What to do if the computer does not see an internal hard drive

Perform the following actions in order. If the first does not help, go to the second and so on.

Disk is not displayed in BIOS

If you just connected the hard drive, check if you did it correctly. Find the official instructions for your motherboard and the hard disk on the manufacturers’ sites and do all recommendations.

If you are trying to install Windows XP or the older version and the system reports the absence of a hard drive, make sure that the BIOS is enabled compatible with this OS wire drive mode. IDE. To do this, find the SATA (SATA MODE, SATA Configuration or similar name) in BIOS. As a value, install the IDE, save the changes and restart the computer.

If possible, check the health of the hard disk by connecting it to another PC. EARCHES. Look for malfunctions in the motherboard or other components of your computer. If not, you can attribute the hard drive to the service center.

Disk is not displayed in Windows

Make sure the hard disk is enabled in the BIOS settings. To do this, restart the computer and, as soon as the machine starts to turn on, press the F2 or DEL key (the desired key is usually highlighted on the screen) until you get to the BIOS.

Then find the disk management section (Storage Configuration, Drive or with a similar name) and make sure that the desired hard drive is activated. Opposite it should be an inscription Active, ON or something similar. Save the changes and restart the PC.

Check if Windows properly prepared a disk to work. First, open the command prompt window (Windows R keys), then enter in it DiskMGMT.MSC and press ENTER. Carefully read all the warnings of the system to accidentally do not format the drive or change the data recorded on it.

If in the “Disk Management” menu you will see a disk without Tom Tags, it may be the cause of the conflict. Then click on the disk right-click and assign the letter to it using the appropriate option in the context menu. Then restart the computer.

If you see a new disk with the signature “not initialized” in the same menu, click on it with the right mouse button, select “Initialize Disk” and follow Windows Tips. After initialization, click on the disk to call the context menu, select “Create a simple volume” and act according to the instructions of the system. Upon completion restart PC.

Download the latest drivers for SATA drives from the manufacturer’s motherboard or laptop manufacturer and install them.

Check the computer for malicious software using antivirus.

Try reinstalling Windows after preserving all the important data.

If nothing of the listed will help, contact a service center for help.

Possible reasons

There are a number of reasons why the hard disk may not be visible in my computer. Often this problem occurs with new devices only connected to PC. These causes often happen:

• Not given letter.
• Wrong format.
• Initialization has not been carried out.
• Cables and wires are damaged.
• Failure of BIOS settings.
• Weak power supply or cooling system.
• Motherboard fault.
• Damaged sectors (BAD blocks).
• Fault of internal mechanics.

In order to avoid difficulties, let’s look at each problem in more detail when the hard disk does not open, its cause and effective solution.

Uninitialized HDD

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

All this has to be done by itself, because, unfortunately, a hard disk, even very advanced and expensive, is not initialized by itself. The system cannot solve for you, what kind of formatting to choose which to display the name in Windows and how to structure information in order to best integrate HDD to work PC.

Diagnostic measures

If the computer does not see the disk, you need to decide on the “culprits”. That is, to find out, the problem lies in the device itself or in the system. To do this, you will have to connect the hard drive to another computer.

If it recognizes the device, then the problem is in the system, if not, then the hard drive itself is defective. Further work on it is better to prevent masters. Or use warranty replacement or repair.

If the problem in the “native” system of the hard disk, that is, several ways to eliminate its own forces. Then a little that can be done yourself will help avoid spending on specialist services.

• You can enter the BIOS settings by pressing the F2 or DEL keys until the system boot started;
• It is better to remember the correct connection of cables with SATA outputs;
• Cleared from the system unit Winchester is better to wrap in the antistatic;
• The lower part of the device, which is with the boards, is also better to put on the antistatic.

Diagnostic measures

If the computer does not see the disk, you need to decide on the “culprits”. That is, to find out, the problem lies in the device itself or in the system. To do this, you will have to connect the hard drive to another computer.

If it recognizes the device, then the problem is in the system, if not, then the hard drive itself is defective. Further work on it is better to prevent masters. Or use warranty replacement or repair.

If the problem in the “native” system of the hard disk, that is, several ways to eliminate its own forces. Then a little that can be done yourself will help avoid spending on specialist services.

Several useful tips

• You can enter the BIOS settings by pressing the F2 or DEL keys until the system boot started;
• It is better to remember the correct connection of cables with SATA outputs;
• Cleared from the system unit Winchester is better to wrap in the antistatic;
• The lower part of the device, which is with the boards, is also better to put on the antistatic.

As it happens

one.one. Anxious inscriptions

Disk Boot Failure. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PESS ENTER. It is often that this inscription see users, solving that their computer “does not see the disk”. Depending on the platform and type of equipment (computer, laptop or some multimedia device), other alarming inscriptions are possible: “Correct Hard Disk Not Found”, “Warning! Hard Disk Not Found! Press Any Key to Continue!”,” INTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE NOT FOUND “,” Hard Disk Drive Failure “,” Did Not Find Any Hard Disk Drives Installed In Your Computer “and more. It makes no sense to list everything. Their essence is clear. the computer does not see the disk. In addition to HDD, it can also go about CD / DVD, Flash carrier or SSD. But in the first part of this article, we will focus in detail on the hard disk as on a more popular source of problems.

one.2. Hard disk may not see BIOS

If this is the only drive in this computer from which the operating system should be loaded, you will probably see the inscription on the Black Screen: Disk Boot Failure. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PESS ENTER.

Logical. Since the disk did not decide on the BIOS, it is impossible to boot from it.

If you are loaded from another device (other HDD, CD or Flash, it does not matter), then in the Manage Computer Manager of Devices (Depending on the version of the operating system, it can look different) among the disks we need a disk not defined.

In both of these cases, entering the “Standart Cmos Features” menu BIOS You can make sure that the desired disk among the definable devices is not.

one.3. List of suspected and search for the perpetrator

So, under suspicion can be: power and data loops, motherboard and HDD itself. Connect the hard drive to other free loops in order to rely on the first suspects.

Then, if you have another, obviously good hard disk, connect it to the location of the problem to make sure that the case is not in the motherboard. If there is no such, then you can connect the disk to another computer and see that the picture is the same.

Naturally, this article is not addressed to specialists to recover data or setting up and repairing computers. And if you read before this place, I dare to assume, you are not a specialist in this kind. Therefore, I will not describe possible ways to further study your disk using the measurement of the resistance tester at various parts of the electronics board or disk connections to special software and hardware complexes, like PC-3000. But on the other hand, for some reason I want to believe that smoke and caustic smell, rhythmic tapping, crushing or other extraneous manifestations from the system unit or laptop you would have already thought suspicious for a long time, and you immediately turned off the computer. Thus, if at least something from the listed occurred, then all the diagnostic steps described above are irrelevant. Your disk is not working. And you yourself already understood. It is worth noting that in this case you will probably deal with a malfunction of electronics or disk mechanics.

It is not necessary in this case to produce unconscious actions: once again apply power to the disk, try to test it with some programs, disassemble it to find out what is inside, unscrew and change the fee and so on. Stop and think well about your main goal. It is fundamentally understood that you are most frightened in the current situation: the need to spend money on a new hard disk or lack of access to important data. If suddenly it would have to choose: a working disk, but without data, or data from this disk on another carrier (yes, unfortunately, it will have to buy it). What would you choose? Of course, one of the other may not be excluded, but it is necessary to put this question after all. The answer to it will help you understand that for you the main thing, and that secondary. And which parts of this article will be useful for you.

one.4. The system does not see the disk

It happens that the disk in the BIOS is determined, but in Windows there is no. precisely, Windows cannot work with this disk (or flash drive). For example, in the device manager you can see quite peaceful:

But if you look at the properties of this in this case, clicking on it with the right mouse button and selecting the appropriate item in the drop-down menu, you will see:

And in the Disk Manager and at all there is such a strange picture:

OS does not see any properties of this disk, including the size does not determine its size. You may have suspected something wrong, seeing that your discs E: and F disappeared in the system:, namely, these letters were assigned to the sections of that hard disk that you are connected to the second. Well, if the sections of such a disk are not assigned letters when it is connected by the second, it is easy to guess what will happen if you try to boot. Right, nothing will be. OS will not boot, and you will read one of the inscriptions listed at the very beginning of the article on the black screen. It is likely that this disk has a problem with service information. a firmware, sewn in the factory. Without it, the disc can be considered faulty, even if you saw that he was found in BIOS. The same diagnosis can be put in almost all cases when the disk externally behaves as a fully worker (that is, it is not silent, but it is properly spinning and sparkling the heads and does not make out of foreign sounds), but it is not defined in the bios.

Insufficient food and a weak cooling system

Weak power supply. another frequent cause. Listen to the operation of the system. If the alternating buzzes are condensed from it, which is uncharacteristic for the normal operation of the BP, most likely, it does not cope with the provision of hardware component of the computer. To eliminate the problem, you will have to replace the component for more powerful.

Through insufficient cooling of the PC system or laptop hardware parts can also refuse. This problem is more susceptible to laptops with weak fans that are actively used. In this case, it will be properly additionally purchased a cooling stand. You will see that the system will not only work correctly, but will be faster to execute commands.

Do not forget to maintain the device. Over time, dust accumulates in the ventilation system and on other components. As a result, the device overheats and refuses to work normally. Therefore, you need to regularly clean.

Decided to buy a new HDD? Read how to do it not to make a mistake: how to choose a hard disk for PC;

What to do if a computer with Windows does not see a flash drive or an outer hard drive

First you need to decide what exactly the problem occurs: with a computer, adapter (if the connection occurs through the cable) or the drive.

• Try connecting a USB device through other ports. If it works fine there, it means that a problem with a specific USB port. Have to attribute a computer to repair.
• If you use a cable, try to replace it with a spare. Perhaps this will solve the problem.
• If you connect the disk via USB hub, disconnect the hub and connect the device directly to the port. It is possible that the hub is faulty or does not have enough power to power the disk.
• In case of failure, check whether the drive opens on other computers. On the other device everything is in order? So the problem is in your system. And we will try to solve it.

If you managed to open the contents of the disk or flash drive on another PC, it will not prevent backup. just just in case.

If on the other PC device works or you do not have the opportunity to check it

Connect the hard disk or flash drive to your computer and follow these steps in order. If it does not help first, go to the next and so on.

Check the drive settings in the Disk Management menu. Click the “Start” menu by right-click and select “Disc Control”. Or open the command line window (Windows R keys), then enter DiskMGMT in it.MSC and press ENTER.

If in the “Disk Management” menu, you will see a volume disk, this may be the cause of the problem. Click on it right-click and assign a letter for it using the appropriate option in the context menu. Find out that you have chosen exactly the disk you need, you can.

Carefully read all the warnings of the system to accidentally do not format the drive or change the data recorded on it.

After that, the disc should be visible in the “Explorer”.

Check disk marking. Make sure the section is correctly created on the device. To do this, find it in “Drive Management”. If the band, denoting the space on the disk, is not blue, but black and marked as “not distributed,” it means that it is necessary to create a section on it.

Right-click the black strip and select “Create a simple volume” → “Next” → “Next” → “Next”. In the “Format this volume as follows” section, select the NTFS file system if you have a big disk, or FAT32 for a flash drive. Click “Next” → “Finish”.

Such a problem often occurs with just purchased devices that have not formatted at the factory. You can apply this method only if you are sure that there is nothing valuable on the disk.

Check the disk file system. Maybe the disk you are trying to connect to your computer with Windows in the past was formatted in systems like MacOS or Linux. Then it is quite possible that the file system on it is not NTFS or FAT32, as in Windows, but any extra 4 or APFS. Windows does not know how to read them and when connected proposed to format the disk. Naturally, then you will lose its contents.

Connect the disk to that computer on which it is formatted, and copy data from there. Then reformat the disk into a less exotic NTFS or in FAT32. if it is a small flash drive.

Check the equipment settings in the Device Manager. To open it, click the Start menu by right-click and select Device Manager. Or type on the command line (windows r) devmgmt.MSC and press ENTER.

Note the section “Disk Devices”. If you see there (or in any other section, if it happens) the non-working device (with a question or exclamation mark), can help update.

Right-click on this device and click “Delete”. In the top menu, click “Action” → “Update Equipment Configuration”.

Update the driver in the Device Manager. Until closed the “Device Manager” window, click your disk with the right mouse button and click “Refresh Driver”. Sometimes helps.

Install the latest updates for Windows. Without them, there may be no necessary corrections in the operating system to work with modern USB drives. This is especially true for old and unsupported Windows XP.

If another PC also does not see the drive or all of the above tips did not help

In this case, most likely the problem is in the drive itself.

If you have a flash drive, not a hard disk, you can use special utilities to correct program errors. This can usually be found on the manufacturer’s website. For example, the JetFlash Online Recovery program. for TRANSCEND drives. A USB Flash Drive Online Recovery. for the ADATA brand flash drives. But note that during the recovery process, these utilities erase all data.

If nothing of the listed helped, then it is probably a matter of physical malfunction of a hard disk or flash drive. Then it is better to show the device by a specialist or return to the store under warranty.

Other utilities

USBoblivion

After updating Windows in the registry, there may be records that belong to previous drive connections. Because of these “unnecessary” data, the system cannot get topical information about Winchester. Usboblivion is suitable here. She is free.

• Find it on the net, download and run.
• Check the “Clean” options and “Save Cancel File”.
• Pull out all USB devices.
• In the utility, click on the “Cleaning” button.
• Restart PC.
• Connect all gadgets.

If the conductor does not display a hard disk, this does not mean that he is broken. Upgrade Drivers and Note Winchester Tom Tag. Or upload a USB troubleshooting program.