Hmm, I typed up an answer for your question, but a lot of it no longer pertains. Oh well, gonna post it anyway, cause some of it might help.
Not sure I can help; but I can try. Questions : What OS are you running ? It makes a difference, because there are some bios setings which only work with Vista and maybe Win 7; but NOT XP. Also have you checked your bios settings ? Some boards have the "De Faults" setup for Vista, and you have to change certain SATA settings for XP. If your mobo battery is dying it will go to the "De Faults". Nother question is are you using this thing for a "Boot Drive" or just for storage ? I suspect it is the latter since your machine will boot with the drive disconnected you said.
1) If running XP Set "SATA AHCI MODE" to "Disabled" because that setting is for advanced SATA features which XP does NOT support.
2) If running XP Set "SATA Port 0-1 Native Mode" to "Enabled" because that is what works for XP.
3) Also set "Limit CPUID Max To 3" to "Disabled" because that function is for older OSs like Win NT4
4) I also Set "HPET Support" to "Disabled" because I don't think XP supports that, though I could be wrong there.
5) Check your Boot Drive priority settings, and if this SATA drive is being used just for storage, make sure that it is not at the top of the priority list, or you will windup trying to boot into a drive with no OS on it.
6) Some mobos require that you "Clear the Bios" whenever there is a hardware change of any sort. If as you said, you disconnected this drive then reconnected it, that constitutes a "Hardware Change".
Might add that I seem to be seeing a lot of posts at this site where people are having HDD failures. Funny that, because there are all kinds of GEEKs out there who go to any length to get their CPUs and Video Cards to run "Cooler", but nobody seems to give a hoot about HDD temps. Me, I burned my fingers reaching into an open case a few years ago, then checked to see what the heck was running so hot. Turned out to be a pair of WD 40 Gig drives running at 77 degrees Celcius. Ever since then I have made it a point to build custom made, (because commercially available cases DON'T HAVE THEM), "Ducted Fan HDD Coolers" wherein air is taken from inside the case, sucked across the HDDs, then blown OUT of the case by way of a "Duct"; thereby insuring that :
1) The air used to cool the HDDs, only EVER gets used ONCE for that purpose, before being exhausted from the case, so one doesn't have "Prewarmed Air" being used to cool the HDDs.
2) All heat from the HDDs get removed from the case, and doesn't get dumped inside to "Warmup" other components.
3) If you think about it, when you "Cook" a processor or "Video Card" all you have to do is replace it, and you are back where you started; - BUT if you "Cook" an HDD, you have lost a heck of a lot of DATA, and it's not so easy to get back where you started.