BIOS doesn't recognize hard drive but Windows does

windowsguy said:

First post, long time reader. Hopefully someone can help me with the following:


Primary hard disk drive 0 not found
Primary hard disk drive 1 not found
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility

Now get this, although the BIOS does not recognize the hard drive, Windows 7 and XP recognize it just fine (displays the correct size and everything). I have never seen or heard of this happening before. Usually it's the opposite (i.e. BIOS recognizes the drive but not Windows).

Windows 7 displays the following error link under the "Where do you want to install Windows?" dialogue box:

Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 1. (Show details)

Upon clicking on the error link I get a pop-up window with the following message:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu.

Details on the computer:
Dell Dimension 8200
Pentium 4 Processor
512 MB RAM
80GB Western Digital

Also to note: the hard drive is in good working condition as I tested it in another PC. The only thing that I can think of at this time is the mobo. However, everything else works on the mobo (i.e. floppy drive, both DVD drives, USB ports).

Thanks in advance for any help. I can also provide more detail if need be.

JT

first question. what size of HDD is supported by your BIOS..

2nd question are they SATA drives ... then you have use F6 and install SATA Drivers for the SATA HDDs.

Snuffy said:

first question. what size of HDD is supported by your BIOS..

2nd question are they SATA drives ... then you have use F6 and install SATA Drivers for the SATA HDDs.

1. I believe it can handle about 120GB. I just found this by doing a simple Bing search, so I could be wrong. I know it can handle at least 80GB as that's what originally came with the PC (when it was first purchased in 2002).

2. The drive is not SATA.

I actually just figured out the issue a little while ago. It was the jumper (I believe that's what it's called) was misplaced. Now it works fine, i.e. BIOS and Windows both recognize it.

I appreciate the help!

So, I am having the same issue as the OP, but mine is on a Dell. I wanted to put in a bigger hard drive, so I did, and Windows sees it fine and it works. So, I shut down, disconnected the Dell HD with XP, set the new one as cable select and master, booted from DVD, and .... no hard drive found to install Windows. The ONLY way this thing will see the new HD, is if I have it as a slave to the original that was in there. Any ideas?

set the new one as cable select and master

One or the other, not both.

good catch stormy13

also consider that some hard drives don't want a jumper at all if they are the only drive on an IDE cable. Refer to the instructions that came with the drive.

stormy13 said:

One or the other, not both.

Re-checked the jumper, turns out I had it one slot over and wrong. Now, it is set as cable select, with the master cable (black) plugged in. I removed the old HD, left this new one in, and started. Either trying to boot from DVD, or from the HD, I now get a "NTLDR is missing, plress CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart" error.

sup3rsprt said:

good catch stormy13

also consider that some hard drives don't want a jumper at all if they are the only drive on an IDE cable. Refer to the instructions that came with the drive.

According to the online instructions for this from the mfg, the only time it does not want a jumper is when it is a slave.

BigFellor said:

Re-checked the jumper, turns out I had it one slot over and wrong. Now, it is set as cable select, with the master cable (black) plugged in. I removed the old HD, left this new one in, and started. Either trying to boot from DVD, or from the HD, I now get a "NTLDR is missing, plress CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart" error.

when you moved the jumper you changed the position where NTLDR (nec to boot) is. You could change the jumpers so that the drive that has ntldr is primary, and the other slave.

Or you could use bcedit to change the boot loader. Jumpers are easier.

Hope this helps

Ken

There is no slave. and NTLDR may be gone now since he removed the drive that had it.

BigFellor said:

I removed the old HD, left this new one in, and started.

BigFellor what is it you're trying to do again? You want to use Windows 7 or Windows XP? I'm confused.

Wanting to use Win 7. Nevermind, got it to work. I was able to boot to the DVD, and it found the HD just fine. Created a new partition, and good to go. Thanks

Great job. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. :)