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Hayamaneko · 2011-10-07, 13:21

So I have this old dell machine that I am trying to reformat but whenever I boot it up I get the message that both hard drives where not detected. I've tried many things to get the hard drives to get recognized including resetting the CMOS to even plugging in the hard drives on a different computer but nothing has worked. Would should I do.

demonix · 2011-10-08, 07:02

Well you can't do anything as it is clear that the hard drives have died since you've already done the obvious thing by connecting them to another computer without success (if I've gotten what you've said correct).

Hayamaneko · 2011-10-08, 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonix

Well you can't do anything as it is clear that the hard drives have died since you've already done the obvious thing by connecting them to another computer without success (if I've gotten what you've said correct).

thing is that It worked once before so I am hoping that I am just doing something wrong. Is their some program that I can boot from and USB or CD Rom that can test of either drive is corrupt?

demonix · 2011-10-09, 08:37

If the hard drives are not being detected on any computer then any external program booted from a CD/DVD or USB drive will give the same results of not being able to detect them.

SeijiSensei · 2011-10-09, 11:33

Does the BIOS setup report the drives? If not, make sure that drive detection is enabled. On Dells I've owned that means that the BIOS hard drive settings are set to On or Auto.

As demonix says, if the BIOS doesn't see the the drives, no OS will either.

What kind of drives are we talking about here? Modern SATA drives with narrow cables, or older PATA (aka IDE) drives with the wide ribbon cable? If the latter, are you sure both drives have their jumpers set to either master or slave as appropriate?

Tiberium Wolf · 2011-10-09, 13:40

I had 1 dell where you need to go to bios to activate the sata connection else it wouldn't detect the HDD. If the connection was active and no HDD it would stop and complain about it. God! It's freaking annoying.

Hayamaneko · 2011-10-09, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

What kind of drives are we talking about here? Modern SATA drives with narrow cables, or older PATA (aka IDE) drives with the wide ribbon cable? If the latter, are you sure both drives have their jumpers set to either master or slave as appropriate?

They're PATA drives and were both set to slave/master. Is their something I could do to recover the data on the drives? I mean aside from paying someone to recover them for me?

Hollowgolem · 2011-10-09, 14:57

If they're old enough, it's possible that their time has simply come. This is why you back your stuff up regularly. Redundancy is king.

I recently had one of the hard drives on this baby give out on me, but since it was all backed up, and old, it wasn't a huge deal. Though that clicking noise it started making was really... unnerving.

sa547 · 2011-10-10, 03:36

What's in those drives? And how old are they?

Hm, have you tried using newer IDE cables? And then are you sure the hard drive jumpers are set properly (that is, master for the first one, and slave for the second)?

2011-10-07, 13:21	Link #1
Hayamaneko cat boy? Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: at your house, raiding your fridge Age: 40	Dell machine won't detect hard drives So I have this old dell machine that I am trying to reformat but whenever I boot it up I get the message that both hard drives where not detected. I've tried many things to get the hard drives to get recognized including resetting the CMOS to even plugging in the hard drives on a different computer but nothing has worked. Would should I do. __________________

2011-10-09, 11:33	Link #5
SeijiSensei AS Oji-kun Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 74	Does the BIOS setup report the drives? If not, make sure that drive detection is enabled. On Dells I've owned that means that the BIOS hard drive settings are set to On or Auto. As demonix says, if the BIOS doesn't see the the drives, no OS will either. What kind of drives are we talking about here? Modern SATA drives with narrow cables, or older PATA (aka IDE) drives with the wide ribbon cable? If the latter, are you sure both drives have their jumpers set to either master or slave as appropriate? __________________ Taking Anime Seriously - Politics by the Numbers - Sports by the Numbers - MAL List - Avatars - Images

2011-10-09, 13:40	Link #6
Tiberium Wolf Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Age: 44	I had 1 dell where you need to go to bios to activate the sata connection else it wouldn't detect the HDD. If the connection was active and no HDD it would stop and complain about it. God! It's freaking annoying. __________________

2011-10-10, 03:36	Link #9
sa547 Senior Member Author Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Philippines Age: 47	What's in those drives? And how old are they? Hm, have you tried using newer IDE cables? And then are you sure the hard drive jumpers are set properly (that is, master for the first one, and slave for the second)? __________________

2011-10-08, 07:02	Link #2
demonix Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Hayes, Middx UK Age: 44	Well you can't do anything as it is clear that the hard drives have died since you've already done the obvious thing by connecting them to another computer without success (if I've gotten what you've said correct).

2011-10-09, 08:37	Link #4
demonix Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Hayes, Middx UK Age: 44	If the hard drives are not being detected on any computer then any external program booted from a CD/DVD or USB drive will give the same results of not being able to detect them.

2011-10-09, 14:57	Link #8
Hollowgolem Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Texas, USA	If they're old enough, it's possible that their time has simply come. This is why you back your stuff up regularly. Redundancy is king. I recently had one of the hard drives on this baby give out on me, but since it was all backed up, and old, it wasn't a huge deal. Though that clicking noise it started making was really... unnerving.