Second SATA Problem

[blacklotus90]

So I recently purchased a second SATA HDD for my computer to use as
extra storage. It is a Maxtor DiamndMax 10. I had been using it
prerfectly fine for about a month, when all of a sudden my computer
starts to hang at boot. Every time I booted it up, it would post, and
then the boot loop would come on, and about halfway through the second
bar it would stop for just a second then resume, and keep looping
forever until I shut off the computer. After unplugging various
devices, I figured out it was that second SATA. The strange thing is
that when I start up my computer in safe mode, it boots just fine, and
the drive is there and working perfectly. Also, if I unplug the second
drive, Windows works fine, and if Itry to plug it in while Windows is
running, my computer shuts down (is this normal for internal drives?)
Before this happened, I did not make any hardware or software changes,
the only new thing was I was LAN-ing with my friend for the first time,
but I don't see how this could affect it. I have about 90GB of files
and documents on there which I need, and would prefer to get it
working as soon as possible. Here is what I have tried, all to no
avail:
1. System restore
2. msconfig; disabling certain boot services
3. Double checked the BIOS settings, tried restoring to default
4. chkdisk
5. checked the power supply
6. Checked boot.ini
7. Updated chipset drivers
8. Updated BIOS
9. Checked Maxtor site for utilities, none were relevant
10. Plugged the drives into various SATA ports on my mobo (2+3)

Please, can anyone help or give me any ideas?

PS: Do you think putting the drive in an enclosure or adding a SATA to
IDE adapter would work if this is a driver issue?

 

[DL]

Since it works fine in safe mode it might tend to suggest a driver or
conflict issue.
Have you updated any drivers from winupdate?
If you use msconfig, disable all startups is it ok?
If with msconfig, you hide all MS services and disable the others is it ok?

 

[Guest]

Why restore BIOS to default,in default mode,in most cases the SATA or RAID
controller is disabled.Set BIOS for SATA,also,download the chipset and SATA
drivers from the mfg of them from the mfg web site.

 

[blacklotus90]

Ok, new development. So I have not changed anything, and I replug the
drive, and it works. Thing is, it only worked once. The next time I
started up the computer, changing nothing, the boot looped just like
usual. I checked the Maxtor site for firmware, and apparently my drive
model is not listed as those for who there is a firmware update due to
this kind of problem. I will attempt a system restore to an even
earlier point than last time sometime this week. My chipset drivers are
the current version.