Help Troubleshoot failed HDD?

[DukeComposed]

I ticked the checkboxes on that docs.xfce as described...

I'm afraid that doesn't really narrow it down. There are a lot of checkboxes. Try putting a disc in the drive and seeing if Thunar detects it. Then try booting the system from a USB and checking to see if it appears in Thunar in the live session. This will at least tell you if it's a systemic problem or not.