hard drive not found when trying to download vista

USLMRA · 01-25-2009, 09:36 PM

Im not sure what is wrong with my computer i got it from a friend who said he dropped it form his car but i feel like i can get it working. Everything seems to work fine but when i go to download vista on the hard drive it does not list it. It shows that everything else seems to be working like the disk drives and the hard drive works because i put it in my other computer to download vista on. However when i went to put it back in the broken computer it still did not show up. If anyone has any ideas to what the problem could be it would help me out alot because i dont know to much about this stuff.

Thanks

**blah789** · 01-26-2009, 06:24 PM

don't say "download vista" on this forum because the admins will burst an artery.
fortunately, when i read your post i understood you meant "install vista".
I think the best way to find out if the drive is still alive is to plug it as a slave into a working computer (with a main drive and an operating system on that main drive). when you boot into it, click start, run, then type diskmgmt.msc and see if the faulty drive is detected. also check in device manager. and see if it's listed in the bios. if not it's most likely dead. if it's dead, you should look on the drive label for the manufacturing date and the duration of the warranty. if the drive is still under warranty, you can send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement.

USLMRA · 01-27-2009, 11:56 AM

The hard drive works in my other computer but the non working computer does not show any hard drive(i tried two working ones) in the bios and all the cables are hooked up right and i switched them out and still nothing. Everything shows up on bios but the hard drive im stuck. If you have any other idea let me know
thanks sorry about the vista thing

**blah789** · 01-27-2009, 05:24 PM

How old is the computer? I just want to rule out that you have a vintage computer (say one with a BIOS that still had the 32GB barrier - those couldn't read drives over 32GB and would hang if you hooked one up)
If a working drive isn't detected when plugged in, I can only think of trying the obvious: switching IDE channel, perhaps using different cables, and checking the jumpers in the back of the drive to make sure they're correct.
Does the BIOS detect CD or DVD drives (or any other IDE device you can think of... ZIP drives for example)? If it doesn't detect anything connected via an IDE cable on either channel, I would guess the IDE controller is dead or fried. Most of them are integrated on the motherboard, so replacing them would require replacing the whole motherboard.

USLMRA · 01-28-2009, 07:52 PM

No it is pretty new and used to run this hard drive (120gb) my friend told me it just stopped working when he dropped it lol. But switched all the cables and the bios reads all the other drives (both CD 'sand floppy) and everything looks like it is in good shaped by looking at it but im pretty sure that the IDE controller sounds like a good bet seeing how all the other drives work. I guess i need a new motherboard thanks for the help.

01-25-2009, 09:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
USLMRA Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: vista	hard drive not found when trying to download vista Im not sure what is wrong with my computer i got it from a friend who said he dropped it form his car but i feel like i can get it working. Everything seems to work fine but when i go to download vista on the hard drive it does not list it. It shows that everything else seems to be working like the disk drives and the hard drive works because i put it in my other computer to download vista on. However when i went to put it back in the broken computer it still did not show up. If anyone has any ideas to what the problem could be it would help me out alot because i dont know to much about this stuff. Thanks

01-26-2009, 06:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,293 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: hard drive not found when trying to download vista don't say "download vista" on this forum because the admins will burst an artery. fortunately, when i read your post i understood you meant "install vista". I think the best way to find out if the drive is still alive is to plug it as a slave into a working computer (with a main drive and an operating system on that main drive). when you boot into it, click start, run, then type diskmgmt.msc and see if the faulty drive is detected. also check in device manager. and see if it's listed in the bios. if not it's most likely dead. if it's dead, you should look on the drive label for the manufacturing date and the duration of the warranty. if the drive is still under warranty, you can send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement.

01-27-2009, 11:56 AM	#3 (permalink)
USLMRA Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: vista	Re: hard drive not found when trying to download vista The hard drive works in my other computer but the non working computer does not show any hard drive(i tried two working ones) in the bios and all the cables are hooked up right and i switched them out and still nothing. Everything shows up on bios but the hard drive im stuck. If you have any other idea let me know thanks sorry about the vista thing

01-27-2009, 05:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,293 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: hard drive not found when trying to download vista How old is the computer? I just want to rule out that you have a vintage computer (say one with a BIOS that still had the 32GB barrier - those couldn't read drives over 32GB and would hang if you hooked one up) If a working drive isn't detected when plugged in, I can only think of trying the obvious: switching IDE channel, perhaps using different cables, and checking the jumpers in the back of the drive to make sure they're correct. Does the BIOS detect CD or DVD drives (or any other IDE device you can think of... ZIP drives for example)? If it doesn't detect anything connected via an IDE cable on either channel, I would guess the IDE controller is dead or fried. Most of them are integrated on the motherboard, so replacing them would require replacing the whole motherboard.

01-28-2009, 07:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
USLMRA Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: vista	Re: hard drive not found when trying to download vista No it is pretty new and used to run this hard drive (120gb) my friend told me it just stopped working when he dropped it lol. But switched all the cables and the bios reads all the other drives (both CD 'sand floppy) and everything looks like it is in good shaped by looking at it but im pretty sure that the IDE controller sounds like a good bet seeing how all the other drives work. I guess i need a new motherboard thanks for the help.