Failure to detect hard drive

[DiZTROYO]

My laptop got knocked pretty hard while powered on. I came to find that the hard drive got disconnected. But when I reconnected the hard drive... I am unable to boot to Windows 7. I get a message saying that it can't locate boot data... How can I fix this, or is it fixable? I should note that my hard drive is still not being recognized as connected.

 

[GokAy]

Does it show in BIOS?

Read through - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219533-troubleshooting-windows-7-failure-boot.html

 

[DiZTROYO]

No. I removed the hard drive and tried to read it through another computer, as well. Both failed to detect the hard drive. It looks fine on the exterior. The hard drive became disconnected while the computer was powered on... could this have affected it?

 

[CKWD]

Hello DiZTROYO!

I believe by “got knocked pretty hard while powered on” you mean that the laptop endured external physical damage which has obviously affected the HDD inside.

Is it detectable in BIOS from inside the laptop? Is it detectable connected to another system externally (USB to SATA adapter)? If both answers are “no”, I believe you need to take the drive (and perhaps the whole laptop) to a professional repair shop, the damage is most likely physical caused by the damage on the laptop when it was knocked.

Best of luck!

CK_WD