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BIOS doesn't recognize hard drive but Windows does
First post, long time reader. Hopefully someone can help me with the following:
I just recently got a hold of an older PC that I wanted to use for test purposes with Windows 7. The problem is that the BIOS on the PC does not recognize the Hard Drive. Upon startup I get the following message:
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