Unknown".

Well, that does sound like the drive is gone.

On the drive you are attemping to connect:-

Do the strap(s) require change?

You advise it is exactly the same make/model as your wifes failing one. Sometimes an HD can be formatted with various settings.

Check these in the old pc bios against the new, if not the same could explain your problem.

Your comments above suggest the HD is setup to be booted from first. If so, it might be better to change this to last (after CD and Floppy)

If both these drives really have failed (which I doubt), surely they are covered by guarantee.

Possibly your wifes needs defragging. If so, it could explain the clicks she can hear.

Good Luck - Keep us posted.

What is the BIOS showing as far as the HDD configuration?

Life's more painless for the brainless.

The drive has been deemed dead.

I ran Seagate's Tools and it could not detect the drive. I also attached the drive to anther PC with the same outcome.

I guess the mystery of the hardly used drive that failed while it was not hooked up will remain a mystery.

My warranty is still good for years to come on both the mystery drive and my wife's hd so I will RMA and hope the next drives have better stability and last a bit longer.