HOW TO FIX THE SITUATION WHEN THE COMPUTER DOES NOT SEE THE HARD DRIVE

Unfortunately, a hard drive is a rather capricious element of a PC, so a problem with reading it can arise both during the first connection , and completely suddenly, after long months of normal operation. However, hardware problems are easy to fix on your own, let’s see how to do it.

Reasons why the computer does not see the hard drive

There may be several reasons for inoperability:

• synchronization of the computer and the new HDD is not configured;
• internal BIOS failure or incorrect settings;
• malfunction of contact wires, connectors;
• insufficient current for power supply;
• poor cooling;
• material damage in the disk itself.

Sometimes it happens that when entering “My Computer”, the user does not find the disk, but it is displayed in the I / O system.

Connecting the disk for the first time

The most common problem: the computer does not see a new hard drive that has never been connected to it. It’s easy enough to fix:

1. Enter “execute” in the system search.
2. Find the application of the same name in the list.
3. Right-click on the name and select Run As Administrator (it is better to do this so that the system does not ignore your commands).
4. In the utility line enter: compmgmt.msc and press “Enter”.
5. In the new window, find the Disk management section, and in the list on the right – your problem HDD. The hard disk is not displayed because it is not assigned a letter, and you will have to navigate by the amount of memory to find the one you need.
6. Click on it with the additional button and select Change the drive letter or path to the disk, and then specify some letter of the Latin alphabet.

After that, the system should start working with it. If it is not in the list at all, you can try to find it not through a standard manager, but using a similar third-party program.

Uninitialized HDD

Also, Windows 10 or Windows 7 may not see the hard drive if it is not formatted properly. This applies to almost all newly purchased hard drives. Let’s fix everything:

1. Open the disk manager again, as described above, find the HDD and click the additional button of the pointing device.
2. Select Initialize The Disk.
3. In the settings window, mark the MBR style with a dark circle . You can choose another, but it is better to stay with the “Master Boot Record” in order to absolutely avoid errors.
4. After that, right-click on the disk again and select Create a simple volume to structure the space by volumes.
5. Just click Next two times.
6. Specify the letter under which the hard drive appears in the system and click “Next” again.
7. Set Format as to NTFS.
8. Now click Finish.

All this has to be done with your own hands, because, unfortunately, a hard disk, even a very advanced and expensive one, does not initialize by itself. The system cannot decide for you what kind of formatting to choose, how to display the name in Windows and how to structure the information in order to best integrate the HDD into the work of the PC.

Wrong format

Also, a laptop or computer will not see the hard drive if the wrong formatting was initially set. As you remember from the previous point, you need to install the NTFS file system. Check and fix if not:

1. Open disk manager.
2. Click on the RMB hard drive.
3. Click Format As and set NTFS in the required line.

IMPORTANT. Changing the format will lead to the complete loss of all information recorded on the disc. If it works fine on some device, transfer all the data, and then proceed to formatting.

Damaged cables and connectors

If the external hard drive is not detected, try changing the cable and reconnecting or changing the port – sometimes the problem lies in poor contacts. The internal HDD has the same problem: take a SATA cable and connect it to another input of the board. You may even have to go to the workshop if something breaks.

Incorrect BIOS settings

If, when connecting, a window appears with a notification about a boot failure and a proposal to insert an HDD, then the BIOS for some reason does not see the hard drive. Most likely, it lacks the necessary priority, and this should be changed:

1. Turn off the PC, then turn on and press several times the key responsible for invoking the BIOS (which one depends on the manufacturer, look for information in the operating instructions or on the company’s website).
2. Find some inscription with the word “Boot”, get to it using the keyboard arrows and click “Enter” (the appearance of the BIOS and the option signatures also depend on the laptop model).
3. Next, you need a sentence with the words “Boot Priority” or “First Boot”. Expand the option and select “hard disk” from the drop-down list. He needs to be in the first place.
4. Look down and find which key to press to save your changes (look for the word “Save” for clues).

Also, the BIOS does not see the hard drive, if the integration with the technology of the parallel interface for connecting drives is not configured. Do the following:

1. Enter BIOS.
2. Look for the labels: “Main” – “Advanced”, or “Intefrated Peripherals”.
3. Now you need to find the function with the abbreviation SATA, for example, “SATA Operation” or “Configure SATA As” or “SATA Type”.
4. You will be prompted to enable IDE support (be guided by this word), agree and do not forget to save the changes.

If all this did not help, and when entering the BIOS, an incorrect date, month and year appeared, most likely there was a failure. In this case:

1. Turn off your computer.
2. Look at the motherboard: there should be a small switch with large CMOS letters.
3. It needs to be switched to the “2-3” position, count down half a minute and return everything as it was (to the numbers “1-2”).

BIOS may be too old to support reading new hard drives. If you bought a computer 8-10 years ago, then the devices may not work together.

Insufficient power supply or cooling

The computer may not see the hard drive if it does not have enough power to handle multiple devices. For example, an adapter is connected into which several flash drives are inserted, cables for a mouse, keyboard, graphics tablet, plus an external HDD. From such an overload, one or the other device is disconnected from time to time. Remove all unnecessary ones.

If you hear characteristic wavelike whistling sounds, it means that the cooling system cannot cope with the overheating of the hard drive. When changing the hard drive to a more advanced one, do not forget about the cooler – they work in pairs.

Physical breakdown

Remember if you dropped the disc, if there was something heavy on it while it was in the box, if any liquid was spilled. Connect it to another PC and check if it works. In case of material damage, the only thing that can be done is to return the hard drive for repair .

Have you encountered the problem of connecting the HDD to the computer? How did you manage to cope with it? Let us know in the comments.