Member Avatar for acezrwild817

I am attempting to fix a computer that was attacked by a nasty virus. I have recently zeroed the drive to wipe it clean. I am now trying a fresh reinstall of windows XP and the computer will not recognize my hard drive. It also will not recognize my second cd drive. Furthermore, BIOS does not have listed in the IDE Configuration menu. I have had this happen before, but have always managed to fix it in the usual ways. This time I am stumped. Here is a list of things i have tired:

1. Using another hard drive - i have tried other hard drives that i know workand i have had no luck
2. Replace IDE cable - this was a desperate move, it didn't work
3. Runnig the Dell diagnostics disk - it crashed when testing the hardware and it won't run correctly
4. Installing XP - tells me there is no hard drive connected to my computer
5. Wiping drive clean with Knoppix (using another computer)

Just to test the hard drive i installed XP onto it using another computer. The installation was perfect and the hard drive worked fine. I think this computer just hates me.

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The original symptom reported by (BIOS shows no IDE devices while the same drives and cable work in another PC, and the Dell diagnostics itself crashes) narrows the fault set away from the drives and toward either board-level detection, power delivery, or firmware/CMOS corruption. Replies from , , and correctly point to BIOS/cable checks, but a few deeper, practical diagnostics are useful when those basics already failed.

Recommended diagnostics (logical order):

  • Verify drive power independently: a healthy drive will spin and show an LED when powered. If there is no spin, swap the Molex power lead with a known-good connector or test PSU rails with a meter. 

    Molex 4-pin: Yellow = +12V, Red = +5V, Black = Ground

  • Visually inspect the motherboard around the IDE connector for damaged/bulging capacitors, burn marks, or bent pins. Corrosion or a damaged connector can produce the “no device” BIOS symptom even with good drives and cables.

  • Confirm cable orientation and single-drive jumper state for PATA gear (pin‑1 alignment, master vs single). With only one drive physically connected to one channel, boot to BIOS with minimal components (no extra cards, no other drives) to reduce variables.

  • Use a live Linux/Rescue environment on the problem machine (do not mount other system disks) and examine kernel messages to see whether the chipset enumerates the IDE/ATA controller. Example:

    dmesg | egrep -i '(ide|ata|sata|scsi)'

If the onboard controller never appears in BIOS or dmesg after those checks, the IDE controller or motherboard circuitry is likely faulty. At that point a low-cost PCI SATA/IDE controller or a USB-to-IDE adapter is a pragmatic workaround for OS installation and data recovery; motherboard replacement is the longer-term fix. BIOS flashing is only advisable with the exact vendor firmware and a stable power source, since an incorrect or failed flash can permanently disable the board.

Recommended Answers

All 12 Replies

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

If your BIOS will not detect your drives, Windoze certainly won't. Might have to zap the bios and/or reload it in order to have things function properly. May also have the IDE channels turned off. You can also try resetting the BIOS to the default values. When you make a switch, save the BIOS settings, and power off the machine. Let it rest for a mintue before turning back on. Clears the chips that way.

Only when the BIOS reports that your drive is on IDE this, and your CD is on IDE that, can you proceed with Windoze installation.

Christian

Member Avatar for adam1188

I am having a problem in that i just bought a brand new motherboard, processor, and memory; but when i go to install windows XP it will not recognoze the hard drive. Anything that I can do?

Member Avatar for jerald45

I reinstall Windows XP on the main hard drive on a Dell Optiplex GX-260 Desktop. After the installation, I went to “My Computer” and the second hard drive with some important data is missing. The drive was present in “My Computer” before the re-installation. I went into “Disk Management” and the drive is present, it shows that it is “Healthy (Active)”. When I right click on the drive, the only options that are allowed are “Help” and “Delete Partition”. How do I get “My Computer to recognize the second hard drive so that I can retrieve the data which is important?
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Edited by crunchie because: remove spam links
Member Avatar for caperjack

turn off computer ,try removing it from the cable and then reinstall the cable ,reboot

Member Avatar for beanieboo

I am attempting to fix a computer that was attacked by a nasty virus. I have recently zeroed the drive to wipe it clean. I am now trying a fresh reinstall of windows XP and the computer will not recognize my hard drive. It also will not recognize my second cd drive. Furthermore, BIOS does not have listed in the IDE Configuration menu. I have had this happen before, but have always managed to fix it in the usual ways. This time I am stumped. Here is a list of things i have tired:

1. Using another hard drive - i have tried other hard drives that i know workand i have had no luck
2. Replace IDE cable - this was a desperate move, it didn't work
3. Runnig the Dell diagnostics disk - it crashed when testing the hardware and it won't run correctly
4. Installing XP - tells me there is no hard drive connected to my computer
5. Wiping drive clean with Knoppix (using another computer)

Just to test the hard drive i installed XP onto it using another computer. The installation was perfect and the hard drive worked fine. I think this computer just hates me.

Hi bit of a long shot but have you tried updating / flashing the bios

Member Avatar for caperjack

Hi bit of a long shot but have you tried updating / flashing the bios

lol. a really long shot ,you should reall check the date of post you linked ,
Dec 24th, 2004

Member Avatar for beanieboo

yea ok my fault I didnt notice the date on that posting [he's hopefully got it sorted by now]
beanieboo

Member Avatar for caperjack

yea ok my fault I didnt notice the date on that posting [he's hopefully got it sorted by now]
beanieboo

only pointed it out so you would notice dates and not waste your valuble help on really old post ,keep up the helping its much needed here at daniweb

Member Avatar for ferencz

I had this problem occur when an old Gateway P3 was send to me for repair. It didn't recognize the master abd Slave HD's. Bios showed no HD installed. I replaced the HD data cable, since the one used looked kind od old and worn out. Botup the PC and Checked the Bios. HD were now recognized and everythingworked OK again and the problem had not occured since then. So replace the data cable with a new one first.

Member Avatar for ferencz

I am having a problem in that i just bought a brand new motherboard, processor, and memory; but when i go to install windows XP it will not recognoze the hard drive. Anything that I can do?

Replace the HD data cable with a new one and it should solve your problem Dude or Geekester.

Member Avatar for Maya-man

I just added new hard drive on my desktop and my computer would not recognize the new hard drive. how do I make it recognize the new hard drive?

Member Avatar for Tauseefkhan

first check all cable losing and put them tightly if problem could not resolve then reinstall windows

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