14 Feb
2006
14 Feb
'06
8:24 a.m.
Just to confirm. I had the same issue with a old Western Digital 8 gig drive that was on it's last legs. Every now and then it would fail to respond to the computer, and the computer therefore thought the drive didn't exist. By the symptoms you describe (computer trying other boot options), this is what's happening here.
I suggest a full backup and the drive gets replaced asap. It's only downhill from here, sadly.