SATAII drives drop off in VISTA 32-bit and 64-bit

[Guest]

I starting having problems when I upgraded Windows XP to Vista 32-bit. My
SATA II Western Digital 160GB would make noise like the heads were dropping.
The OS would freeze and then come back. It got to the point where I could do
no work. So I loaded another SATA II Western Digital 160GB with Vista 64-bit
and now am experiencing the same problem. When I run diagnostics or let the
computer run without the OS loading, the hard drives never drop out. That
leads me to believe that it may be Vista although it sounds like a hardware
problem. The only way to prove it is to load another OS besides VISTA. I
thought about replacing the motherboard because the SATA controller is
integrated or maybe the Power supply.
VISTA has not been a pleasant experience

 

[JW]

I have had a Western Digital SATA III drive running fine with VISTA Beta 2
over a year ago. I suggest using different SATA ports and making sure that
your cables are tightly connected. If the problem only happens under load
maybe it is your Power Supply.
I assume that you have the latest BIOS for your MOBO since it may have
updated the SATA drivers for VISTA.