Question : Problem: Twin Hard drive failure.

I have a PC which has suddenly displayed quite a strange problem.

Initially from cold this PC would boot to OS selection (Win2K WinXP) without problem. However, after approximately 1 hour, the entire system will die, requiring a restart, after which the system disk is not found and an alternative system disk is asked for.
Entering Setup reveals that not only the system disk (Excelstor J240, Primary master) but also the data disk (Fujitsu MPG3 409AT, Primary slave) are not present, or being recognised by the BIOS.
Allowing this system to cool overnight and restarting into setup reveals no problems, once again the system recognises BOTH HD's and in fact will happily boot to an OS. However, after another hour the problem re-appears, and the HD's are no longer recognised by the BIOS.

I have connected an old Nec corp 1gb HD with Win98se installed using the original IDE cable (Nec HD as primary master, and only HD present) and it appears fine. I have also connected both the suspect HD's to a "test rig" (known good motherboard, CPU, RAM and PSU) in their original configuration and also as Primary Master, Secondary Master and also as Stand alone Primary master. Correct appearance of BOTH HD's in the BIOS is intermittent, with the Fujitsu drive disappearing more often. When both connected simultaneously it seems that the problems are compounded and BIOS will not see either.
During this testing process I have been unable to boot to OS using the Excelstor and the test rig at all.
All thoughts and opinions greatly appreciated.

Answer : Problem: Twin Hard drive failure.

Does, putting the HD's in the freezer overnight (in an air tight bag) and then running them up make them more reliable for longer, if so the magnetic platters are on the way out and you should dump them asap.

sorry

:(