Hard drive wont show up

[luigi399]

Evening, like title says my harddrive wont show up when I'm installing windows 7. I followed the instructions up to the select a harddrive/partition but it wont show and says that I need an installation media for it to be read.

I assume this would be where I need a RAID file from my usb but where would I be able to find/download one from?

Laptop in question is a
Satelite L555-S7916
3 gb RAM
has a 500gb WD Scorpio Blue

Is there anything in particular I need to know or should put down to hep?
I'm at a total lost and dont want to do anything dangerous to my laptop.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[richc46]

These two great tutorials should help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[scrooge]

is the drive formated ? and if so is it formated in ( ntfs ) ?
thats the first thing that comes to mind .
you can also try (diskpart)
hold (shift + F10) at the screen before the install screen then type
diskpart
then type
list disk
then type
select disk (the disk thats not being seen)
then type
create partition primary

that should let windows see the drive now..
hope that helps ....

scrooge

 

[luigi399]

Well I tired doing what the stuff in the first tutorial you listed said but command prompt is telling me no disk is selected at all when I type in diskpart and then list disk.

as for the second tutorial, I'm up to step 8, where you need RAID drivers but I dont have any.

And no my harddrive isnt formatted.

 

[scrooge]

after list disk you have to type select disk and the number next to the drive you want like this select disk 0 or select disk 1 and so on.

scrooge

 

[gregrocker]

Win7 installer has all SATA drivers so the issue is likely lack of formatting as Scrooge is saying, or incorrect BIOS settings.

Is the HD seen in BIOS setup? What is the SATA controller setting? Try AHCI first, then IDE mode if necessary.

 

[luigi399]

@ Scrooge: Its still saying disk not found when i type in that command.

@ greg: I dont see HDD but does FDD mean anything similar? And SATA is in AHCI mode right now.

 

[scrooge]

if your not seeing the drive in your bios maybe try shuting down your system and change the plug to another plug . you should have it in a (red or black) plug not the (white or orange) one.


i guess i should read everything before posting your using a Laptop . the settings i was thing is for desktops ........ sorry

 

[gregrocker]

Floppy Disk Drive? The laptop specs don't show one ships with it.

If your HD doesn't show up where it should register in BIOS setup, then it may need to be reinstalled.

 

[luigi399]

Plugs? this doesnt mean I'll have to open up my laptop does it?

And reinstalled? as in make sure the HD snugs right into the pins?

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, snug against clean pins.

Is this a new HD? If so use the tech support which comes with it to RMA or get it installed correctly.

If it won't show in BIOS even after reinstalling then it likely won't be seen by WD Data Lifeguard repair CD or http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html, but you can try as these sometimes can recover a failing HD.

 

[luigi399]

I'm pretty sure the pins are clean since I get a message that the harddrive can be read but need installation media from elsewhere from within setup.

And no this is just a harddrive that I bought from a recommendation from someone since my old harddrive broke.

 

[gregrocker]

The driver is the SATA controller driver from your mobo chipset. It is almost certainly in the Win7 DVD, but if you want you can download it anyway, unzip to flash or CD and insert it at the Load Drivers link on the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen.

But if the drive isn't showing in BIOS, you'll need to get it to show up there first. I would get help from the Support page for that model HD on WD site.

 

[luigi399]

alright I'll try looking for help on my HD from WD then thanks.

and motherboard? how would I go about finding that?