Member Avatar for thejtothek

It seems that there is some setting that I need to do in order to have it be "seen" by XP Pro, but I don't know what it is. This 2nd HDD is one that I just removed as my primary, with a new one, so this one has data on it and so I really want to get it back, and then if it is bad, then I'll just throw it away, but I feel that it is still good and that the data is still there.

Any common, known reason why it would not see the 2nd HDD folks out there?

Thank you!!!

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Dani AI

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Building on what , and already suggested, here are a few practical checks and a safe short plan that most people miss when a formerly-working drive vanishes after being moved.

First, stop and listen. If the drive isn’t spinning (no vibration or spin-up sound) the BIOS won’t see it — that usually means a power or PCB problem, not Windows. Try a different Molex/SATA power lead or PSU connector and feel for a gentle vibration. If you hear clicking or grinding, power it off; repeated attempts can make recovery harder. [Seagate: BIOS does not detect drive]. (seagate.com)

If the drive does spin, isolate the variable: attach it to a different PC or use a simple USB‑to‑IDE/SATA adapter or dock so the drive appears as an external disk. That tells you whether the original motherboard/controller is the issue. If another machine reads it, copy everything off immediately to a healthy volume (don’t rely on the old drive). ’s “wiggle the cable” win is exactly this kind of luck — but don’t count on it. (rossmanngroup.com)

If Windows/Device Manager prompts you to “initialize” the disk, do not initialize or format — that will erase data. Instead make a sector image of the disk to another drive before trying repairs. For failing or intermittent disks, imaging tools that minimize retries (for example GNU ddrescue) are the correct first step; they let you rescue readable areas first and resume later. If you’re unsure how to image, stop and get help rather than running chkdsk or repeated fixes. [Microsoft: Initialize new disks] [GNU ddrescue manual]. (learn.microsoft.com)

One more hardware note: very old motherboards can’t see large drives past ~137 GB without 48‑bit LBA support; if the disk is large and the BIOS never lists it, check for that limitation and BIOS or controller updates before assuming failure. If the drive is mechanically dead or makes bad noises, professional recovery (cleanroom/firmware specialists) is the safe route — don’t open the platter stack or swap PCBs without proper ROM transfer. (learn.microsoft.com)

Summary action: (1) check spin/power, (2) try another PC or USB adapter and copy data if seen, (3) if intermittent/imageable — create an image (ddrescue) before further attempts, (4) if totally dead or noisy, stop and consult a recovery specialist.

Recommended Answers

All 16 Replies

Member Avatar for Tezdoll

Did you change the jumpers on the HD?

Member Avatar for WebDave

There might be a possibilty of interchanging the connectors as well. Please check the connection of your Datacable also.

Member Avatar for thejtothek

Yeah, the cable is connected properly and plugged in the correct place/way. What do you mean by the interchanging please? Thank you so much for your help!!!

Member Avatar for Tezdoll

I think he means that you have them in the correct order from the motherboard to the secondary drive then to the primary drive

Member Avatar for WebDave

Thanks for the explanation. Its almost a year now I'm off touch with the hardware issues.

Member Avatar for Tezdoll

Do you see the hard drive in your BIOS?

In windows go to control panel, administrative tools, computer management. on the left hand side go to storage, then disk management. Does your machine see it there?

Member Avatar for jukebox

i have bought an xp pro and put in my slave drive off my windows ME into it. 80GB IDE. i too have the same problem and it dose not show up on computer management storage. plus an DVD/WR

Member Avatar for Suspishio

Windows doesn't need to be told by anything other than the BIOS that there is another HDD.

What does the BIOS report on boot up?

Member Avatar for jukebox

how do i get to bios boot up

Member Avatar for Suspishio

Switch on and watch your screen at the very first stages of boot up. It'll tell you what to press to enter the BIOS and CMOS settings screen. It could be ESC, F1, DEL, F10.

Then you browse around to see what the BIOS has recognised. Then report.

Member Avatar for jukebox

bios dose not see the new hard drive. tryed all jumper settings and swaped ide ribbin round but to no avail. even arcoris true image dose not see it.

Member Avatar for Suspishio

To Jukebox: Then you have a hardware problem. Double check this by seeing whether or not the HDD is recognised as a slave in another PC. If it is, then your disk controller may be shot.

Member Avatar for jukebox

switched ribbins. used ribbin lead and master fron windowsMe (did not change jumpers). power on bios did not find it BUT!! it worked fine. put spare dvd/wr in middle (changed jumper to slave) powered on, bios found it and works fine. don't know how or why but i'm happy

Member Avatar for Suspishio

That happens too. When you wiggle connectors (e.g. when changing cables), better contact can be made etc.

Well done.

Member Avatar for Tezdoll

Windows doesn't need to be told by anything other than the BIOS that there is another HDD.

What does the BIOS report on boot up?

This is just trouble shooting. windows has its own "bios" that will detect hardware (sometimes) that the bios does not see. However, most machines if you can not see it in your bios then you can not see it in your O/S.

If you have no idea what the bios even reports then you may need to do a little reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

Member Avatar for Suspishio

This is just trouble shooting. windows has its own "bios" that will detect hardware (sometimes) that the bios does not see. However, most machines if you can not see it in your bios then you can not see it in your O/S.

If you have no idea what the bios even reports then you may need to do a little reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

This thread is dealing with the HDD - which the BIOS reports and hands over to Windows.

It looks to me in this case that there is either an IDE setting adrift (perhaps jumper on the motherboard - although I've not found one in this regard on motherboards I've dealt with ) or the IDE controller is faulty.

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