Hard drive not found... Sometimes...

[snowmafia]

I am running a HP DV6-2150US, Intel I3 2.13 GHz dual core, 4 Gb RAM, Windows 7, and a SATA 7200 320GB hard drive (OEM).

As of a couple days ago, my hard drive fails to boot properly. Sometimes it flat out says that no hard drive can be found. Sometimes it says no OS is installed. Sometimes it boots just fine. I did a hard disk self test and it passed. I completely reformatted the hard drive and it is still doing it. It has not been dropped or mishandled in any way. Cabling appears to be fine to/from the hard drive... Any other suggestions?

[snowmafia]

Oh, and the only error I sometimes get is a 03F0. AND my warranty expired about 20 days ago... Freakin HP...

[patio]

What test did you run ? ?

[snowmafia]

comprehensive hard drive test through bios

[patio]

Try the Free one from the HDD manuf. site...BIOS test is not always reliable...
Run the long test.

[snowmafia]

new symptoms... will boot Ubuntu off of USB and CD every time... Hard drive?

[patio]

Try the Free one from the HDD manuf. site...BIOS test is not always reliable...
Run the long test.

[Lisa_maree]

Harddrive life is dependent on how they are handled. if you move or bump a harddrive when it's running it will shorten it's life. So it is possible to go threw harddrives like you are, if they are not looked after.