A hard disk could not be found

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  1. benbamboo
    Posts : 3
    Windows 7
       New #1

    A hard disk could not be found


    Hello there,

    I have a relatively new PC with Windows 7 on. All has been running smoothly until last Saturday when it failed to boot. There had been no issues when it was shut down or any warning signs. We used the PC on Friday evening and it was fine. On start up I got the message

    "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press any key"

    I'm no computer expert so here are the simple steps I have taken so far to check what the problem is.

    1) Entered BIOS, changed boot priority to boot from hard drive first - same problem
    2) Inserted Windows 7 disk and ran the repair option from it - Root cause came back as "A hard disk could not be found. If a hard disk is installed, it is not responding"
    3) Opened tower, checked all connections, gave it a thorough clean - same problem
    4) Changed lead connecting HDD to motherboard in case it was a problem with that (hopeful thinking) - same problem.

    I am now out of options that my limited PC knowledge allows me to explore. I think the problem lies either with my motherboard or, hopefully, my HDD. Does anyone have any experience of this problem and know of a fix? My guess is that I need to buy a new HDD which wouldn't be too bad, but I don't want to spend that money if either the problem is fixable or lies elsewhere.

    Regards

    Ben
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  3. Jonathan_King
    Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       New #2

    Hello,

    Can you tell if the drive is recognized in the BIOS?

    Also try manually booting from the disk. Open the popup menu, usually by pressing F12 or F11 during the POST.
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  4. ignatzatsonic
    Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       New #3

    Can you temporarily connect the drive to another PC to see if it is recognized there?

    If you can connect it to another PC, go to the drive manufacturer's web site and download drive diagnostic tools and run them on the drive.
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  6. mcknny
    Posts : 1
    windows 7
       New #4

    i am having the same problem and the drive is recognized in the BIOS. if someone can please tell me what to do that would be great
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  7. Jonathan_King
    Posts : 13,354
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       New #5

    mcknny said:
    i am having the same problem and the drive is recognized in the BIOS. if someone can please tell me what to do that would be great
    Welcome!

    Boot up the repair disc or installation DVD, and open a command prompt. Enter the following:
    Code:
    diskpart

list disk
    Is your drive displayed?

    If so, enter the following:
    Code:
    exit

chkdsk /r
    See if that helps.
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  8. Elwoodch
    Posts : 85
    Win7 pro 64
       New #6

    did you connect in the meantime any new USB device? If yes, remove it and try again. I had exactly this problem after having connected permanently a USB drive. Then I removed it and it was fine back again... never understood really the problem.
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  10. usafutbol
    Posts : 2
    windows 7
       New #7

    I am having the same problem. First my screen had no signal so to figure out what it was I tried resetting my CMOS, then I replaced my video card. The video card fixed it but instead of booting up windows it gave me "Nvidia Boot Agent" and kept searching for a disk. So I went to BIOS and set hd as first and eventually the boot order, no avail. Jonathan_King I did what you said but my disk was not listed.


    forgot to add that the hard drive doesn't show up in BIOS. does this mean my hard drive is dead?
    Last edited by usafutbol; 10 Aug 2010 at 13:38. Reason: forgot
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  11. DocBrown
    Posts : 9,606
    Win7 Enterprise, Win7 x86 (Ult 7600), Win7 x64 Ult 7600, TechNet RTM on AMD x64 (2.8Ghz)
       New #8

    usafutbol said:
    I am having the same problem. First my screen had no signal so to figure out what it was I tried resetting my CMOS, then I replaced my video card. The video card fixed it but instead of booting up windows it gave me "Nvidia Boot Agent" and kept searching for a disk. So I went to BIOS and set hd as first and eventually the boot order, no avail. Jonathan_King I did what you said but my disk was not listed.


    forgot to add that the hard drive doesn't show up in BIOS. does this mean my hard drive is dead?

    Welcome usafutbol


    Double check your HD connections (power & data cables) on the drive & the MB
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  12. usafutbol
    Posts : 2
    windows 7
       New #9

    ..... so I'm not stupid I promise... the power cable on the hd wasn't all the way in. must have knocked it out while messing with the cards. Thanks for the humbling reminder DocBrown, I had checked the sata cables earlier but not the power. Good luck Benbamboo
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  13. wobblyas
    Posts : 2
    Windows 7
       New #10

    Power outage and now windows machine will not reboot.

    PC tries to reboot into windows but fails

    I got an error message at one stage when trying to reboot advising that ASUS surge protection had operated.


    Start up repair from DVD identifies root cause as " a hard disck could not be found, If a hard disk is installed it is not responding"

    What next?

    Suggestions please (go easy on me my technical knowledge on Windows rates as just 2 out of 10)
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