Member Avatar for Jackdor

I have removed the secondary hard disc from my computer because it was faulty. At the present I do not wish to replace it as I have sufficient storage on my primary C drive. However when I start up I get the message "Secondary Master Hard Disc Fail" and the screen pauses, After a couple of minutes I get the "Press F key to proceed "message. The computer then boots up to Desk Top and everything then works OK.
I have tried to remove this message by going to the Hard Disc Control Panel and choosing to delete the secodary drive. However the panel contains a message "This device is part of a multifunction parent. This will also remove any other devices that are part of this multifunction"

Question: Can I go ahead and delete without causing any problem with my
C drive? or is there a more correct way to remove the problem.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Thong_Ispector

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and safe plan (for , following 's suggestion)

The "Secondary Master Hard Disc Fail" message is coming from the BIOS during POST, not from Windows. It appears because the BIOS is trying to detect a drive on the secondary IDE channel and timing out. Deleting a device from the Windows Hard Disk control app is dangerous here because the missing drive entry is a child of the IDE/controller device (the "multifunction parent"). Removing that parent can remove the controller driver and make the system unable to see the working C: drive.

Practical, low-risk steps

  • Power down and unplug the PC. Open the case and confirm physical connections. Most 40/80‑conductor IDE cables use three connectors: blue -> motherboard, black -> cable end (master), grey -> middle (slave). Make sure the working drive is on the master connector of its cable and its jumpers are set correctly.
  • If the cable for the now-removed drive is still attached to the motherboard, unplug that cable (or at least its drive-end connector) so the BIOS won't try to probe an empty connector.
  • If you prefer BIOS changes: enter the BIOS setup (key shown on boot) and look under names such as "Integrated Peripherals", "IDE Configuration" or "Standard CMOS". Disable or set the secondary IDE channel to "None"/"Not Installed" (wording varies by BIOS). Save and exit.
  • Do not uninstall the IDE/controller device from Windows unless you know the specific disk entry and are prepared with a data backup. If you must clean up Windows entries, use Device Manager and remove only the non-present disk device entries — never remove the IDE controller unless you will reinstall drivers and have a backup.

Troubleshooting notes

  • If disabling the secondary channel would disable your boot drive (if C: is actually on the secondary channel), first move the working drive to the primary/master connector or correct the jumpers.
  • If the BIOS lacks per-channel options, physically removing the unused cable is the simplest fix.
  • Back up important data before changing controller drivers or BIOS settings. If unsure, consult the motherboard manual for exact BIOS menu names and jumper/cable pinouts.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

You need to remove the drive from your cmos/bios setup...

Sorry I didnt see your post sooner...
Hope you got it fixed by now'

Member Avatar for Jackdor

Thanks for your advice. Are you able to give step by step preceedure to remove drive from my cmos/bios. Thanks, jackdor

Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

All bios are a little different so I can only give you general instructions.

Usually you would enter the setup by pressing the delete key when you power up and see the memory test. DOnt hold the key just keep tapping it.

Some systems require hitting the F1 or the F2 or F10 ...
Some require tab to see the visual dispalay then the other keys...

Once in cmos/bios setup the first screen usually has master and slave for both primary and secondary IDE ....

Usually you just follow the on screen instructions (Arrow keys or tab) to highlight the drive in question then usually the page down or page up key to change the value. You want to set the drive type to Auto or None...

Save settings on exit and you should be fine.

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