Member Avatar for MonkeyMan83

Hello there.

I recently upgraded my pc ( find spec below).

I pulled out the hard drives from my old pc and put them in the new one. i reinstalled XP and booted. i am running a 500GB 32mb SATA and a 1TB SATA .

Windows is installed on the 500 GB Drive

The Bios picks up the both drives but takes a good 60 seconds to load then windows loads up (After a good 60 seconds or so... alot slower then i thought).

When i finally get into XP i open my computer to see that only the 500gb hard drive is detected. I opened Device manager to try and detect the 1tb drive, after a few trys the device manager picks it up.

BUT

when i go into Disk manager the drive is no where to be seen...

Can someone please help me as i have alot on this drive that i dont want to loose ( the HDD Is 2 weeks old)

Thanks

PC SPECS

AMD Quadcore Phenom 2.4 GHZ 9750
Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 DDR2 MB
Corsair 4GB-PC6400
Cooler MAster 700w Real Power Module
Windows XP Sp3
500 GB SATA 32mb
1TB SATA

Thanks again

Monkey Man :P

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Dani AI

Generated

Useful follow-up and a few practical checks for anyone who sees an intermittently-detected drive or long boots when extra drives are attached. The symptoms often point to power distribution or connection problems, but software/driver and BIOS settings can also play a role.

  • Power and cabling: try different SATA power connectors from the PSU instead of multiple drives on one cable or adapter. Poor connectors or voltage drop during drive spin-up can make a drive intermittently disappear.
  • Quick verification: connect the suspect drive to a powered USB/SATA dock or another PC to confirm the disk itself is healthy before attempting repairs.
  • Windows checks (safe, non-destructive): run diskmgmt.msc as Administrator and diskpart → list disk; use the rescan option. Do not initialize or format a disk if it contains important data.
  • Diagnostics: run the drive maker’s diagnostic tool or smartctl -a /dev/sdX (Linux) to read SMART and reversible errors. If SMART shows problems, image the drive first.
  • BIOS/driver side: ensure SATA mode (IDE/AHCI) and onboard controller drivers match the OS. Older OS installs may need specific SATA drivers to behave reliably.
  • PSU health: if multiple drives cause issues, swap to another PSU or use separate modular cables to spread the spin-up load; check for warm or deformed connectors.

If important data is on the drive, avoid writes. Create a sector image (read-only) before further attempts or consult a professional recovery service. Thanks to for confirming a power-distribution fix — it’s a common, easily overlooked cause.

Member Avatar for MonkeyMan83

Well i solved my own problem lol

Turns out that the 700w module power supply that i was using isnt cabable of running more then 2 drives off the one cable so all i did was insert another power cable(sorry dont know avutal name) and the problem was solved..

There u go learn something new every day :)

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