2nd hard drive install


  1. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    2nd hard drive install


    I'm new here and I'm not sure if this is where this post is supposed to go. I've scoured the internet for an answer and no havne't found it yet.

    I have two hard drives from scraped out vista laptops. I am trying to install one of them into my laptop as a second, but for some reason windows 7 doesn't see either of them at all, anywhere (device manager or disk manager). They are both seen in bios and when I boot to ubuntu.
    These where the primary drives from both vista computers I am not sure if the perhaps vista has a different file structure than 7 but it has me stumped to no end.

    BTW I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 and both came from 32 bit vista.

    Thanks
      My Computer

  2.    #2

    How are you connecting these HD's?

    Do they show up in BIOS where HD's register? What are the settings there?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    These are both sata drives and connect directly to the MB of my laptop. They are both seen in bios and I can access them through Ubuntu (Linux) but not windows.

    In bios there is no real settings for them, you can only enable, disable and set boot priority. I've tried swapping priority to see what happens and it just defaults to main HD. Also as I stated earlier these were both from vista machines and still have vista and files I need on them. I don't know if having vista installed on these HD's is the problem, but I don't really see why it would matter as a secondary HD.

    Thanks
      My Computer

  4.    #4

    Is your SATA controller set to AHCI in BIOS on the laptop?

    Try unplugging all but the Vista drives then setting SATA controller to IDE to see if the drives are read, as it is possible the Vista machine was running in IDE mode, or vice versa.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Yes it is set to ACHI, but it is not possible to change to IDE in my bios. I don't think it is a configuration problem, because Linux detects and can access the files on that hard drive.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #6
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    I got it figured out. Gregrocker was correct, my bios didn't offer a toggle for sata or IDE, it had sata on/off which then defaulted to IDE. After I switched that it became visible in windows, which has led to a whole new slew of problems with folders and permissions, but those I can handle.

    Thanks everyone for your help in this matter.
      My Computer

  8.    #8

    Install and use this from right click context menu to take ownership of any uncooperative files: Take Ownership Shortcut
      My Computer


 

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