my PC is not detecting my HDD
- Thread starter atomsk
- Start date
m6oo
CAGiversary!
[quote name='atomsk']on the opening BIOS screen, it doesn't show my HDD under the sata category, so it won't boot. when I go into BIOS settings, it has the name of the HDD right there, I save the settings and it still won't show up. I can't boot it at all![/QUOTE]
Since you didn't specify, I'll assume that the computer used to boot fine and now for some reason it doesn't. If this is not the case, please give us more details.
Try reseating the cables to the drive. By that I mean, open up your computer and find your hard drive. Detach and reinsert all cables to the hard drive. The power and the SATA (or IDE) cable...both ends!
If that does not work, you'll have to start checking if there is something wrong with the drive. Can you hear the disc spinning inside? Does it make any funny noises it didn't used to make (like a clunking noise)?
Try booting from a DVD/CD like your Windows install disc or Ubuntu Live CD or Ultimate Boot CD and see if the computer will boot and if you can detect the drive. If you use the Windows disc, just get to the point where you can see where you can see the drive. DO NOT start the install process or you will wipe your data.
Get back to us with the answers to these questions and we can help you more.
Since you didn't specify, I'll assume that the computer used to boot fine and now for some reason it doesn't. If this is not the case, please give us more details.
Try reseating the cables to the drive. By that I mean, open up your computer and find your hard drive. Detach and reinsert all cables to the hard drive. The power and the SATA (or IDE) cable...both ends!
If that does not work, you'll have to start checking if there is something wrong with the drive. Can you hear the disc spinning inside? Does it make any funny noises it didn't used to make (like a clunking noise)?
Try booting from a DVD/CD like your Windows install disc or Ubuntu Live CD or Ultimate Boot CD and see if the computer will boot and if you can detect the drive. If you use the Windows disc, just get to the point where you can see where you can see the drive. DO NOT start the install process or you will wipe your data.
Get back to us with the answers to these questions and we can help you more.
thanks for your help guys.
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.
gargus
Banned
[quote name='atomsk']thanks for your help guys.
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like you have majorily corrupt system files on there that are causing issues.
My suggestion is to IF you can, hook the HD up to another pc as a secondary so you can look tthrough it and back up anything you want to keep and do a complete partion deletion, format and reload of windows. If not, then just start allover.
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like you have majorily corrupt system files on there that are causing issues.
My suggestion is to IF you can, hook the HD up to another pc as a secondary so you can look tthrough it and back up anything you want to keep and do a complete partion deletion, format and reload of windows. If not, then just start allover.
m6oo
CAGiversary!
[quote name='atomsk']
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.[/QUOTE]
So are you saying that when you boot, it always runs chkdsk and then XP (are you running XP?) starts and runs normally? Or are you saying that when you boot, it just keeps running chkdsk over and over and over?
I can't tell you off the top of my head how to fix this, but there is a known issue where the flag that tells XP to run chkdsk on boot (like after a system crash) gets stuck in the 'on' position. If you google around for something like "chkdsk loop" or "xp always runs chkdsk on boot" for some more info.
The earlier crashing could have been caused by the cabling issue you seem to have. This could have caused the chkdsk flag to get set. It also could have caused some data corruption on your HDD that may be repairable. It is also possible that the drive is going bad, even though it is new.
If you can get XP to boot, I would back up any important data IMMEDIATELY to some external media, then see if you can fix your chkdsk looping problem.
If you can't get XP to boot, I would pull the drive and mount it as a second drive (internally or via USB cable) in a working system and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't read the drive as a slave to a working system, try running some recovery program on the working system (like PC Inspector File Recovery) and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't seem to recover any data via recovery software, you'll have to decide if any of your data is worth the price of sending it to a recovery service like DriveSavers.
Once you've backed up your data or decided that it isn't worth the cost/effort to do so, then you can start to fix your system. I'd start with the HDD first. Try a drive diagnostic. I like MHDD32 which can be found on the Ultimate Boot CD. Run a non-destructive scan to see if there are any bad sectors. If there are, you can run a DESTRUCTIVE erase that will mark the bad sectors so they are not used. You will lose all of your data and you will have to reinstall everything.
If there are significant errors on the disc and it is still under warranty, you might consider trying to get a replacement under warranty.
That should keep you busy for awhile. Let us know how things are going and we can help you some more.
so I did what you said, I checked the cables and they were all plugged in but I reconnected them all anyway and I tried again and it booted up fine BUT when it started it ran something called chkdsk and when it was finished it restarted. so when it starts again, it runs chkdsk again and keeps going like this. the only way I can get to windows is if I skip chkdsk, which it says I shouldn't do.
before this started happening, my computer was crashing a lot. I don't know it would be my HDD though, it's the newest part of my pc, only a few months old.[/QUOTE]
So are you saying that when you boot, it always runs chkdsk and then XP (are you running XP?) starts and runs normally? Or are you saying that when you boot, it just keeps running chkdsk over and over and over?
I can't tell you off the top of my head how to fix this, but there is a known issue where the flag that tells XP to run chkdsk on boot (like after a system crash) gets stuck in the 'on' position. If you google around for something like "chkdsk loop" or "xp always runs chkdsk on boot" for some more info.
The earlier crashing could have been caused by the cabling issue you seem to have. This could have caused the chkdsk flag to get set. It also could have caused some data corruption on your HDD that may be repairable. It is also possible that the drive is going bad, even though it is new.
If you can get XP to boot, I would back up any important data IMMEDIATELY to some external media, then see if you can fix your chkdsk looping problem.
If you can't get XP to boot, I would pull the drive and mount it as a second drive (internally or via USB cable) in a working system and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't read the drive as a slave to a working system, try running some recovery program on the working system (like PC Inspector File Recovery) and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't seem to recover any data via recovery software, you'll have to decide if any of your data is worth the price of sending it to a recovery service like DriveSavers.
Once you've backed up your data or decided that it isn't worth the cost/effort to do so, then you can start to fix your system. I'd start with the HDD first. Try a drive diagnostic. I like MHDD32 which can be found on the Ultimate Boot CD. Run a non-destructive scan to see if there are any bad sectors. If there are, you can run a DESTRUCTIVE erase that will mark the bad sectors so they are not used. You will lose all of your data and you will have to reinstall everything.
If there are significant errors on the disc and it is still under warranty, you might consider trying to get a replacement under warranty.
That should keep you busy for awhile. Let us know how things are going and we can help you some more.
Bad sectors on your hard drive for sure if your stuck in the old Chkdsk loop. If you can't backup your data by plugging your HDD into another system as a secondary drive, then get yourself an Anti-static bag, remove the HDD, put it into the bag, and put it in the freezer for 2 hours.
The freezer you say, but thats nuts? No, its not actually. Unless your read/write arm is detached/becoming detached (You would hear either a heavy clicking sound, or it would sound like your computer might be taking off like a jet) you will be able to plug the drive in and get 5-15 minuets of decent use out of it. It's pretty much a last ditch effort to get critical data off your HDD
The freezer you say, but thats nuts? No, its not actually. Unless your read/write arm is detached/becoming detached (You would hear either a heavy clicking sound, or it would sound like your computer might be taking off like a jet) you will be able to plug the drive in and get 5-15 minuets of decent use out of it. It's pretty much a last ditch effort to get critical data off your HDD
[quote name='m6oo']So are you saying that when you boot, it always runs chkdsk and then XP (are you running XP?) starts and runs normally? Or are you saying that when you boot, it just keeps running chkdsk over and over and over?
I can't tell you off the top of my head how to fix this, but there is a known issue where the flag that tells XP to run chkdsk on boot (like after a system crash) gets stuck in the 'on' position. If you google around for something like "chkdsk loop" or "xp always runs chkdsk on boot" for some more info.
The earlier crashing could have been caused by the cabling issue you seem to have. This could have caused the chkdsk flag to get set. It also could have caused some data corruption on your HDD that may be repairable. It is also possible that the drive is going bad, even though it is new.
If you can get XP to boot, I would back up any important data IMMEDIATELY to some external media, then see if you can fix your chkdsk looping problem.
If you can't get XP to boot, I would pull the drive and mount it as a second drive (internally or via USB cable) in a working system and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't read the drive as a slave to a working system, try running some recovery program on the working system (like PC Inspector File Recovery) and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't seem to recover any data via recovery software, you'll have to decide if any of your data is worth the price of sending it to a recovery service like DriveSavers.
Once you've backed up your data or decided that it isn't worth the cost/effort to do so, then you can start to fix your system. I'd start with the HDD first. Try a drive diagnostic. I like MHDD32 which can be found on the Ultimate Boot CD. Run a non-destructive scan to see if there are any bad sectors. If there are, you can run a DESTRUCTIVE erase that will mark the bad sectors so they are not used. You will lose all of your data and you will have to reinstall everything.
If there are significant errors on the disc and it is still under warranty, you might consider trying to get a replacement under warranty.
That should keep you busy for awhile. Let us know how things are going and we can help you some more.[/QUOTE]
I already backed everything up. I guess I'll try to reinstall after checking out the HDD. I could even get the hdd replaced. The only thing I'm worried about is that is this was caused by some part of my computer like a bad mobo or RAM, I wouldn't know it and it might happen again.
So how do I set it up as a second drive? I tried doing this once before I started having problems I hooked it up with the cable that said SATA2 but it wouldn't read the drive. Do I have to change something in BIOS?
I can't tell you off the top of my head how to fix this, but there is a known issue where the flag that tells XP to run chkdsk on boot (like after a system crash) gets stuck in the 'on' position. If you google around for something like "chkdsk loop" or "xp always runs chkdsk on boot" for some more info.
The earlier crashing could have been caused by the cabling issue you seem to have. This could have caused the chkdsk flag to get set. It also could have caused some data corruption on your HDD that may be repairable. It is also possible that the drive is going bad, even though it is new.
If you can get XP to boot, I would back up any important data IMMEDIATELY to some external media, then see if you can fix your chkdsk looping problem.
If you can't get XP to boot, I would pull the drive and mount it as a second drive (internally or via USB cable) in a working system and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't read the drive as a slave to a working system, try running some recovery program on the working system (like PC Inspector File Recovery) and back up any important data IMMEDIATELY.
If you can't seem to recover any data via recovery software, you'll have to decide if any of your data is worth the price of sending it to a recovery service like DriveSavers.
Once you've backed up your data or decided that it isn't worth the cost/effort to do so, then you can start to fix your system. I'd start with the HDD first. Try a drive diagnostic. I like MHDD32 which can be found on the Ultimate Boot CD. Run a non-destructive scan to see if there are any bad sectors. If there are, you can run a DESTRUCTIVE erase that will mark the bad sectors so they are not used. You will lose all of your data and you will have to reinstall everything.
If there are significant errors on the disc and it is still under warranty, you might consider trying to get a replacement under warranty.
That should keep you busy for awhile. Let us know how things are going and we can help you some more.[/QUOTE]
I already backed everything up. I guess I'll try to reinstall after checking out the HDD. I could even get the hdd replaced. The only thing I'm worried about is that is this was caused by some part of my computer like a bad mobo or RAM, I wouldn't know it and it might happen again.
So how do I set it up as a second drive? I tried doing this once before I started having problems I hooked it up with the cable that said SATA2 but it wouldn't read the drive. Do I have to change something in BIOS?
m6oo
CAGiversary!
If you've already backed everything up, then, at this point, there's no need to put the suspect drive on another system as a secondary drive.
Did you get your chkdsk problem solved?
It sounds like you've just decided to punt and reinstall XP either on the existing drive or a new drive.
I'd test out the drive using the MHDD32 on the Ultimate Boot CD. Test out the drive and see how many (if any) bad sectors there are.
If there are any, I'd use MHDD32 to do a destructive erase which will mark the bad sectors along the way so they won't get used when you reinstall. Be aware though that the more bad sectors there are, the more likely that the drive is on its last legs and the more likely that you will have problems with it again sooner rather than later.
Much info on MHDD32 here, including docs:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
I sympathize with your concern that it may be something else (mobo etc) that might be the root cause of this problem, but it's really hard to nail these things down.
Did you get your chkdsk problem solved?
It sounds like you've just decided to punt and reinstall XP either on the existing drive or a new drive.
I'd test out the drive using the MHDD32 on the Ultimate Boot CD. Test out the drive and see how many (if any) bad sectors there are.
If there are any, I'd use MHDD32 to do a destructive erase which will mark the bad sectors along the way so they won't get used when you reinstall. Be aware though that the more bad sectors there are, the more likely that the drive is on its last legs and the more likely that you will have problems with it again sooner rather than later.
Much info on MHDD32 here, including docs:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
I sympathize with your concern that it may be something else (mobo etc) that might be the root cause of this problem, but it's really hard to nail these things down.
[quote name='m6oo']If you've already backed everything up, then, at this point, there's no need to put the suspect drive on another system as a secondary drive.
Did you get your chkdsk problem solved?
It sounds like you've just decided to punt and reinstall XP either on the existing drive or a new drive.
I'd test out the drive using the MHDD32 on the Ultimate Boot CD. Test out the drive and see how many (if any) bad sectors there are.
If there are any, I'd use MHDD32 to do a destructive erase which will mark the bad sectors along the way so they won't get used when you reinstall. Be aware though that the more bad sectors there are, the more likely that the drive is on its last legs and the more likely that you will have problems with it again sooner rather than later.
Much info on MHDD32 here, including docs:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
I sympathize with your concern that it may be something else (mobo etc) that might be the root cause of this problem, but it's really hard to nail these things down.[/QUOTE]
okay, so I ran MHDD and it said there were no delays or bad sectors so I guess the drive is fine. I tried using different sata cables and even a different HDD and it still happened, so I guess the problem is with the mobo's sata connector? that's the only part where the cable felt loose and looked iffy. so I bought a new, which I've been meaning to do anyway.
So, if I want to use two hdds now, do I just plug one into sata1 and the other into sata2? is that all I have to do? does it use way more power that way? my PS is only 450w.
Did you get your chkdsk problem solved?
It sounds like you've just decided to punt and reinstall XP either on the existing drive or a new drive.
I'd test out the drive using the MHDD32 on the Ultimate Boot CD. Test out the drive and see how many (if any) bad sectors there are.
If there are any, I'd use MHDD32 to do a destructive erase which will mark the bad sectors along the way so they won't get used when you reinstall. Be aware though that the more bad sectors there are, the more likely that the drive is on its last legs and the more likely that you will have problems with it again sooner rather than later.
Much info on MHDD32 here, including docs:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
I sympathize with your concern that it may be something else (mobo etc) that might be the root cause of this problem, but it's really hard to nail these things down.[/QUOTE]
okay, so I ran MHDD and it said there were no delays or bad sectors so I guess the drive is fine. I tried using different sata cables and even a different HDD and it still happened, so I guess the problem is with the mobo's sata connector? that's the only part where the cable felt loose and looked iffy. so I bought a new, which I've been meaning to do anyway.
So, if I want to use two hdds now, do I just plug one into sata1 and the other into sata2? is that all I have to do? does it use way more power that way? my PS is only 450w.
m6oo
CAGiversary!
[quote name='atomsk']
So, if I want to use two hdds now, do I just plug one into sata1 and the other into sata2? is that all I have to do? does it use way more power that way? my PS is only 450w.[/QUOTE]
Yes, and yes (but the extra power consumption probably isn't going to break you...)
So, if I want to use two hdds now, do I just plug one into sata1 and the other into sata2? is that all I have to do? does it use way more power that way? my PS is only 450w.[/QUOTE]
Yes, and yes (but the extra power consumption probably isn't going to break you...)
Sata drives are supposed to be sorta Plug n play, but they don't always work that way.
If you're trying to use it as a second drive in another computer anyways.
If it's not showing up in XP
go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Under Storage - Click Disk Manager.
This should show all the drives on the computer - if you see the 2nd drive, but it's not active, you have activate it so XP sees it and adds it to My Computer.
If it's not there, I don't know what to tell you... the drive is pretty screwed up it sounds like.
Even though its only a few months old, it's entirely possible for it to fail... from my experience hard drives are the most common piece of hardware to fail, even in short periods of time.
What exactly happened before this started?
If you're trying to use it as a second drive in another computer anyways.
If it's not showing up in XP
go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Under Storage - Click Disk Manager.
This should show all the drives on the computer - if you see the 2nd drive, but it's not active, you have activate it so XP sees it and adds it to My Computer.
If it's not there, I don't know what to tell you... the drive is pretty screwed up it sounds like.
Even though its only a few months old, it's entirely possible for it to fail... from my experience hard drives are the most common piece of hardware to fail, even in short periods of time.
What exactly happened before this started?
bread's done