Interesting

The laptop cannot see the hard drive. Diagnostics and replacement of the hard drive (on your own)

User question

Hello.

In my laptop, the manufacturer initially installed two disks: one small for Windows (128 GB SSD), and the second for files and games (1 TB HDD).

Something happened to the second disk and now it is not displayed in "My Computer" (this happened, presumably, after the battery ran out and the laptop turned off abruptly). You cannot copy anything to it either, the laptop simply does not see this hard drive.

Is it possible to somehow fix the problem on your own?

Hello.

Before you do anything with a laptop, check if the warranty is still valid for the device (simply, opening the laptop case may become the reason for the refusal of warranty service - which I would not want ...).

In general, the reason you described could have happened (most likely) either due to errors in the file system (perhaps the disk needs to be simply formatted), or due to a breakdown of the disk itself.

After taking a number of simple steps, you can, if not solve the problem, then diagnose it and approach max. to elimination. Actually, how to do it - and it will be in today's article ... 👇

*

What to do if the disk becomes invisible

STEP 1: View BIOS Information

The first thing to clarify is whether the disk is detected in the BIOS (UEFI). If this does not happen, further manipulations in Windows do not make sense ...

👉 To help!

How to enter BIOS (UEFI) on a computer or laptop [instructions] - //ocomp.info/kak-voyti-v-bios.html

Usually, in the BIOS, information about the connected drives is displayed immediately on the main horse (in the first tab, which will automatically open upon entry). In English, the disk can be labeled as: Storage, Hard Disk, HDD, SSD (etc., see screenshots below).

Note: if you have 2 disks in your laptop, both should be detected in the BIOS ...

Disk visible in UEFI

BIOS - Information Tab - Hard Disk

Actually, the situation is further subdivided into 2 types:

  1. the disk is not detected in the BIOS (it simply is not there) - see STEP 3;
  2. the disk is determined in the BIOS (model, size, etc. - indicated) - see STEP 2.

STEP 2: if the disk is detected in the BIOS

Driver

The first thing I would recommend is to go to the device manager and see if the driver is installed on your disk (👉 tab "Disk devices" ).

If the driver is installed on the disk, you will see its name and model in the list of devices (if there is no driver, there will be a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark opposite the device).

Left: Everything is OK with the driver (WD Elements) // Right: No driver (yellow exclamation mark) WD My Passport

In general, as a rule, modern Windows 8/10 operating systems install the driver for the disk automatically and independently (the problem sometimes only happens with external HDDs, which have additional functions for backups).

How to update the driver:

  1. connect your computer to the Internet and use the specials. utilities (for example, Driver Booster);
  2. in the device manager, right-click on the disk and select "Update driver" ;
  3. you can try to search for the driver by the hardware code (each equipment has its own);
  4. reinstall Windows OS (replace the OS with a more modern one).

Change drive letter

Next, you need to open Disk Management (a utility built into Windows for working with drives). This utility should display all connected drives that are identified in the BIOS and for which there are drivers.

And to begin with, change the letter of the "invisible" disk (to do this, just right-click (RMB) on the disk - a service menu with a proposal for this operation should appear).

Change Drive Letter - Disk Management

Note: Windows automatically assigns each drive a unique letter "D: \", "E: \", etc. Sometimes, due to some errors and peculiarities of the operation of services, a letter is assigned with an error (for example, repeated), and the drive becomes invisible .. ...

Bug fixes and formatting

In Disk Management, also notice how the disk is displayed:

  • status "Not allocated "- indicates that the disk is not formatted (usually, this status is only for new disks). To format the disk - click on the unallocated area of ​​the RMB and create a simple volume. See the screenshot below;
  • status "Unmarked area (or RAW file system)" - may indicate file system errors that have occurred (caused by viruses, unstable power supply, and other reasons). Solution: either format the disk again, or try to fix the errors (more on this below 👇).

Create Simple Volume (Not Allocated)

To check the correction of file system errors - we need a command line (you need to run it as administrator!).

👉 To help!How to open a command prompt in Windows 7-10 (including with administrator rights) - //ocomp.info/kak-otkryit-komandnuyu-stroku.html

A number of operations need to be performed on the command line:

  1. to introduce diskpart and press Enter (run the utility for working with disks);
  2. to introduce list volume and press Enter (see the list of disk partitions with assigned letters);
  3. to introduce Exit and press Enter (close Diskpart);
  4. to introduce chkdsk d: / f and press Enter (instead of "d:" - you need to select your drive letter from the list that we looked at with the list volume command. For example, for the "e:" drive, the command will be chkdsk e: / f).

Checking the disk for errors using the command line

Ideally, after completing the operation, you should see a conclusion that Windows has checked the file system and the problems have been fixed (or not found). As a rule, after such a procedure, the disk starts working properly!

Windows checked the file system

STEP 3: if the disk is not detected in the BIOS. Diagnostics and test on another device (PC, laptop)

This option is already worse ... It indicates that there is some kind of hardware problem (in the most innocuous case, poor contact between the ribbon cable and the disk).

1) First you need to disassemble the laptop and get the hard drive itself. This is not always easy to do, since There are a lot of laptop designs now (some devices need to be completely disassembled to a screw, others have a special hatch for a disk ...).

Important! Opening the laptop case may void the device warranty.

In my example, I took the most common design of laptops (you need to unscrew all the screws around the perimeter of the back cover and remove it. Note that the screws can be under the rubber feet!).

How to remove the back cover of a laptop

2) Further, before any manipulations, disconnect the battery (this is such a black "tile"). Usually, it is enough to unscrew a couple of screws, and it easily detaches ... 👇

Disconnect the battery

3) The hard drive is most often mounted on a special. slide rails, which are screwed to the device body. To remove the disk, it is enough to disconnect the ribbon cable from it, and unscrew these mounting screws (see photo below).

Removing the hard drive

4) Afterwards, I recommend cleaning the disc contacts with a regular eraser.

Pay attention to the photo below: over several years of continuous operation of the laptop (under different conditions), some contacts began to turn yellow and oxidize. As a result, the disk was "lost" and was invisible ...

Cleaning the contacts with a wiper / Hard disk

5) For diagnostic purposes, it is recommended to connect the drive to another PC or laptop. The easiest way to do this is with the help of specials. SATA to USB adapter (see photo below). These adapters can be purchased from Chinese online stores.

👉 Help!

1) How to connect a hard drive from a laptop to a computer

2) How to connect a hard drive to a USB port

Connecting a disk to the USB port

6) Further, if the disk was detected on another PC, try to check it using Victoria, see the link below (or similar utilities). In general, in 5-10 minutes. Victoria will be able to assess the condition of the disk and tell you if something is wrong with it ...

👉 Help!

Diagnostics and disk check in 5 minutes. for beginners (quick test in new Victoria 5) - //ocomp.info/diagnostika-i-proverka-diska.html

Testing quick (Quick) - Victoria 5

STEP 4: how to replace the hard drive

1) Before buying a new disc - please note that they can be of different thicknesses! Now the most popular disks for notebooks are 7 mm thick (however, 9.5 mm drives are also on sale).

Of course, if the drive is thicker, then you will not be able to install it in a laptop case!

👉 To help!

How to choose a disk for a laptop - //ocomp.info/kak-vyibrat-disk-dlya-noutbuka.html

Disc thickness

2) If the old disk is still "live" - ​​transfer the necessary data from it to the new drive (it is convenient to do it by connecting the disk to the USB port). By the way, you can transfer the entire system drive "C: \" with Windows and with all the settings at once (👉 more about this here).

The SSD drive is connected to the laptop using a special. cable

3) Next, you need to remove the back cover of the laptop and disconnect the battery (the sequence of actions depends on the design of the device).

How to remove the back cover of a laptop

Disconnect the battery

4) Then disconnect the ribbon cable from the disk and unscrew the fastening screws. As a rule, after that the disc can be easily removed from its niche ...

Removing the hard drive

5) Then you need to remove the sled from the disk and install them in the same way on the new drive.

We fix the sled on the new disk in the same way as the old one

6) Next, all that remains is to fix the new disk in the laptop case and connect the SATA cable to it. Then connect the battery and install the back cover ...

Installing the disk into the case

7) After turning on the device - go to BIOS and check if the disk is displayed.

Whether the hard drive is detected in the BIOS

8) By the way, new drives may not be formatted and Windows Explorer does not show them by default (that is, in "My Computer" you may not see the new drive). To format it - go to disk management!

STEP 5: if after the replacement errors began to appear and Windows does not load

Most often this happens due to damage to the Windows bootloader. To solve the problem, you can resort to:

  1. to reinstall Windows;
  2. to restore the bootloader.

If you have a bootable USB flash drive, then all recovery is quite simple. First you need to start the Windows installation, then in the first step, instead of installing, run "Recovery" (see screenshot below).

System Restore (when installing the OS)

Then go to the OS troubleshooting section.

Choice of Action - Troubleshooting

And then select the item to troubleshoot problems preventing Windows from loading (ie, "Startup Repair").

Troubleshoot problems preventing Windows from loading

As a rule, after that Windows starts working normally ...

*

Additions on the topic - all are welcome ...

All the best!

👋

$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found