SATA HDD not detected

My computer isn't detecting the second SATA Hard Drive installed.

Issue

I have had a WD 160GB SATA hard drive as my primary HD and I recently bought a 80GB SATA hard drive to be used as a secondary storage space. I connected all the power, SATA cables correctly and when I boot my computer, it shows on the display that my WD 160GB is the primary and 80GB HDD is the slave. However, when I go on to my comptuer, I don't see the new hard drive. When I check the device manager, it still indicates that it recognizes both of my hard drives. Why is it not showing up on my computer to be used?

Solution

You need to format the drive before you can use it for data.

Right-Click on the My Computer� icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select Manage�

A new window titled Computer Management comes up.
Select Storage� from the left hand side by clicking it once, then select Disk Management(local� from the right side by double-clicking it. Find your new drive and format it with one large partition.



If problem persist and you don't see the drive something is defective:

• 1. no power to the drive.
• 2. cable or plug defective.
• 3. SATA port disabled in the BIOS.
• 4. defective drive.
• Try the drive in:
  • 1. another SATA port.
  • 2. another computer.

Notes

Thanks to xpcman for all these info on the forum.