Troubleshoot New HD not recognized in Bios

[Rozesky2]

Briefly explain your current issue(s)

I bought a new wd laptop hd and the bios does not see it

Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful

I tried other hds

I was restarting a computer and when it booted up it said to put in a bootable disk. So I tried a 160 gig hd with xp on it and it found it.
But when I tried not 1 but 2 new 500 gig WD hd it does not see them in the bios.
This is a windows 7 home premium computer. I am not sure what to do to get the laptop to recognize the hds.

Also I put the 2 wd harddrive one at a time as a secondary hd in the desktop computer I had and it would not recognize them either

I am not sure how to fix this

 

[donetao]

Hi! What do you see in Disk Management? You may have to assign it a drive letter.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-add-remove-drive-letter#1TC=windows-7

 

[BIgD1]

Try different cables, but it's doubtful two cables would be bad. If they are the standard drive without sata connectors, you will have to change the bios settings for those drives to IDE instead of ACHI.

Those drives still won't show up in windows until you initialize the drives, and you can do that in administrative tools disk management. This is the best time to set the partitions sizes too if you choose to do so.

 

[Rozesky2]

the drives do not show up in the bios ...they are new unformatted drives. The original drive that was in the computer is doing the
same thing , I cannot assign them a drive because I never get window installed ...this is in a laptop and the setting is achi if that helps

But I can put an older hd 160 gig in the laptop and it is recognized and tries to boot from it... The original laptop drive and the 2 new unformatted drives are not recognized in the bios. I might also add they are not recognized as the secondary drive in a desktop I have. But the main issue is how do I get them to be recognized in the bios of the laptop to install windows 7

 

[illumination]

Try placing the new drive back in, and on another computer download Hirens or a similar bootable program with Gparted or any other 3rd party disk managers to a usb or disc to format the new drive with.

 

[donetao]

Hi I'm not sure I'm on board. Do you have a the installation W7 CD?? What make and model???
Are you trying to install W7 on a new HD??

 

[jamescv7]

Usually try to double check for any faulty wirings or try to eject and inserted again.

Or perhaps conflicting inserted drivers that may affect for not recognizing the HD.

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-691816-sata-hdd-not-detected-in-bios-but-sometimes-it-does

 

[donetao]

Hi! Here's where I am. If your laptop will not recognize your old original HD but does recognize a old HD with XP on it, then your old original HD with W 7may be toast. After that I'm lost as what you're trying to do with the three new HD's
Are you trying to install W7 on the new HD's???

 

[donetao]

To install Windows 7 on a computer without an operating system
To do this, you'll need to start, or boot, your computer using the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive.

1. Turn on your computer, insert the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive, and then shut down your computer.
   
   
2. Restart your computer.
   
   
3. Press any key when prompted, and then follow the instructions that appear.
   
   
4. On the Install Windows page, enter your language and other preferences, and then click Next .
   
   If the Install Windows page doesn't appear, and you're not asked to press any key, you might need to change some system settings. To learn how to do this, see Start your computer from a Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive .
   
   
5. On the Please read the license terms page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms , and then click Next .
   
   
6. On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom .
   
   
7. On the Where do you want to install Windows ? page, choose the partition that you want to install Windows 7 on, or click Unallocated Space if no partitions are listed, and then click Next .
   
   If a dialog box appears saying that Windows might create additional partitions for system files, or that the partition you chose might contain recovery files or other types of files from your computer manufacturer, click OK .
   
   
8. Follow the instructions to finish installing Windows 7 , which include naming your computer and setting up an initial user account.
   

 

[Rozesky2]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that but I have a win 7 installation disk and I thought I could just put in a new hard drive except it will not recogize it in the bios . I had thought the original hd was toast too but that does nor explain why it (the bios) will not recognize the new drives or why it does see the old hd with xp onit
Btw I have put win 7 on a hd many times so I am ok doing that

 

[donetao]

Hi! The only thing I have left is the mother board is toasted. You should be able to install W7 on a new HD with the W7 CD.
I don't know why it see's the HD with XP on it. Why are you trying to see if a old HD with XP on it will boot?? What OS did the lap top have on it before you had you're problems??

 

[BIgD1]

The only thing I can think of to do is reset the bios to default settings and save it. After the bios is reset to defaults, then let it boot to whatever, and then power the computer down, and then start it back up.

If that does not work then it could be a compatibility problem with those new drives and the motherboard. You could also check to see of there is a bios update for the motherboard.

 

[iTrendsNET]

First, please advise the make and model of the laptop. If I understand things correctly, the laptop was in somewhat regular use. And then one day the laptop shows an error "insert a bootable drive"? If the bios was not corrupted or changed by someone, then it sounds like the original hard drive may have failed, which would seem to make sense considering the bootable drive error error you mentioned.

With regard to the 2 new WD 500G drives, are the pins exactly the same style as on the orignal hard drive from the laptop? If yes, are you making sure none are bent and that the new drive is "seating" correctly? The fact that the old 160G drive with XP on it "tries to boot" makes me wonder if the new WD drives are not the correct type for your laptop.

Next, you mention the 2 new WD drives when placed as secondary drives in a desktop machine are also not recognized. Since this trial involves adding laptop drives to a desktop computer, are you using the correct cable adapters for both the power and cable connections?

 

[jim lin]

as illumination suggested I would try to boot from some kind of boot cd like a linux OS with Gparted on it and see
if it can see it

if you can see the new Hard Drives from a Boot cd then you can initialize the drives from there format
them and see if the Bios will see them then

sometimes Windows own Disk Manager is not the best to use



James

 

[Rozesky2]

The original drive is win 7
I am just not sure what to do when a computer will not even see the hd in the bios and the hd is new. So I tried a second new and it does the same thing

 

[iTrendsNET]

Please review my above comments and advise.

 

[donetao]

Hi ! Have you tried to set the BIOS to default as was suggested by @BIgD1 ???
Also please reply to @iTrendsNET
PS I hope I'm not stepping on anyone. Just trying to get all these suggestions coordinated.
All are very good. I call it a team MT effort!

 

[Rozesky2]

The laptop is a toshiba satelite l650 I think. All the hds are sata hds and the cables seem to work fine in the desktop I was checking them in. Even though the desktop would not see the new 500 g wd drives it also recognized the old 160 g hd with win xp on it

I also wonder about the hd being the corrrect ones but arent all sata drives inter chageable? I will try with hirrms boot disk in the morning
And I will reset the bios to default then too
The help is great.

 

[donetao]

Hi Are you trying to mix Desktop HD's with Lap top HD's??

 

[Rozesky2]

Great team effort yes