Second drive sometimes doesn't show

[Dialysis1]

I figure this should be an easy one for you guys but at the moment I just can't figure this one out.
Sometimes (not always) when I start my pc, my second hard drive doesn't show. If I go to Add Hardware it then shows before I finish the Add Hardware process. I can tell because the light on my pc goes off. I then go to explorer and the drive is there. I've gone into Administrative Tools and as far as I can see, everything that should start at startup is automatic. I must be missing something simple.

[Chewy]

might be a bootup problem, my system drive, a raptor 10K is real quirky about
being found during post with my overclocked cpu trying to boot up faster than the drive can reach it's rpm's????????????

these issues may be power related also

[src2206]

Well I know it is rather rudimentary, but still did you check your BIOS to ensure that this drive is properly recognised?

[jm1647]

All the power and IDE cables in good shape and seated properly?

[Dialysis1]

Yes, I checked all that. I even replaced the cables. Like I said, it doesn't happen all the time which is why it's confusing me.

[Dialysis1]

Well it's now been 2 weeks with no problem. The only thing I did was turn off the monitoring of this drive in System Restore. Is it possible that this was the problem? I don't see how.

[Chewy]

Coincidence? System restore shouldn't kick in soon anough or even work if the drive isn't detected at bootup by bios?

I have been working on a hard drive that gets stuck in park? after not being used for a while, I suspect it fried a weak power supply when it locked at bootup in a friend's old emachine.

Try to keep the drive on a power connector closest to the PS and all by itself?

[Dialysis1]

That's something I have to look at. I have an emachine.