With a personal computer or laptop, you notice that your the computer does not see the hard drive, or built-in USB device. Problems can be related to both the hardware causes of your PC, and probable operating system (OS) errors. It is also assumed that BIOS does not see hard drive due to misconfiguration. The best option is to check by connecting the hard drive to another PC, so that you can fully verify who is the "culprit" of the emergency situation.
We look at the following characteristics of the device, if the hard drive still recognizes the existing device, then the problem lies in the system itself, if, then the reason lies in the disk itself. If there is a force majeure circumstance, never try to "treat" your personal computer or laptop on your own, entrust the complete "treatment" to a specialist.
Sometimes there is a problem in the "native" system, where you can carry out preventive maintenance on your own, but remember that all work to fix the problem must be done if you have an idea of the structure of your personal computer.
In case if the laptop does not see the hard drive, do simple manipulations that will help you avoid unnecessary costs for a specialist who will exactly perform the available operations to bring a PC or laptop back to life.
- We enter the available BIOS settings, using the F2 or Del keys, be sure to wait for the configuration and boot of your device.
- If necessary, remember the correct connection of cables with SATA outputs.
- If you have removed the hard drive, then the best way to preserve it is to store it using materials that have an antistatic agent.
- If there is a lower part of the device where the board is located, also place the replacement part on an antistatic material.
W indows 7 does not see the hard drive, we are looking for problems
You can troubleshoot the hard drive yourself, and then you can clarify why Windows does not see the hard drive... Conflict situations of the software, as well as the possible withdrawal of contact connections, can be carried out independently. Consider the reasons why the system does not see the hard drive, and possible remedies yourself.
- Send your contacts. The reason why the computer does not see the hard drive is commonplace, you have lost contacts. Remove the cover, reconnect all contacts. If the result does not work, try using parallel cables.
- BIOS settings. Your computer, BIOS does not see the hard drive due to incorrect settings. Checking the system date block. If there is a reason for this, we reset the settings. We remove the battery built into the board, wait 10-30 minutes and put it back in place.
- The minimum diet. If there is a characteristic buzzing when changing work cycles, and Windows does not see the hard drive, then you may need to buy a new power supply or from time to time you will have to turn off one of the most important devices.
In addition, there are additional factors that indicate that Windows does not see the hard drive for certain characteristics.
Why BIOSdoes not see the hard drive, we fix the problem ourselves
If you removed the battery located on the motherboard and replaced it after 30 minutes, the hard drive can accurately detect the connected device. Sometimes Windows does not see the hard drive due to the order of the bootable embedded systems.
In this case, you do not have to reset the existing BIOS settings. For these purposes, it is enough to enter the menu, and use the Boot menu, which will become a priority during the boot process. In this case, put the HDD option at the topmost position in the first place in the menu.
Pay attention to the characteristic "clicks" of the hard drive. If necessary, you can reduce the noise by adjusting the AAM option, which is responsible for the noise level. This option reduces the speed of movement for the built-in head of the drive, thereby clicks appear less frequently or are eliminated. In some cases, experts recommend using the MHDD utility, which will help to effectively eliminate the problem that has arisen.
Additional reasons why Windows 10 does not see the hard drive
In addition to the above characteristics, you can additionally find out why Windows does not see the hard drive. Experts recommend paying attention to the following:
- If two disks of the same manufacturer are involved, then they can cause a conflict in operation. In this case, it is necessary to start the device one by one.
- Bus problem. Some versions of Windows prior to Vista did not support SATA (SATA II). In this case, it is recommended to update the operating system.
- The immediate problem is in the OS.
If you suspect Windows is not seeing the hard drive due to the operating system, try the following.
- In the "Start" panel, open the option "Control Panel".
- We try to click twice on "Administration".
- In the opened dialog box, look for "Computer Management".
- On the left side there is an item "Disk Management".
Now you can see all your disks, and one of them does not have a volume letter (letters, C, D, etc.). On the observed tile on the right, click the drop-down menu, with which we use the option "Change drive letter"... In this case, you need to specify the literal value of the free type in the Latin alphabet from A to Z.
If, you have tried all the methods, and do not find the reason why the computer does not see the hard drive, then seek help from a specialist who, using professional diagnostic equipment, will identify the exact causes and problems of a failure in the startup of your personal computer.
At the moment, the hard disk is the most popular device for storing information. However, from time to time there are problems with it. One of the most famous problems is that the computer cannot see the hard drive. For one reason or another, it is not detected by the system, BIOS, or device. Let's figure out why the computer does not read the hard drive and try to fix the situation.
Windows operating system does not see the hard drive
Symptom: Windows operating system (XP, 7-10) does not see the hard disk, it is not displayed in the explorer. At the same time, the hard drive is successfully detected in BIOS and on other computers.
Diagnosis: The system may not see the hard drive because the drive is not assigned a letter or the file system format is not defined.
What to do:
Right mouse button on Start - Disk Management (You can go here via Win + R - diskmgmt.msc - Enter). In the context menu of the required disk, select the command "Change drive letter or path to disk".
To format, select the Format command. We indicate the volume label, file system format and click OK.
The computer (laptop) does not see the external hard drive
Symptom: The computer does not see the external hard drive when connected via USB or SATA.
Diagnosis: The USB ports may be faulty or the file system of the external HDD is incompatible with the operating system. Power is not supplied through the USB cable.
What to do:
Check if other devices, such as flash drives, are connected through this USB port. There is a possibility that the USB ports on the front panel of the computer are simply not connected to the motherboard. Also on laptops one of the ports may not work due to errors in the motherboard bridge.
Use the Disk Management panel to check if the disk is available and is defined as a mapped file space. You may need to format your hard drive to FAT / NTFS to work with Windows. If the external hard drive is still not detected, assign a different drive letter in the same section of the control panel.
Not all USB cables are suitable for connecting a hard drive to a computer. Some of them do not have enough power to operate the external drive. It is best to use the same cable that came with your external hard drive. Also, it may need to share two USB ports for connection. Therefore, if the external hard drive does not work, carefully study the documentation that came with the problematic storage device.
BIOS does not see the hard drive
Symptom: HDD is not detected by the system (absent as a device), while the bios does not see the hard disk. The external indicator is on. The hard drive makes a clicking sound or tries unsuccessfully to start up (a head spinning sound is heard).
Diagnosis: one of the most common errors associated with HDD operation. The drive is probably out of order or it is not properly connected to the computer's motherboard.
What to do:
Open the system unit (after unplugging it from the network!). Check if the power and SATA / IDE cables are securely connected to the hard drive. Better to play it safe and unplug / attach the cables again. Also check for damage on these cables, whether they are tightly adjacent to the motherboard socket (in the case of SATA / IDE). Try connecting alternative cables if available.
If the hard drive clicks and is not detected, it is probably an electronics failure or a failure of the hard drive mechanics. Only the repair or warranty replacement of the hard drive will help. If there is no visible damage to the HDD or SSD and the warranty has not expired, feel free to contact the place of sale of the hard drive for a replacement. Unfortunately, you will lose all data on the disk.
Question answer
I decided to replace my building with a new one. I bought a board, connected everything as it should, started it up, everything was fine for two days, but after a couple of days I turn on the PC - the computer does not see the hard drive. What I see: it turns out to me that the OS disk was not detected and the system offers to restart the system. I restart and everything is new. I went into the BIOS, there the sata port on which the disk with the OS is connected is not connected. I change ports (several times), changed sata cables, did not help, used a spare, zero result - the BIOS does not see the hard drive. I had to install the OS on a different drive.
I tried to update the sata driver, updated the BIOS (I can not reset it, there are no jumpers on the battery). Disk Management also does not see this disk. I do not know what to do. Sata ports are working properly, cables are also working. The HDD is powered on, it spins without unnecessary noise and crackling, but the hard disk is still not displayed.
Answer... Find out the specification of your motherboard and hard drive. Does the board support this sata standard? There may be a discrepancy between the different Sata versions. As a result, the hard drive does not open.
Check if the hard drive is detected on the previous motherboard or another PC. If the issue is not resolved, change the hard drive under warranty.
My hard drive (external) does not open, Windows writes: “The structure of the disk is damaged. Reading is impossible. " I clicked on "Deep Scan Recovery", but the problematic disk is not here, it is present on my computer and I wrote what it was writing. Tell me what to do if the system does not see the external hard drive.
Answer... The computer does not see the external hard drive due to read errors. You can fix them using the standard chkdsk utility (Properties - Service - Checking the disk for file system errors). Go to Disk Management and check if Windows has detected the file system. If necessary, assign a different letter to the file volume or, as a last resort, format the HDD.
I have a 2TB HDD, I used to work with iMac. And now I connect it to a Windows laptop and this laptop does not see the hard drive. What can be done to save the information on the hard disk and make it so that the laptop can see it?
Answer... You can make a disk image using Acronis True Image and then carry out recovery operations with the image. Since the hard disk that previously worked in MacOS is not detected, it makes sense to check if this disk opens in this operating system (you need to test exactly devices with Mac OS with the ability to connect an HDD).
To read the HFS file system (standard for Mac OS) under Windows, use, for example, Paragon's HFS + for Windows® 11 program.
The WD10EALX hard drive stopped being detected by BIOS after the motherboard burned out. But when connected, you can hear how the engine starts to spin. It is necessary to reanimate the disk, preferably so that it can be detected (it is advisable not to erase the remaining data). Why does the bios not see the hard drive, how to fix it and how much will the repair cost?
Answer... It is hardly possible to fix a mechanical failure of a hard drive. Firstly, this can only be done in special laboratories, and secondly, repairs will cost several hundred dollars. Alas, you cannot get data back from the hard drive.
Not so long ago I took an extra HDD for 500GB from a friend (WD Blue 500GB). When connected to my computer, I ran into the following problem: the hard drive is visible in the BIOS, but the BIOS defines it as 0MB. When trying to install an OS on a hard drive, the installer does not see it. If you start the OS from another hard drive, and leave this one connected, it is not visible even on the disk layout. What should I do if I can't see the correct size hard drive in BIOS?
Answer... To figure out why the computer does not see the hard drive, you first need to check whether it is detected on a different configuration. If your friend's HDD opens and the bios shows the correct information, the point is specifically in the configuration of your computer. Check the technical specifications of your computer's motherboard to see if the connection protocol used by the hard drive supports.
If you connect the hard drive as a second storage device, conflicts are also possible. We recommend disabling the AHCI mode for SATA in the BIOS (see the SATA MODE parameter).
The hard disk slows down, that is, Windows does not boot from it, but the BIOS sees it. When trying to throw it to another PC, as an additional one, the same situation (the computer hangs on the Windows logo) I tried to format it from a bootable USB flash drive in Party Magic, but it starts to see hard only after minutes. 20, but I'm generally silent about doing something with him. In fact, the hard drive does not work normally. Tell me, please, what could be the reason for such a glitch, how can you check?
Answer... We would advise you to use one of the utilities to check your hard drive for possible jambs and read errors: TestDisk or HDD Health (see above). It is likely that the operating system does not see the hard drive due to the presence of bad sectors. Also, as mentioned above, you can connect the HDD to another computer and check the hard disk for errors using standard Windows tools or the TestDisk application.
Problems with identifying the hard drive can arise in different situations: when installing Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10, connecting a second or external hard drive. Depending on the conditions for the appearance of the error, the methods for its elimination differ significantly.
Searching for a disc during installation
If during the installation Windows does not see the hard drive, then the reason for this error is the lack of necessary drivers. The crash usually appears on laptops and ultrabooks with SSDs. The Windows installation program does not have the necessary software, so to install XP, 7, 8 or Windows 10, you must first install the drivers.
Check your computer's spec. You need to find out which processor is used - Intel, AMD. For Intel computers, you need to download the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology driver. If there is an AMD processor, then search for the required software by searching for "SATA / RAID driver + motherboard model".
- Download and unpack the data archive. Drop it onto the Windows installation USB stick. If you install XP from a disk, you will still transfer the driver to a USB flash drive; it must be connected together with the installation disk before turning on the computer.
- Start installing Windows 10, 8, 7, XP. When you reach the stage of choosing a section, click on the "Download" link.
- Specify the path to the downloaded driver on the flash drive.
After adding the drivers, you will see the available partitions of the hard drive and will be able to install Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 on your computer.
External storage detection
If Windows 7 does not see a hard drive that is connected via USB as an external media, then the first step is to make sure that the drive is assigned the correct drive letter.
- Open Control Panel, set "Large Icons" for "View". Go to the "Administration" section.
- Start the Computer Management tool.
- In the menu on the left, find the "Storage" section and launch the "Disk Management" tool.
On Windows 8 and 10, the procedure is completely identical, on XP there are some differences: in particular, the "Administrative Tools" section is opened through the "Programs" menu in Start. In any case, in the "Disk Management" window you should see all the drives connected to the computer: main, external, second internal.
If the external hard drive was correctly detected by the system, right-click on it and select "Change letter". Assign a letter that is not yet used on the system: for example, X or M. 
If the external hard drive is new, you haven't recorded anything on it yet, then try to format it so that the hard drive can be detected in the system. All data will be erased during formatting, so you need to be sure that there is nothing important on the medium. An unformatted external drive will be labeled "Not Allocated."
- Right click on the disk, click Create Simple Volume.
- Enter the size of the space for the new volume. If you want the external drive to consist of one partition, then enter the maximum size, that is, the entire volume of the media.
- Assign a letter and click Next. Format the volume to NTFS file system. Leave the rest of the parameters unchanged.
After formatting is complete, the external drive should be correctly detected by the system and displayed in the "Computer". These steps are the same for all versions of Windows, from XP to Windows 10. If changing the letter and formatting does not solve the problem, then make sure the USB port is working without errors - look in the device manager for the controller drivers. Make sure the cable used to connect the external drive is working properly. If earlier hard was detected without problems, but now it is not detected by the system, then check it with an antivirus.
Problems with the second drive
If Windows 7 does not see the hard drive connected to the system unit as a second drive, then first you need to make sure that this drive is detected in the Disk Management utility.
- Press Win + R and enter "diskmgmt.msc" to open the Mounted Drives Management Tool. The command is relevant for all versions of Windows, from XP to 10.
- Find the second drive among the connected drives. Look what status it has - depending on this, the methods for correcting the error will differ.
If there are no error messages, then try first simply to change the letter, specifying a value that is not yet used in the system. As for errors, the disk may not be initialized, not allocated, or simply have a RAW file system. How to troubleshoot these problems.
Hard drives are needed to store information and access it on demand. Often several hard drives are installed in a computer, which is a reasonable solution. Installing on a separate HDD or SSD drive of the operating system and storing files on another drive can seriously speed up Windows.
A common problem is that the computer does not see the hard drive. It can occur due to software or hardware failures. Losing access to the stored information is rather unpleasant, so you should know what to do if Windows does not see the second hard drive. The tips in this article apply primarily to internal storage. Moreover, they can be projected onto external hard drives.
How to tell if a hard drive is working
If the Windows operating system does not see the hard drive, it is likely that it has simply failed. There can be many reasons for this: physical damage, component failure, electrical breakdown, and others. Before proceeding to determine the problem of why the computer does not see the hard drive, you need to make sure that it is working.
There is one surefire way to test the health of a hard drive - connect it to another computer. To do this, it is better to find a system unit in which several drives are already installed, disconnect one of them, and connect the tested hard drive in its place.
If the drive won't work on a third-party computer either, it's best to take it to a repair technician. They will determine the cause of the problem and tell you if it is possible to recover the hard drive, or at least the information on it, if any.
Why the computer does not see the hard drive
If testing the drive on a third-party computer showed that there are no problems with it, you can try to independently determine why the PC does not see the hard drive. The main causes of the problem are discussed below.
No power on contacts
The most common reason why the computer does not see the hard drive is its incorrect connection. You need to make sure that the connector on the motherboard where the drive is connected is functional (for this, you can connect another hard drive to it).
If there is no problem with the connector, make sure the cables are securely connected and the pins are touching to transfer power. You can try using other cables to connect the drive.
Boot priority is incorrectly set in BIOS
Advanced computer users know that in the BIOS you can set the boot order of drives, both internal and external. This may be required, for example, to install an operating system from a USB flash drive. If the computer does not see the hard drive, there is a chance that it is set to low priority in the BIOS or the drive is disabled altogether.
To remedy the situation, you need to start the BIOS (for this, press Del or F2 when starting the computer). When the BIOS opens, you need to go to the section where there is information about the priority of the drives (find the BOOT item). Next, you need to put the hard disk in the first or second place, which is not detected by the computer, after which it remains to save the installed settings and you can reboot the system unit.
Lost BIOS settings
Sometimes the BIOS itself does not detect the hard drive, therefore, there is no way to set its boot priority, which means that the drive will not start together with the system. You can determine if there is a BIOS failure by looking at the system date and time. If they are wrong, the best solution would be to remove the battery from the motherboard for half an hour, then install it back and try to start the computer.
Conflict between hard drives
If your computer has two hard drives from the same manufacturer and the same model, problems may arise with them working together. In such a situation, you need to configure one hard drive, then turn it off and set other settings on the second hard drive (change the name, "drive letter" and other parameters that identify the drive).
Old operating system
Windows XP and older operating systems may not support the SATA (SATA 2) interface that modern hard drives are connected to. Microsoft has implemented support for this protocol in new editions of Windows XP. If the operating system on the computer has not been reinstalled for a long time, there is a chance that it simply cannot work with a hard disk connected via the SATA protocol (SATA 2). In this case, you will need to reinstall Windows XP to a version with integrated protocol drivers or install a more modern operating system.
Not enough power
Another common problem due to which the computer does not see the hard drive is lack of power. Listen to the hard drive as you turn on the computer. If it starts making noise (accelerating), and then calms down, this may indicate a lack of nutrition.
Each computer uses a hard drive that stores the software and other files needed to operate. Note that this component is very sensitive, and problems with it often arise. This is due to the presence of elements moving at high speed inside the disk. One of the possible problems is the situation when the computer does not see the hard drive. Why is this happening and how to solve it? Let's talk about this.
Problem in connection interface or power supply
First you need to check if the disk is working. To do this, it must be connected to another computer. This is easy to do: just remove 4 (or even 2) screws, pull out the power cable and SATA cable and connect to another computer. If he sees the disc, then this will clearly indicate a problem with the computer from where the drive was removed.
Why can't the computer see the hard drive if another system was able to see it? There may be several reasons:
There is a small chance that after carrying out these manipulations, the hard drive will work. These are the most basic operations that a user can quickly undertake to solve this problem. If all else fails and you still do not know why the computer does not see the hard drive, then you need to look deeper into the cause.
BIOS settings
BIOS may well be the reason why the computer does not see the hard drive. Therefore, its settings must either be changed or reset. The last option is the simplest. To do this, reboot the computer, enter the BIOS (usually you need to press F2 or Del when rebooting) and look for the "Load Optimized Defaults" menu item. It can also be the "Load Optimal Defaults" line. We select this item, press Enter, the system asks us for confirmation, we agree. Now press F10 (save and exit), confirm the action, the computer restarts again. The system will then be able to see the hard drive, after which it will boot.
No interface support
If the computer does not see the hard drive, the cause may be the SATA interface, which older operating systems cannot work with. However, there is an opinion that this problem is solved by loading drivers for SATA or installing a Windows distribution kit, in which the necessary drivers are preinstalled. However, the easiest option is to install a more recent operating system (Windows 7, for example), where the necessary drivers are by default.
By the way, the absence of drivers in the system is possible if pirated copies of the software are used in the form of various assemblies from unknown users.
Device conflict
If several hard disks from different manufacturers are connected to a computer using different SATA interfaces, then a device conflict may occur. It is quite easy to check whether this is really so. To do this, you need to turn off each drive in turn and see how the system reacts to this. It may turn out that after disconnecting the first disk, the operating system freely detects the second drive, and when disconnecting the second, it will see the first without any problems. In this case, the reason why the computer does not see the new hard drive will be obvious - a device conflict. If the disk is new, then it is advisable to replace it with another one from the same manufacturer as the main one.
Operating system problems
In some cases, it is not clear why the computer does not see the hard drive, Windows boots up at the same time, and information about it is displayed in the BIOS. In this case, there is a problem with the operating system. You can try to solve this problem by means of Windows itself.
To do this, open the "Control Panel" and go to the "Administrative Tools" section. There is a "Computer Management" item. Select it and see "Disk Management" in the tree on the left. Right-click on it, the context menu is called up, click on "Change drive letter or path". A new window opens in which we can change the drive letter. We indicate a new letter, click "OK", restart the computer.
In some cases, this helps to solve the problem, but not always. This solution works when the system already has another device (for example, a DVD drive), which is assigned the letter D, which is used to denote the default primary partition of the disk.
When the disk is not turned on by the system
When attaching an additional hard drive, the system may crash and not provision. However, you can also do this manually. To do this, go to the same section "Disk Management". All disks connected to the computer will be displayed there - working or not. If the line "No data" appears opposite the additional disk, it means that it is not initialized. Click on it with the right mouse button and select the "Initialize" item.
Also opposite the disk may be written "Not allocated". Right-click on it, select the "Create Simple Volume" option and follow the instructions of the system.
If the specified drive system is RAW, it means that the drive must be formatted in the NTFS or FAT32 file system. Click on it with the right mouse button and select the "Format" option. In this case, all information from the drive will be deleted.
If the computer does not see the external hard drive
Note that the external drive is a more modern analogue of a flash drive. It connects via the USB interface. Therefore, if the computer does not see the external hard drive, then first of all you need to try to connect it to a different USB port.
If this does not help, then you need to change the drive letter. Above is the way to do it. It should also be borne in mind that the new disk may not be formatted. You will have to do this yourself. You need to format it in FAT32 or NTFS in the same section "Disk Management". Be careful, as formatting erases all data from the disk permanently.
Lack of drivers is another reason why the computer cannot see the hard drive. What to do in this case? Yes, you just need to install the driver. Probably, a disk with utilities came with the external hard drive - they need to be installed. If there is no disk, then the necessary "firewood" can be found on the Web, downloaded and installed. And although in 90% of cases Windows automatically connects external hard drives (drivers are already in the system), sometimes it happens that you need to download applications yourself.
Finally
These are the main reasons why the computer cannot see the hard drive. You now know what to do in these cases, but if nothing works, and the system still cannot recognize the presence of a drive, then a hardware failure of the device cannot be ruled out. It can be determined quite accurately by connecting the drive to another computer. And if even another system could not recognize it, then it is clearly broken. However, if it is new, then it will definitely be replaced under warranty. And as for old disks, which are more than 5 years old, then you should not worry about them, since they do not have the longest life. Drives are extremely sensitive devices with moving parts inside. And if we are talking about SSD-drives, then these ones do have a limited service life, since memory cells disappear when writing and erasing information.
In general, now you understand why the computer does not see the hard drive and how to fix a similar problem. Note that this is a common phenomenon, which in most cases can be solved by software.
Emulators
