computer wont recognize hard drive

[rrcn]

i am having some trouble here...i have this old computer (a 366mhz, 64 mb PC100, 4mb of video, and a gigabyte mobo) and i had installed an 80GB HD in it a couple of years ago. but i didnt know that the bios would restrict me from using the whole 80gigs and leaving me only 32gigs. today i was able to get an update to the bios, i flashed it and everything is great...

so i put that 80gig hd in my new comp i built a year ago and i get it to recognize the drive and i took out all the stuff in it (mainly music and some programs) and put that stuff in my drive that's on this newer computer. i partition the 80gig (because it was partitioned to 32gigs a few years ago) and i get the whole 80gigs back and i enter into windows to format it. i format the drive and shutdown and take out the drive.

i remember that i forgot to put the files that were on it earlier back on, so i slide the hd back in my new comp.

i just about tried everything i could think of, the jumpers (its supposed to be set as slave, i go into the bios to try to get it to recognize it, but it wont. i dont know what else to do.

can someone PLEASE help me...

i have no clue what else i should do.

all feedback is greatly appreciated.

[wallie_x]

Formatted with which OS and which file system FAT 32, NTFS? It sounds like to me its just not hooked up correctly. If your just going to transfer data from your new computer back on to it, configure it as master and put it on the secondary IDE as master, with the boot drive hooked as master/Primary IDE. Just make sure eveything, the IDE connecters, power cables are all where they're suppose to be. If the BIOS recognizes it on the boot up screen, you don't need to set its parameters in the BIOS unless you plan on using it on that computer.
Remember, if its an ATA 100 HD drive you need the ATA 100 IDE cables or it won't be recognized correctly if at all. And vice versa, If its an ATA 66 and you're using ATA 100 cables the same thing could happen.

[rrcn]

it was formatted with XP as an NTFS. i believe its hooked up properly, it was working a few hours ago the way i am setting it up now.

[rrcn]

the problem is that the bios is not recognizing it on the boot screen. it boots as if there is no drive hooked up at all.

could the problem be how i took it out of my system the first time?

the drive was working and it was formatted. so i shutdown my computer and opened up the case. i unplugged it from the IDE cable and power suppply and switched back on my computer.

is there something i should have done before i shutdown the computer and took the hd out?

[wallie_x]

You should of unplugged the computer from its power source. Modern machines keep power to the board for hot key instant turn on. Any time you touch the computer ground yourself to a part of its metal frame. Any arching of static electricity can cause damage. But unless you heard or felt a spark jump I doubt this is the case. There is a vague chance that the HD just happen to die, but I think the probability of that is low.
Can you hear it spin when the machines on?
And does windows recognize it? Also, just boot to the BIOS and do a manual recognize. You may need to set the HD parameters and reformant it with a partition, the current BIOS may have a HD limitation.
Please post your systems specifications. But do the BIOS manual regonize. If that don't work, boot to Windoze and see if XP see's it? Good Luck wallie_x

[shahani]

No, your sequence of taking out the drive from the old PC is OK. Your problem is with the BIOS which does not recognize the drive. BIOS is OS independent.

Try setting the BIOS to default values, reset the BIOS by using the shorting jumper or pulling out the battery for a few seconds and see if BIOS recognizes the drive.

Once you have the BIOS to see the drive can you go ahead.

[rrcn]

before i opened my case up, i did unplug my computer from the power source. i did gound myself to the frame and no i did not hear or see a spark jump. i also highly doubt that was the case. i cant really tell if its spinning because i have another drive and three fans inside. both the bios and windows do not recognize the drive. i dont think this computer has a hd limitation of 80gigs. my drive on this computer is 120gigs and it runs perfectly fine. the hd was recognized earlier and was perfectly fine.

here are my specs:

P4 2.4ghz w/ 533mhz bus
120GB Maxtor 7200 rpm 8mb cache
nvidia geforece 4 ti 4200 128mb ddr
512mb pc133
48X24X48 cd-rw
32X cd-rom
floppy
windows XP professional V5.1.2600 w/ service pack 1

mobo:
ECS P4VXASD2+
VIA Apollo P4X333 North Bridge
VIA VT8235 South Bridge
VIA VT6103 Fast Ethernet 10/100 PHY/Transreceiver
VIA VT1612A AC'97 Audio CODEC
2 DIMMS for pc100/133 sdram
2 DIMMS for pc1600/2100 ddr
--2GB Max (ddr or sdram)
4 PCI slots
1 CNR slot
4X AGP slot
6 USB 2.0
2 UDMA 133/100/66/33

BIOS:
American Megatrend Inc (AMI)
Sept./05/2002
2MB Flash EEPROM
V5.0

[rrcn]

thank you all for your help, i have just found the problem. i believe it may be a problem with my power supply. i think that 2 of the hd connectors may be faulty. i just plugged in a differend one, and both the bios and xp recognized the drive flawlessly.

thank you all again for your time and input.

much appreciated.

[wallie_x]

Glad we (didn't say anything meaningful that..) could help!
At least the thought was there.