Can't get Windows 7 to find my 2nd hard drive

[sortoffaerygirl]

I just installed Windows 7 today, and while everything else has gone smooth, I can't get it to find my 2nd internal hard drive. It has no problem finding my externals and my dvd burners, and I have read through the forums and went to the Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management, only to find that the hard drive wasn't there. It is showing my primary drive and the two externals, but not the second internal drive. I went into the BIOS to see if it was being detected there, but to be honest, I'm not familiar enough with the BIOS to fool around with it.

Any suggestions? And yes, the 2nd internal hard drive was there on Vista before I installed Win7... I just have no clue as to why it can't access it now. Also, yes, I have already checked all of the cables. Everything works fine and was working fine until I installed 7.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to the Seven Forums! sortoffaerygirl

Your problem reminds of what was happening on the last custom case here where one storage kept disappearing while known to be in top working order. The solution was examination of the sata data cable found only slightly lfted up in the port at the board end of it.

The drive was seen in the bios post screen but not even in the Disk Management when it vanished and then returned until going over things like that assuming it could have been a cable gone bad. Sometimes a little dust or dirt will get in there over time from the warm up and cooling off along with the need to clean things up with a can of air cleaner.

First make sure both ends are all the way in. If nothing try another cable to see that's all it is. Generally unless a drive fails completely it's always some little thing like that.

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Welcome to the Seven Forums! sortoffaerygirl

Your problem reminds of what was happening on the last custom case here where one storage kept disappearing while known to be in top working order. The solution was examination of the sata data cable found only slightly lfted up in the port at the board end of it.

The drive was seen in the bios post screen but not even in the Disk Management when it vanished and then returned until going over things like that assuming it could have been a cable gone bad. Sometimes a little dust or dirt will get in there over time from the warm up and cooling off along with the need to clean things up with a can of air cleaner.

First make sure both ends are all the way in. If nothing try another cable to see that's all it is. Generally unless a drive fails completely it's always some little thing like that.

Thanks for the response, but as I have already said: I checked the cables. Which means, I have already checked to make sure they were in place, I have swapped them out, cables are not the problem.

Also I have taken the drive out and tested it: it works. The data is there. I worked my way through the BIOS since I made the post and the drive isn't showing up.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Hard drives can connect to more than 1 port on the motherboard.

Have you tried connecting the drive to another port?

I assume you have changed both the power and data cables?

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Hard drives can connect to more than 1 port on the motherboard.

Have you tried connecting the drive to another port?

I assume you have changed both the power and data cables?

Yes, I have done all of that. No dice. Again, this morning it was working with Vista just fine. It works when I take it out and put it in an enclosure. It is not being picked up by the BIOS or by Windows 7 now, for what reason, I cannot understand, but it is not a problem with the hardware. What do I need to do either in the BIOS or in Windows 7 to fix this?

Thanks for the response.

 

[Night Hawk]

With everything checked surprizingly a second look never hurts since everything was in working here too when seeing this same problem only with an internal drive.

The next thing of course for a usb external would be try plugging it into a different usb port in case that one is having a problem. Sometimes the simple change to another port while the first is still good forces Windows to perform a fresh detection of an external drive or device like a flash drive, usb keyboard, or some other external item.

Once Windows has properly detected it again you will want to take another trip into the DM to see it initialize the drive by assigning a drive letter. Then you can verify it took when opening up any explorer window and seeing it appear with that same letter used.

You would do this by first shutting down entirely and unplugging the drive for then starting up normally without it plugged in. Once everything is loaded up you then plug it back in and wait for the new hardware found notification before entering the DM for the next look and providing a drive letter.

Was the drive left with the factory Fat 32 colume on it and simply used or did you reformat it to NTFS at some point? In Vista most drives would need the software installer in order to see the previous version see the Fat volume external drives and even flash drives come with. For 7 simply getting Windows to first detect the drive fresh due to now having Fat support return along with new support for exFat 7 will automatically assign the next available drive letter usually on it's own unless you need to encourage it a little in the DM.

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

With everything checked surprizingly a second look never hurts since everything was in working here too when seeing this same problem only with an internal drive.

Um... my problem is with an internal drive... there is no USB port to check... and I'm very confused by your response because you say that the problem you described was same the problem only with an internal drive... but it's not the same problem...

The problem you mentioned was the drive showing on the BIOS and not in DM. Here, the drive is showing in neither place.

And again, I say it's the "2nd internal hard drive" at least twice in the post... why are you confusing this with an external? That is just confusing me!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Night Hawk]

Cross circuit at this end. sorry! But that can come up on you too since you have external as well as the extra internal drive. For the internal drive situation you would still shut down and then start back once you unplugged that one allowing Windows to load without it being present.

Once loaded fully you then shutdown a second time only to plug it back in and see if Windows will then properly detect as a new drive and install it for you. It seems something may be off in the Windows install itself or simply didn't see a full detection of everything like it should have when you first went to install 7.

If everything is performing normally that can help rule out a bad install of Windows but you may want to run the system file checker tool just the same. Simply type "sfc .scannow" in at the Run command line to get that going for it's quick verification and even repair of any main system files needing it.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It works when I take it out and put it in an enclosure.

Do you mean that it works under Windows 7 in an enclosure connected to the very same PC?

I was going to suggest making sure you have fully updated Windows 7, but that may not apply if you know that the drive is seen and works fine under Windows 7---but only in an enclosure.

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

It works when I take it out and put it in an enclosure.

Do you mean that it works under Windows 7 in an enclosure connected to the very same PC?

I was going to suggest making sure you have fully updated Windows 7, but that may not apply if you know that the drive is seen and works fine under Windows 7---but only in an enclosure.

Yes that's what I mean. It works in an enclosure on all three of my computers. When I put it back in and plug it is, the BIOS doesn't see it, DM doesn't see it, in fact if it weren't for the fact that I have a see through case and can see it there and plugged in, no one would be able to see it!

And yes, I am fully updated... after installing windows 7, that was the first thing I did.

So it's not a hardware problem... now does anyone know how I go into the BIOS and fix this?

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Cross circuit at this end. sorry! But that can come up on you too since you have external as well as the extra internal drive. For the internal drive situation you would still shut down and then start back once you unplugged that one allowing Windows to load without it being present.

Once loaded fully you then shutdown a second time only to plug it back in and see if Windows will then properly detect as a new drive and install it for you. It seems something may be off in the Windows install itself or simply didn't see a full detection of everything like it should have when you first went to install 7.

If everything is performing normally that can help rule out a bad install of Windows but you may want to run the system file checker tool just the same. Simply type "sfc .scannow" in at the Run command line to get that going for it's quick verification and even repair of any main system files needing it.

Yeah, I had already done all of that before I made this post initially. I need to know how to make the BIOS find the drive.

 

[xarden]

Try another troubleshooter: Power down. Disconnect the sata cable at drive end, then reconnect it into your primary drive. Power up again.
If it doesnt boot into windows, then we can confirm that the sata port itself is naffed, and probably requires a good clean.

Also, could you fill in your system specs so we know what gear your using.
In particular, what is your motherboard?

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Try another troubleshooter: Power down. Disconnect the sata cable at drive end, then reconnect it into your primary drive. Power up again.
If it doesnt boot into windows, then we can confirm that the sata port itself is naffed, and probably requires a good clean.

Also, could you fill in your system specs so we know what gear your using.
In particular, what is your motherboard?

That was part of testing the cables. So, no, it didn't help. I appreciate the help, but I keep saying I already tested these things; I said it in post one.

The motherboard is an ASUS P5Q... but again, that doesn't make sense because yesterday morning, while I was still running Vista, everything was fine; after I installed 7, 2nd hard drive disappears, and that makes no sense because the motherboard should be unaffected by the install and that is where the BIOS information is.

So to repeat: On Vista yesterday, everything is fine and 100% a-ok. I install win7 while making ZERO physical changes to the tower, 2nd internal hard drive is not found. All of the cables and ports check out and work. The hard drive has been pulled out, tested and found to be in perfect working order. The computer has been started with and without the 2nd hard drive in it, and with the first hard drive hooked up to its cables and in its port. All of this was done, before I made the first post.

 

[Night Hawk]

Something made the second drive inactive or hidden for some reason. It still should be seen in the bios regardless if the drive is working and plugged in correctly.

Don't hesitate to double check cables just the same since they can fool you at times especially if they have loose contacts or the port or drive end is seeing a bit of play where the end lifts up or eases out a little unnoticed when moving the case around to get in and out of it.

The bios part is strictly cable or drive related when not showing there. The vanishing drive originally came in en external enclosure and was simply installed for internal use when finding this. Not being seen in the bios however can be the power connector as well as the ends of the data cable being loose.

With all this done have you booted back into Vista since the drive was reinstalled to see if it still shows? If so you may have seen a bad install of 7 being another likely cause to consider. 7 generally spots any changes on the spot having multiple drives in use here.

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Something made the second drive inactive or hidden for some reason. It still should be seen in the bios regardless if the drive is working and plugged in correctly.

Don't hesitate to double check cables just the same since they can fool you at times especially if they have loose contacts or the port or drive end is seeing a bit of play where the end lifts up or eases out a little unnoticed when moving the case around to get in and out of it.

The bios part is strictly cable or drive related when not showing there. The vanishing drive originally came in en external enclosure and was simply installed for internal use when finding this. Not being seen in the bios however can be the power connector as well as the ends of the data cable being loose.

With all this done have you booted back into Vista since the drive was reinstalled to see if it still shows? If so you may have seen a bad install of 7 being another likely cause to consider. 7 generally spots any changes on the spot having multiple drives in use here.

No, no, no. The vanishing drive has nothing to do with an external enclosure, and no the cables aren't loose. There was no way for them to get loose in the act of inserting a windows 7 disk and installing it. I did not open up my computer and loosen the cables when I installed 7, nor did I kick my desk, the tower, or jump around the apartment in lead shoes. It is physically impossible for the cables to have become an issue. *headdesks* Here's why:

1) the cables couldn't be the problem because there was no change to them and everyone has ignored the fact that I said that I had checked them in the first post, which is a little insulting and makes me wonder if I'm being told to do the noob stuff because I'm a girl when anyone with a brain would have already checked that stuff at least 3 times; 2) that notwithstanding, they were checked multiple times and they work, and, again, I said that in the first post. Please get off of the cables because it is completely 100% impossible for that to be the problem. In fact, there is no hardware problem at all. Every piece checks out. How do I know it checks out? Because I triple checked it before I made post 1.

Additionally, I can't go back into Vista, because Vista is gone. I would have to reinstall it to get it back and I'm not about to do that.

Thanks, but no one here has suggested anything that I haven't already tried that I could do. This has been a frustrating experience... but I'm convinced this forum can't help. Thanks anyway for your time and your responses.

 

[xarden]

Because 9 out of 10 times its the 'noob stuff' thats at fault.
If its not appearing in bios, it has something to do with hardware.

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

Because 9 out of 10 times its the 'noob stuff' thats at fault.
If its not appearing in bios, it has something to do with hardware.

Except that any and all possible hardware failures have been ruled out. And not, "I think they are ruled out" ... they are 100% ruled out. All of the hardware works.

 

[BugMeister]

unplug all your drives - connect up only the suspect one and try to install windows7 on it..

if it won't install - it's probably gone duff..

if it's still under guarantee - whizz it back to the vendors for a replacement..

 

[sortoffaerygirl]

unplug all your drives - connect up only the suspect one and try to install windows7 on it..

if it won't install - it's probably gone duff..

Waste of time... The drive works... I have removed it, twice now, and tested it, it works, all the data on it is still there, and I have already said this.

 

[BugMeister]

does it show up in Disk Management..??