I recently tried to reformat my pc. i wanted to reinstall the windows 7. for some reason it will not detect the hard drive thats on it. there are no partitions on there. what do i need to do to find the hard drive to choose it to install windows
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I recently tried to reformat my pc. i wanted to reinstall the windows 7. for some reason it will not detect the hard drive thats on it. there are no partitions on there. what do i need to do to find the hard drive to choose it to install windows
Is the hdd even detected in the BIOS?
no nothing comes up
Make sure the hdd is properly connected. If the sata cable comes loose, that is what happens.
Or <shudder> the hdd has gone bad.
well i was just trying to format the computer to reinstall windows 7 and i think it might have deleted it because it doesnt show any hard drives or partitions when i try to choose a drive to install it to
Check your BIOS settings.
Post the make and model of the computer or the same for the motherboard if it is a custom or home built rig.
where would i find all that info, i cant get into my computer because it never finished the windows 7 install, this is not my computer its a relative of mine
Well if it is something like a Compaq, there is a tag on it that says what it is, If there is no tag, open the case and look on the motherboard. Usually the Identification is between the psi type slots but not always. Is this a laptop?
Anyway, here is where to look on a HP.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07555
And a example of where to starting looking on the motherboard.
http://www.ixbt.com/mainboard/biosta...e550/board.jpg
there is a service tag which is BL2FNL1, its a dell Inspiron 546 desktop
From researching the computer this i what i think is in it:
Processor
AMD Sempron AMD
Memory
3.0 GB
Hard Drive
320.0 GB - 7200.0 rpm
Operating System
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1, 32-Bit
Optical Drive
DVD±RW
Graphics Processor
Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics
Your manual in pdf format.
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-produ...nual_en-us.pdf
Are you booting to the hdd or the dvd, Page 35 and 36.
when i try to start the computer i get
No boot device available
SATA 0 : None
SATA 1 : None
SATA 2 : None
SATA 3: None
If the bios doesn't see the drive, then Windows won't either. You can try reseating the power and data cables on the drive, but it could just be dead.
i found the hard drive on the computer i try booting from it after installing windows 7 and i get this:
The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows unstallation cannot proceed. to install windows, click ok to restart the computer, and then restart the installation., ive done it a couple times, same results
Did you run a hard drive diagnostic first? You can either get it from the hard drive manufacturer's site or download UBCD from the link in my signature. You will need to know how to properly burn .iso files to cd.