Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system

ed84g · 05-15-2008, 11:02 PM

Hi, im new here and although i can normally figure most things out eventually im not much on a gun on computers.

After getting a virus that rooted my pc i wiped the whole thing and did a clean install of Windows Vista, on doing so i noticed on the BIOS screen that where was a second hard drive that i didnt even know was there since it never showed up when i was running XP (and no im not that stupid... i didnt buy the computer but i have just been informed by the person who did that it always had 2 hard drives inside!).

Anyway, this second drive doesnt show up on Vista either, ive checked through disk managment and there is no indication of it there either? According to the BIOS screen this second drive is completely empty, any idea how i can access it?

Thank you for you help

**eneles** · 05-16-2008, 01:11 AM

Welcome to TSF.

Can you see the drive in Device manager?
What's the model name/number of the drive (look in BIOS)?

ed84g · 05-19-2008, 12:20 AM

im assuming its the same as the drive on here which im assuming is called WDC WD2500JS 22NCB1

It doesnt show up in device manager at all

dai · 05-19-2008, 01:05 AM

check it's set to be seen as ide in the bios

krisb · 05-19-2008, 09:32 AM

i have had this same problem in vista. if your problem is the same (which it sounds like it is) then try this

click "start"
on the "computer" link right click and then click "manage"
in the left colum double click "disk management" (under the "storage" heading)
you should be able to see the drive in question. Right Click on it and then click "format"
this should fix the issue. you can also asign a drive letter of your choice to all of your drives but i recomend you leave your system drive as "C".
i found an explanation as to why this happens but i forget. interestingly enough my drive was/is a WD aswell.

05-15-2008, 11:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
ed84g Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: vista	Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system Hi, im new here and although i can normally figure most things out eventually im not much on a gun on computers. After getting a virus that rooted my pc i wiped the whole thing and did a clean install of Windows Vista, on doing so i noticed on the BIOS screen that where was a second hard drive that i didnt even know was there since it never showed up when i was running XP (and no im not that stupid... i didnt buy the computer but i have just been informed by the person who did that it always had 2 hard drives inside!). Anyway, this second drive doesnt show up on Vista either, ive checked through disk managment and there is no indication of it there either? According to the BIOS screen this second drive is completely empty, any idea how i can access it? Thank you for you help

05-16-2008, 01:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
eneles Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sweden/Denmark Posts: 21,187 OS: 98SE/XP SP3/Vista SP1/Ubuntu 8.04 My System	Re: Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system Welcome to TSF. Can you see the drive in Device manager? What's the model name/number of the drive (look in BIOS)? __________________ Click the banner for links

05-19-2008, 12:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
ed84g Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: vista	Re: Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system im assuming its the same as the drive on here which im assuming is called WDC WD2500JS 22NCB1 It doesnt show up in device manager at all

05-19-2008, 01:05 AM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 39,486 OS: vista 32x ultimate retail	Re: Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system check it's set to be seen as ide in the bios __________________

05-19-2008, 09:32 AM	#5 (permalink)
krisb Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 38 OS: Vista Home Premium 64 My System	Re: Hard drive in BIOS but not on operating system i have had this same problem in vista. if your problem is the same (which it sounds like it is) then try this click "start" on the "computer" link right click and then click "manage" in the left colum double click "disk management" (under the "storage" heading) you should be able to see the drive in question. Right Click on it and then click "format" this should fix the issue. you can also asign a drive letter of your choice to all of your drives but i recomend you leave your system drive as "C". i found an explanation as to why this happens but i forget. interestingly enough my drive was/is a WD aswell.