IDE hard drive not recognized

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  1. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
       #1

    IDE hard drive not recognized


    I was posting in another thread and realized I shouldn't hijack his/her thread. I also tried looking around the forums for a resolution to my problem and either 1) can't find it or 2) probably didn't look hard enough.

    Before I get into the problem, here's my HD configuration:

    1 x 500GB SATA HD (2 partitions) -- Master Drive -- Windows 7 Pro 64-bit installed in one of the partitions (150GB partition)
    1 x 250GB IDE HD (no partitions) -- Slave Drive -- just for file dump.

    Here's my problem:

    I installed Windows 7 Pro 64-bit on one of the partitions of the SATA HD. It works great and recognizes both partitions of this drive. However, I cannot "see" my IDE HD. I went through to disk management and I can see the drive there with no drive letter. I tried to assign it a drive letter via right clicking, but all options were grayed out (meaning, not clickable). I read other posts but they either have the same solution (assigning drive letter) or the problem is slightly different from mine. I've had this HD configuration before and had Windows XP Pro 64-bit on it too.

    Anyways, I'm not sure what to do and I don't want to delete the files on that HD. Anyone have a solution to this problem? Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I should also add that the two partitions have drive letters of C: and D: (Windows installed on C: ). Also, I'm not dual-booting (as I see that question being asked in other threads).
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #3

    Wait... you say that your IDE drive has no partitions? If so, that would explain everything. You cannot give a drive a letter; you can give a volume a letter. If you really have no partitions on it, the first step is to create a volume on it.

    Assuming you were correct in saying that the drive has no partitions, it means that somehow any previous partitions were deleted. You can try using Diskdigger to recover any data.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Jonathan King said:
    Wait... you say that your IDE drive has no partitions? If so, that would explain everything. You cannot give a drive a letter; you can give a volume a letter. If you really have no partitions on it, the first step is to create a volume on it.
    To be honest, I'm not sure if it has a partition or not. It worked in Windows XP Pro as a slave drive. I didn't change anything to the IDE HD when I was installing Windows 7. Should I have?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #5

    TyMyShew said:
    To be honest, I'm not sure if it has a partition or not. It worked in Windows XP Pro as a slave drive. I didn't change anything to the IDE HD when I was installing Windows 7. Should I have?
    Okay, let's try this

    open diskpart (press Win+R and type diskpart)
    once it has opened, type "list disk" without quotes
    find the IDE disk
    type "select disk [n]" n is whatever number your drive is, do not type the brackets
    type "list partition" no quotes

    See what the results are.

    And no, you did not need to change the disk any when you installed Windows.
    Last edited by Jonathan_King; 27 Oct 2009 at 13:34.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Jonathan King: I did the diskpart thing and the drive does show up. After typing the "list partition" this is what I see:

    IDE hard drive not recognized-diskpart.jpg

    I'm not sure what to do after that. I actually see the IDE drive in disk drive (right-click Computer > properties > Device Manager > Disk Drives.)

    I've also attached two pictures of disk management window (where I described, earlier, about seeing the drive but unable to assign a drive letter, or do anything, to the drive).

    IDE hard drive not recognized-diskmgmt.jpg

    IDE hard drive not recognized-diskmgmt2.jpg


    (Disk 0 is the IDE one).

    I'm at a lost of what to do now :P
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #7

    try right clicking on the volume, not the drive. Just an idea.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 867
    XP, Vista, W7 64bit Home Premium
       #8

    Firstly try this, and do the below if this doesnt work or check in any case -
    right clicked the drive, go to properties, go to security then change the owner to you.

    2nd hard drive issue, how do u take ownership???

    Go into your bios and see what you have enabled under sata configuration - choices are IDE , Raid or AHCI. If you have AHCI enabled or Raid even (but less likely though - if this is enabled AHCI is also enabled, and you have the option to use a Raid configuration if you ever decide to you want to set it up) W7 will load the driver for it during installation, but for it to function correctly you need to download the Intel Matrix Storage Manager from the intel site.

    You will find it at the intel site - http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx
    Select chipsets - chipset software - intel(R) matrix storage manager - Select Operating System - select W7RC1 (64bit OR 32 bit) - select drivers - select intel(R) matrix storage manager 8.9.0.1023 - download and install.
    (make sure you don't download the floppy configuration utility by mistake) - it will show up if you select utilities.
    Last edited by whest; 28 Oct 2009 at 09:04.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    whest said:
    Firstly try this, and do the below if this doesnt work or check in any case -
    right clicked the drive, go to properties, go to security then change the owner to you.

    2nd hard drive issue, how do u take ownership???
    Sorry, where am I right-clicking (I know you said drive...but in Disk Management? Disk Drive section? Because I can't "see" the drive in Computer.)

    I went to the site and looks like the intel matrix storage manager supports SATA...but doesn't mention anything about IDE. Does it support IDE? (I haven't checked my bios yet because I'm away from the computer at the moment but thought I might ask about the driver you're asking me to download).
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 867
    XP, Vista, W7 64bit Home Premium
       #10

    If its enabled in the bios yes you should install it - as the driver will aready be installed by W7 during installation - the matrix software updates that driver if there is a later version, and adds the extra functionality.

    The same here I couldnt find anything there about IDE support, but you would think it would support the other drive - on the other hand the only other choice is to set the bios to IDE, ie if it isnt that already, however, you will have to reinstall W7 - you might find a fix on the internet but by the time you have found it you might of reinstalled the OS 3 times - because W7 wont boot up if you change it from AHCI to IDE. This would be a last resort and I cannot guarantee it would work.
    Last edited by whest; 28 Oct 2009 at 18:38.
      My Computer


 
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