Vista is not recognizing hard drive

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omglol741

New Member
I just got a new hard drive, and I was planning on installing Vista on it. It's a Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA HDD. My computer only has IDE, so I'm using a converter/"vertical bridge" with the hard drive. Vista can't detect any hard drive during the install and asks for a driver.

I'm not sure if the drive is dead, or if there is a problem with Vista. The page on the Western Digital website says "perfect for Vista" and "Works with Windows Vista." I took it to another computer place after I couldn't get it to install, and they said all the connections are correct.

I heard it's not formatted because it's OEM. Fdisk says "no fixed drives" (or something like that) when I run it. I also tried Data Lifeguard Tools from the WD website, and that didn't detect the drive either.

So, is there a driver that I can download that will work? Or is my drive just dead on arrival?(how can I be sure?)
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
    Memory
    4GB 800 Crucial Ballistix (?)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA 8800GT
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Hi omglol741,
Before any version of Windows will see a hard drive, the hard drive must be seen (and seen correctly) by the computer's BIOS (Basic Input Output System). Make sure the hard drive is seen correctly in the BIOS. If it is not might want to change the jumper on the hard drive. Try setting the drive to Master or take the jumper out all together. If this drive is a slave drive then change the jumper to slave.
Hope this helps.
Raj
 

My Computer

System One

k well I went into the BIOS > IDE configuration and it has my two dvd drives listed under secondary IDE master and slave, but Primary master and primary slave are Not Detected. I don't know how to do that jumper stuff, so maybe I'll ask the computer guy tomorrow or something.:(
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
    Memory
    4GB 800 Crucial Ballistix (?)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA 8800GT
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.11 500GB
This is down to your SATA connection in your motherboard. Enter your motherboard BIOS and search for your SATA connection. Change your SATA device type to IDE and they will be recognised as IDE devices. Reboot your system.

An alternative is if you have a driver disk for your SATA devices then windows will ask for it at installation time.
 

My Computer

System One

My motherboard doesn't have any SATA ports. That's why I'm using the converter. And this computer may be older than SATA ports.:(

The only thing I can find about Serial is under peripheral configuration

Serial Port A Auto
Serial Port B Disabled (I tried auto and it didn't do anything different)
mode [Normal, IrDA Sir-A, ASK_IR] (I tried normal)
Parellel Port Auto
mode [Output only, Bi-directional, EPP, ECP] (default is ECP)

so yeah, it's going in through an IDE port, so I don't see how it would even know if it's a SATA device. And where can I get drivers? Would I use drivers for SATA or IDE, because it's a SATA device using an IDE port.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
    Memory
    4GB 800 Crucial Ballistix (?)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA 8800GT
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Your add-on card should appear under the CMOS as SATA devices (probably under the lines of Integrated Peripherals). Serial and SATA are completely different - don't confuse them with each other and don't interfere with your serial port settings. There should be some sort of device listed under Integrated Devices as SATA add-on card, or something like that.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
    Memory
    4GB 800 Crucial Ballistix (?)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA 8800GT
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Hi omglol741,
The first picture shows you how to find the jumper and look for the words CS, Slave, Master.

The second picture shows how to remove the jumper. Then place the jumper in the right spot.

To start off I would set your PC like this:
Primary Master = Hard drive
Pimary Slave = DVD Drive
Secondary Master = DVD Drive
Secondary Slave = hard drive

Hope this helps. :)
Raj
 

My Computer

System One

Do SATA drives have that master/slave/cable select thing like IDE drives? I thought it was different or something.

And why isn't my drive covered? It's green like the motherboard. And it's surrounded by a cage thingy..
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
    Memory
    4GB 800 Crucial Ballistix (?)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA 8800GT
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Hi omglol741,
To my knowledge sata drives do not have this physical feature. It's all controlled in the BIOS. I use 2 sata drives myself but in the BIOS is how I specify which is which. Also depends which channel you plug them into the motherboard too.
Wether your drive is "covered" should not matter. A EIDE hard drive is a EIDE hard drive.
Raj
 

My Computer

System One

Even if you get this hd working, i doubt you will have a very good vista experience. And you may have other driver problems.

Can you afford to upgrade? a dual core amd with 6100 mobo (which includes graphics) and 2GB of ram costs less than $200 US.

alternatively, exchange your sata drive for an EIDE. Adaptor is probably your problem, not drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    asus p5ql-e
    Memory
    ocz pc 1066 2x2gb
    Graphics card(s)
    asus eah3650 silent
    Sound Card
    Edirol UA-25
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway FPD2185W
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    750g samsung
    PSU
    Zalman ZM460B 460W
    Case
    Lian Li A05 + 2 x Sythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm case fan
    Cooling
    Coolermaster Hyper Z600 fanless CPU cooler
    Mouse
    Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000
    Keyboard
    Merc Stealth
    Internet Speed
    DSL
Something everyone may have missed. This is a Sata 2 drive yes? If you are trying to use a converter to IDE, IT MAY ONLY WORK WITH SATA1. There is a jumper position on that drive that will dial it down to sata one and your Bios should recognize it right away, from there on it, it will be clear sailing..
 

My Computer

System One

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