Bios not detecting 2nd HD

353 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by PapaSmurf, Apr 6, 2011

loosetrigger

Discussion Starter · Apr 5, 2011

so i have been using a smaller 2nd HD for storage and now want to put win 7 on it. Erased the data and did a clean format. Loaded the install disk and get through all the setup. Then when asked which HD to install to I have two options: main drive which is able to install and second drive, but the second is greyed out and shows the error message "ensure disk controller is enabled in the bios.."

It is also greyed out for an external HD i had plugged in through usb, of course the reason for that is it is usb, and thats fine.

So i'm wondering why my bios can't recognize the drive if i'm able to see it in windows, format it, save to it, etc. I've played around in bios which scans for hd's but it never locates the secondary.

both drives are WD sata
mobo is gigabyte p35-ds3l

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925481 says to partition the drive, which i did and same thing still happens.

any help appreciated!

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customcomputerftw

· #2 · Apr 5, 2011

Try a different sata cord or sata port on your motherboard and make sure it's set as IDE not Ahci

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loosetrigger

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 5, 2011

will do, have to shutdown everytime since using primary drive.... will edit and let u know

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PapaSmurf

· #4 · Apr 5, 2011

Are you trying to setup a dual boot setup or just have Win 7? If it's a dual boot, what is installed on the other drive? If not, take that drive out of the system and try it with just the drive you want to install Win 7 on.

Did you try wiping the new drive completely and trying to install Win 7? I've always had better luck doing that.

Make sure any external drives are NOT connected.

Are you trying to install Win 7 64bit or 32bit?

How much ram is installed?

EXACTLY which WD drives are they?

What type of DVD drive are you using? SATA, IDE, or external USB? And are you trying to install from a DVD or a USB flash drive?

I've never ran into a problem installing ANY OS on any of the P35-DS3L's I've owned or worked on so I know that it WILL install on it.

You should click on the User CP at the top of this page, then scroll down the left side to the Add System link and enter in your system specs in as much detail as possible. By that I mean 2 x 2gig G.Skil PC2-8500 CL5 ram instead of 4 gig ram, etc. That way we have some idea of what we are dealing with. While you are at it, go to the Edit Your Details link, then scroll down towards the bottom and fill in the Where You Live with at least your country. It makes things so much easier when people know what country you are from when recommending products.

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loosetrigger

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 5, 2011

thanks to both. I would have responded sooner but it appears the boot stuff i installed is still being read on my windows vista drive, and therefore am unable to boot vista from it because it thinks i want to install win 7 there too :/

Anyways i figured out the problem it was either the bios needed an update or the drivers needed to be on my usb drive. I did both and then the secondary drive became usable after that and everything went fine.

So now I'm unsure how to get my vista disk to boot back long enough just to move the data. I can still access it from my current win 7, but it will be easier if i can backup my internet bookmarks, etc. if i can boot into the OS before i upgrade that as well. I'm sure there is a way but i've already stayed up 3 hours past when i should have been asleep playing with this.

thanks for the help.

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PapaSmurf

· #6 · Apr 5, 2011

Try EasyBCD to see if that will allow you to add Vista to the boot loader. When you installed Win 7 it should have picked up Vista and created a dual boot setup, but it appears with the problems that didn't happen.

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loosetrigger

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 6, 2011

downloaded bcd, very cool program so thanks for that one.

I assume i need to rewrite the MBR configuration now? i probably will go ahead and try it because i now have everything backed up except for some settings.

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PapaSmurf

· #8 · Apr 6, 2011

See if some of these guides help you to figure out how to use it to fix things.

http://apcmag.com/the_definitive_dualbooting_guide_linux_vista_and_xp_stepbystep.htm

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loosetrigger

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 6, 2011

Kind of wish i had found that page before i decided to install, would have made things a bit easier

anyway i played around in the bcd and realized i overlooked a setting as i only saw a windows 7 as default boot (thought it would read the vista automatically but I had to do a vista repair a while ago so i think it was always broken). So I set up a new profile for my vista HD and what do ya know, booted in just fine. Everything is set now I got my bookmarks backed up and can upgrade vista to win 7 and then I'll have it for my new build and old one too.

On a side note i wish i had done this long ago as win 7 is so much faster than vista. i use win 7 at work, but i didn't really notice the difference until i compared the speed of my programs at home.

thanks for your help papasmurf, really helped me a lot!

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PapaSmurf

· #10 · Apr 6, 2011

No problem. Glad you got it straightened out.

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