When buying a computer, few users ask themselves how much hard drive capacity they need; they cannot predict in advance which files and how large they will be stored on the computer. Over time, the PC turns into a “file dump”. It’s a pity to delete everything, but in reality there’s not much that’s needed. However, during work or for certain needs, additional amounts of disk space are needed, which can be expanded by connecting an additional HDD or SSD drive.
Why do you need a second hard drive?
Often users want to separate the operating system, programs and user personal files. In addition, installing the system and programs on a separate fast (albeit not so capacious) SSD disk or HDD can significantly speed up system loading, improve responsiveness and increase productivity. Saving time is a significant factor.
How to connect an additional disk drive?
Any computer, even an ancient one, has the ability to connect several disks at the same time. All modern computers support the installation of drives with SATA1, SATA2, SATA3 interfaces. If your motherboard has a SATA2 interface, and the hard drive meets SATA3 specifications, then connection is possible (compatibility in connectors and signals), but the maximum performance of the drive will be limited by the motherboard interface, that is, the data exchange speed will not be higher than in SATA2.
To install an additional hard drive, you need to connect 2 connectors - power and data. All operations must be carried out with the power completely turned off. After installing the second disk and starting the computer, the new disk will be initialized, and then it will need to be formatted and partitioned (or left 1 partition). However, the additional hard drive does not always start working. Why?
Why doesn't the computer see the second hard drive?
There may be several reasons for this phenomenon. These are software or hardware failures, lack of drivers, outdated operating system, incorrect connection and setting of HDD operating parameters.
The old computer does not see the second hard drive.
For older computers where the connection is via the IDE interface, all disk drives have jumpers to set the disk operating mode - Master (main, primary master), Slave (secondary, additional, slave). In this case, for the first one (for the old disk from which the operating system boots), you need to set the jumper to Master mode, and for the new one - to Slave mode. If 2 drives are connected with one data cable, then the Master drive should be closer to the motherboard (by connector) than the new drive.
The new computer does not see the SSD
For modern computers with SATA interfaces, the new drive may not be visible in cases where you connect an SSD drive. SSDs have built-in controllers that are not always compatible with the controllers installed on the motherboard. If the disk is not detected, you can connect it to another SATA connector on the motherboard (if it has several different controllers). Also, the new HDD may not be visible due to the incorrectly set operating mode of the hard drive controller. This mode is configured in the BIOS menu of the motherboard. For each BIOS manufacturer and motherboard model, the available operating modes and their names may differ.
The computer does not see the new HDD. How to fix?
To correct the situation when the computer does not see the second hard drive, you should check the BIOS settings, connect the drive to a different data connector and power connector. If this does not help, then other methods will come in handy.
Most often, all equipment is in good working order and correctly configured, there are just a few points that you should not forget about. The new hard drive may not have a letter assigned or may not be formatted. The computer sees the disk at the stage of testing and loading to the operating system (white letters on a black background when the PC is turned on), but there is no new disk in Windows Explorer. This happens often. In a Windows system it is very easy to fix even without using additional programs.
We format the new disk and assign it a letter - Windows 7
We go to START. Right-click on “My Computer” and select the “Manage” context menu item.
Next, go to the Disk Management section. A list of drives connected to the computer will be displayed. Each drive will be displayed by partition with corresponding letters. If the disk is new, then there is a 99% chance that it is simply not formatted.
After successful completion of the operation, the option to create a partition on a new disk will be available.
This operation can also be performed using specialized software tools for working with HDDs and SSDs - Acronis Disk Director, Paragon Partition Manager and others.
In most cases, the information above will help solve the problem of the computer not recognizing the new hard drive. If this does not help, the best solution would be to contact a specialist who will find out and eliminate the cause.
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Problems with hard drive detection can arise in different situations: when installing Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10, connecting a second or external hard drive. Depending on the conditions under which the error occurred, the methods for eliminating it differ significantly.
Search for disk during installation
If during installation Windows does not see the hard drive, then the cause of this error is the lack of necessary drivers. The crash usually appears on laptops and ultrabooks with SSDs. The Windows installation program does not contain the necessary software, so in order to install XP, “seven”, “eight” or Windows 10, you must first install the drivers.
Check your computer's specifications. 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 you have an AMD processor, then look for the necessary software using the query “SATA/RAID driver + motherboard model”.
- Download and unpack the data archive. Place it on the Windows installation flash drive. If you are installing XP from a disk, then transfer the driver to the USB flash drive anyway; it must be connected along with the installation disk before turning on the computer.
- Start installing Windows 10, 8, 7, XP. When you reach the stage of selecting 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 hard drive partitions and will be able to install Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 on your computer.
External drive detection
If Windows 7 does not see a hard drive that is connected via USB as an external drive, then the first thing you should do is make sure that the correct letter is assigned to the drive.
- Open Control Panel, set the View option to Large Icons. Go to the "Administration" section.
- Launch the Computer Management tool.
- In the menu on the left, find the “Storage Devices” 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 “Administration” section opens through the “Programs” menu in Start. In any case, in the Disk Management window you should see all the drives connected to the computer: the main, external, second internal.
If the external hard drive is correctly detected by the system, right-click on it and select “Change letter”. Assign a letter that is not already used in the system: for example, X or M. 
If the external hard drive is new and you haven’t written anything to it yet, then try formatting it so that the hard drive can be recognized in the system. Formatting will delete all data, so you need to be sure that there is nothing important on the media. An unformatted external drive will be labeled “Unallocated.”
- Right-click on the disk and click “Create Simple Volume.”
- Enter the space size of the new volume. If you want the external disk 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 the NTFS file system. Leave the remaining parameters unchanged.
After formatting is complete, the external drive should be correctly detected by the system and appear in “Computer”. These steps are performed the same on all versions of Windows, from XP to Windows 10. If changing the letter and formatting does not solve the problem, then make sure that the USB port works without errors - look in the device manager controller drivers. Make sure the cable used to connect the external drive is working properly. If previously the hard drive was detected without problems, but now it is not detected by the system, then check it with an antivirus.
Problems with the second disk
If Windows 7 does not see the hard drive connected to the system unit as a second drive, then you first 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 Drive Management Tool. The command is relevant for all versions of Windows, from XP to 10.
- Find the second drive among the connected drives. Look at what status it has - depending on this, the methods for correcting the error will differ.
If there are no error messages, try first simply changing the letter to a value that is not yet used on the system. As for errors, the disk may not be initialized, not allocated, or simply have a RAW file system. How to fix these problems.
The hard drive is one of the most important hardware components of a PC. It houses the operating system and stores data. Over time, the amount of accumulated information grows, and users think about additional space. Everyone's approach is different. Some people prefer to use an external drive. Someone will replace the HDD with a fast SSD, and leave the old disk only for data storage. The most advanced ones use NAS for this purpose. It would seem that everything is simple - buy it, connect it and use it. Trouble can lurk just in the middle of this path. Cases when the hard drive is not visible in the system are not that uncommon. Today we will tell you how to cope with this unpleasant situation.
Usually the user discovers that the disk is not visible when loading the OS. We open “Explorer” and instead of the desired two drives we see only one. Let's figure out why Windows doesn't see the hard drive.
Windows 10 Disk Management
First, you should make sure that the system does not recognize the drive. Its absence in Explorer doesn’t mean anything. Let's call the Power User menu. This can be done by right-clicking on the “Start” button or using the keyboard shortcut “Win” + “X”. We will need the item indicated in the screenshot.
Open the “Disk Devices” section. For clarity, the following screenshot shows the display of drives in it and in Explorer.
We were able to locate the hard drive. It is accepted by the system, but is not ready for use. To fix this, let's turn to the Power User menu again. This time we will choose a different item. Let's open a special utility that allows you to work with the drive without leaving the graphical OS environment.
When it starts, we will be asked to initialize the new SSD by selecting a partition table for it. For 64-bit systems and computers with UEFI, you can choose GPT. And 32-bit versions of Windows and BIOS require the old MBR partition to work. In this case we will use the GUID table.
Call up the context menu on the new drive and select the indicated item.
The Volume Creation Wizard starts. We follow the step-by-step instructions he offers.
We are not going to divide the disk into separate sections. At this step we make no changes and move on.
By default, the OS sets the drive to the next letter of the Latin alphabet not occupied by devices. If desired, you can select any other in the menu indicated by the arrow. In order not to cause a conflict, you should not indicate a letter that comes earlier in the alphabet than the option proposed by the system.
Set the text label of the volume being created in the designated field. We do not change the file system type and cluster size.
At the final stage, the wizard displays the selected parameters. We agree and confirm the choice.
The screenshot shows the result of our work. The disk named "Data" is formatted and ready to use.
Let's look into Explorer and make sure that the problem due to which Windows does not see the hard drive has been resolved.
The screenshot shows that a new drive has appeared in the system, which was previously visible only in the device manager.
Windows 7 Disk Management
When Windows 7 does not see the hard drive, the user’s actions will be similar to those described for Windows 10. Only the location in the menu of the tools necessary for work is significantly different. To simplify the task, we will use the management console.
Call the “Run” menu using the combination “Win” + “R”. Enter the command to open the console in the text field.
In the window that opens, first make sure that the drive is detected in the system.
Let's move on to the second point and, by launching the Volume Creation Wizard, we eliminate the reason why Windows 7 does not see the second hard drive.
The disk is not detected by the OS
If the disk does not appear in the device manager, you need to check whether it is visible in the BIOS. A user may encounter this problem if he decides to install an SSD. To improve hardware compatibility, manufacturers enable IDE mode on motherboards by default. Any HDD can work with it. Even connected via a SATA connector, it will not create problems for the user. The SSD requires unconditional use of the more modern AHCI mode.
We go into the BIOS and on the main tab look at the presence of disks in the system.
Go to the next section to check the connection mode. Select the marked item.
We are looking for the parameter responsible for the operation of the controllers.
As you can see, the mode switch is in the IDE position. For this reason, the computer does not see the hard drive in the BIOS. Use the arrows to move to the desired item and open the internal menu by pressing Enter. Change the mode to AHCI.
We return to the Main tab and make sure that the BIOS sees our drive. It appeared in the list of connected SATA devices. We record the changes made by pressing the corresponding function key and exit the BIOS.
We have solved the problem where the hard drive is not detected in Windows and is not visible in Device Manager. You can boot into the graphical mode of the OS and perform the actions described in the first section.
Disk with caching SSD
Laptop owners may encounter another type of the described problem when reinstalling the operating system. Windows does not see a drive that uses a caching SSD running on Intel Rapid Storage Technology and requires a driver. In this case, you will have to postpone the installation and prepare first by visiting the Intel website from another computer.
In the "Support - Drivers and Software" section you will find the RST driver for your OS.
Before the next installation attempt, place it on a USB flash drive with the distribution kit or on a separate disk. When Windows once again cannot see the hard drive on its own, point it to the folder with the unpacked driver. After this procedure, OS installation will continue as usual.
OS doesn't see external drive
USB-connected external hard drives are popular due to their versatility. The file archive is not tied to a specific computer, and the volume available for storing data is an order of magnitude greater than a flash drive. As a result, such devices are often used to transfer large amounts of information between different PCs, the configuration of which can vary significantly. The situation in which Windows does not see the external hard drive on the computer can be caused by several reasons.
So, we connect the device and see the following picture. It did not appear in Explorer and only system drives are available to us.
Armed with the knowledge gained, we check the availability in the device manager.
As you can see, the system has identified three drives. The next step is to move to the disk manager.
As you can see in the screenshot, the SSD is fully functional, but the letter is missing in the place indicated by the arrow. A device that does not have a letter designation is ignored by Windows and therefore does not appear in Explorer. Call up the context menu of the found “invisible device” and select the marked item in it.
In the empty window that opens, click “Add”.
At this stage, we agree with the proposal and confirm our choice.
Immediately after clicking “OK”, the “Explorer” window will open.
After assigning a letter, the disk is identified and ready for use.
Other file system
This may come as a revelation to some, but Windows is not the only operating system in the world. There is also Linux or MacOS for Apple computers. Each of these OS uses its own file system. Therefore, when, having connected a disk borrowed from a friend, you receive the following window, do not rush to follow Windows recommendations.
By clicking the cancel button, you will get the real reason for this behavior.
Microsoft, while dominating the market, does not include support for other file systems in Windows. Therefore, if you receive a disk formatted in ext2/3/4 or HFS+, you will not be able to read it without installing an additional driver.
In order not to resort to the help of third-party utilities, find out the type of file system used from the owner. If this is not possible, install drivers from Paragon.
They are available for free use for a month. This period is enough to gain access to information on removable media.
Finally
When faced with a problem where Windows does not see the hard drive and armed with the knowledge you have gained, you will be able to connect any drive yourself, while avoiding the unfortunate advice that recommends grabbing a screwdriver in every incomprehensible case.
Do you want to connect an additional hard drive to your computer, but the system does not see it?
If you buy a new computer or laptop, then the hard drive is displayed there, but if you buy the hard drive separately, then it is not visible to the system.
Not everyone knows that a hard drive is connected and formatted, and only after that it becomes visible.
This article will tell you how to format a new hard drive.
Checking if everything is ready
1. Connect the hard drive.
As you can see, the power is connected and the sata cable is also connected.
(Picture 1)
2. Check if Windows sees the hard drive.
We open “My Computer” and see that there is no hard drive.
In the figure below we see only one ssd hard drive on which the windows operating system is installed.
(Figure 2)
Formatting the hard drive: creating two logical drives
1. Go to the control panel.
If you have Windows 7, then click “Start / Control Panel”.
In Windows 8, in the My Computer window, on the “Computer” tab, click the “Open Control Panel” button.
(Figure 3)
(Figure 4)
3. In the next window, click “Create and format hard disk partitions.”
(Figure 5)
4. The Disk Management window appears and a message asks you to choose how we will use the hard drive.
Click “OK”, selecting “Master Boot Record” so that you can install Windows on this hard drive.
click - ok
(Figure 6)
5. Move the cursor to the lower right corner of the “Disk Management” window and when the cursor changes and becomes multi-directional arrows, press the left mouse button and drag it down.
This way we increase the window size.
With all the contents of the window available, you can now see that there is only one 118.90GB drive at the top of the window
At the bottom of the window we see a 931.51GB (1 terabyte) hard drive, which is currently not visible by the system, since its capacity is not allocated.
(Figure 7)
6. Move the cursor to the strip indicating the disk and right-click. In the context menu, select “Create a simple volume”.
(Figure 8)
7. After clicking, the “Create a Simple Volume Wizard” window appears. Here we click the “Next” button.
(Figure 9)
8. In the next window, enter the size of the future logical drive and click “Next”.
In the figure below we see the hard drive capacity is 953857 MB. If we want to divide the hard drive in half, then 953857/2 and it turns out that we need to enter the number 476928 MB into the form. If we want hard drive C to be 300GB, then we need to enter the number in megabytes 300*1024 = 307200 MB.
We will later create another logical drive in the remaining free space.
(Figure 10)
9. We give the system the right to select a drive letter and click “Next”.
(Figure 11)
10. In the next window, we also leave everything as the system selected and click “Next”.
There is no need to change the file system, since your operating system works with the NTFS file system.
(Figure 12)
11. To close the window with information about the completion of creating the first logical drive, click the “Finish” button.
button - done
(Figure 13)
12. We return again to the “Disk Management” window, which we opened in step 3 and did not close.
Here we again move the cursor over the free space on the strip indicating the new hard drive and right-click to bring up the context menu.
Select “Create simple volume”.
(Figure 14)
13. The window of the Simple Volume Creation Wizard, with which we are already familiar, appears.
We repeat steps 6 - 7 in the window the number you need will be entered indicating the entire remaining volume - 10.
In general, it is easy to see that you just need to click “Next” and “Done”.
14. After creating the second logical drive, simply close the “Disk Management” window.
If a reboot is required in Windows 7, then reboot the computer.
15. Check the visibility of the hard drive.
Open “My Computer” and see two more logical drives that we created.
(Figure 15)
If you have questions, doubts or something remains unclear, write in the comments.
The computer does not see the hard drive, what does this mean and how to deal with the problem.
First of all, you need to decide what a hard drive is. A hard drive (called a “hard drive” in slang) is a device for storing data.
In fact, all information on a computer is stored there (with a few exceptions).
Diagnostic measures
If the computer does not see the disk, you need to determine the “culprits”. That is, find out whether the problem lies in the device itself or in the system.
To do this you will have to connect to another computer.
If it recognizes the device, then the problem is in the system, but if not, then the hard drive itself is faulty. It is better to entrust further work on it to the masters.
Or use warranty replacement or repair.
If the problem is in the “native” hard drive system, then there are several ways to fix it on your own.
The little that you can do yourself will help you avoid spending on specialist services.
Some useful tips
- You can enter the BIOS settings by pressing the F2 or
- It is better to remember well the correct connection of cables to SATA outputs;
- It is better to wrap the hard drive removed from the system unit in antistatic agent;
- It is also better to always place the lower part of the device, which contains the boards, on an antistatic agent.
Main problems and solutions
There are a number of problems with the hard drive that you can overcome yourself.
A software conflict or outgoing contacts can be corrected without contacting specialists.
Outgoing contacts
The problem may lie in a simple lack of contact. To fix it, you will need to remove the cover of the system unit and try to reconnect the cables.
If there is no result, then you can use other parallel cables.
Incorrect BIOS settings
In the case where even the BIOS does not detect the hard drive, you need to look at the system date. If it is incorrect, it indicates a settings failure. Resetting the settings will help correct the situation.
To do this, you will need to remove the battery on the motherboard, wait 10-30 minutes and install it back.
After these simple steps, the hard drive should be recognized as a physical device.
The problem may also be in the order of boot devices. In this case, you do not need to completely reset the settings.
Just find the menu item whose name contains the word “Boot”.
It will contain a priority list of devices to boot. In this list you need to move the HDD to the first line.
Insufficient nutrition
If the device periodically disappears and appears, then you need to listen to it.
The characteristic buzzing sounds of changing operating cycles indicate a lack of power. Then you will have to purchase a more powerful power supply or turn off some less important device.
Device conflict
Two hard drives of the same brand in the system can cause conflicts. To avoid them, you need to check and configure each one in turn with a separate connection to the system.
Bus version
Versions released before Vista may not support the SATA(SATA II) interface.
The easiest way in this case is to change the operating system to a newer one.
If this is not possible, then you will still have to reinstall the OS, but with integrated drivers for SATA interfaces.
OS problem
If the BIOS detects the device, but Windows does not see the hard drive, then manual configuration using Windows will be required. To do this, proceed as follows:
1. Open “Control Panel” in the “Start” drop-down panel;
2. Double-click on the “Administration” item;
3. In the window that opens, select “Computer Management”;
4. In the list on the left, select “Disk Management”.
