HDD not appearing in disk managment

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cantrellpc2015

Reputable
Apr 9, 2015
3
0
4,510
Hi

My laptop configuration is:
SDD of 126 GB
HDD of 1TB, Western digital
I7 4th generation
Windows 8.1 up to date.

Despite the HDD showing in the bios I cannot make it work in Windows. It doesn't show at all in the disk manager. The diagnostic utility of Dell couldn't find anything wrong with it. The disk works well in Linux (I booted the PC with an USB), the utility from Linux also did not detect a problem.

I have tried everything I can think of with no avail, including:
- Reinstalling windows from the recovery disk
- Deactivating UEFI and booting in legacy
- Deleting the partition and restarting windows
- Changing from MBR to GTP and back to MBR
- Changing back and forth from FAT32 to NFTS
- Flashing the BIOS
- Uninstalling the SATA drivers and installing them back

Short of opening the laptop and checking on the connections I'm out of ideas (which I don't want to do so not to loose the warranty).

I also tried Dell customer service, who have told me that they are going to call back on Monday because they needed to consult the engineering department. I feel that that path is going to take a long time before they can come with a solution as they seem to not have a clue.

Thanks
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960
Welcome to the community, cantrellpc2015!

I'm very sorry to hear about your WD drive. :( I'd suggest you to run WD's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics to run the quick and extended test on the drive. Check the SMART status and post the results here.
Here's a link to the software: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=zmCZ4T
Here's the tutorial: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ACyokw
Unfortunately, there's not much else we can do without opening the laptop, so I'd recommend getting in touch with the manufacturer again and ask them for an RMA on the drive. If that takes a while, check your warranty documents (or ask the support guys personally) and see where is the nearest professional repair service partner of your laptop manufacturer.

Hope I was helpful. Let me know what are the SMART results though!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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C

cantrellpc2015

Reputable
Apr 9, 2015
3
0
4,510
Hey I solved it and here is how I did it.

I installed Windows 7 with boot legacy options and it detected the drive without issues, so I knew for sure that the HDD was working. I also found out that you can service your computer without loosing Dell Warranty.

I read in other forum that there can be problems with UEFI if you install hardware without deactivating the secure boot. So I deactivated the option. Opened the laptop disconnected the HDD cable, connected it again and when I restarted, the HDD just showed up in windows 8.

What is awesome is that now my system is powering up in 2s instead of the 90s that took before.

Two conclusions:
I am really annoyed with Dell at the moment. In the first place someone must have installed the HDD incorrectly. I am not a very well versed in modern computer components (I still thought that there were master and slave HDDs, lol), but I guess that their technicians should know about this problem with UEFI. Also the technical service did not help solving the problem and what is more I am still "waiting" for a call today first time in the morning. It's noon and no call so far.
Second I do not like UEFI. It seems a pain in the neck. I'll need to read more about it.

Thanks. Hope my experience helps someone.

BTW the program from WD did not work as it did not detect the HDD.
 
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