New system does not detect old windows 7 harddrive

DonHumas

Honorable
Apr 7, 2013
6
0
10,510
Hello,

Since 2013 i have a new system, an acer predator g5920 running Windows 10 Professional. Before that i had an older system, a quadcore with windows 7.

The harddrive from the windows 7 pc always worked fine and without any problems, never made weird noises, was never slow on reading files and maps.

Now the problem is that since that day, i've never got any access to the windows 7 disk. When i place the hdd in the hotswap bay it doesnt get detected by my windows 10 pc, though it does have issues with starting up, it boots up slower than normal, like it is trying to read which of the 2 windows system it should start up. After a minute or so it gives up and starts up windows 10 from the ssd. I check windows explorer, it is not detected. i check disk management, it is not detected.

It managed to detect the disk once, when i just gave it a try one more time after months. I managed to see files and see the windows 7 map, documents, files, everything. But the problem was, i had to take ownership of all the files, never had to patience to do that so i gave up again.

I checked for weird noises and any other issues but couldnt find any, it starts up like a normal HDD like it should.

MAIN PROBLEM:
My PC doesnt detect the HDD. I have another windows 7 hdd, it doesnt detect that either.

THINGS I'VE DONE:
1. Placed it in a hotswap bay; got detected once (maybe it was luck), pc boots up slower
2. Connected it from within pc, with the right cables, power and data (Never detected it) pc boots up slower
3. Connect as main disk, disconnected ssd with windows 10, boots up, gives error and tells me to boot with cd or something and then press any key.
4. Tried to connect with several accessoires, like SATA to USB converters, starts up, no clicking sound, but system does not detect it.

Its a SEAGATE 500GB BARRACUDA ES.2

It has a disclaimer saying:
This drive is manufactured by Seagate for OEM distribution.

You're free to ask questions, i will try to answer them as correctly as possible for maximum information.

I want my windows 10 to detect this drive.
 
Solution
Unfortunately it's possible that the drive might be failing. You could give it a try with the options I've already suggested, but there's a big chance that they might not work if the HDD is not recognized properly by the motherboard. If your data is really important to you, I'd recommend that you go for a data recovery company. That's your safest and most reliable bet, but it won't be as budget friendly as data recovery software.

Hopefully you're able to get your files back. Good luck!
Hey there, DonHumas.

It sounds like it could be some sort of weird incompatibility issue. The other option is for the drive to be faulty. You might not have experienced any issues with it, but slow booting while having it connected to the motherboard is a sign of a faulty drive.
Have you checked if it's recognized by the BIOS/UEFI? If yes, please make sure that the SSD is the first booting device. Try updating/resetting your BIOS, to see if the drive is recognized afterwards. Give it a go with a different computer as well, if possible.
If the drive is detected by the BIOS, you could try accessing it via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if that OS is capable of accessing it so that you can recover your files. Another option would be data recovery software: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm. However, the drive needs to be recognized by the mobo, otherwise it won't be detected by any OS or software.

The disclaimer should have nothing to do with the issues at hand. This is just to show that the drive comes with the product OEM (original equipment manufacturer). For OEM components or software, usually the warranty is covered, not by the manufacturer of the component, but by the manufacturer of the whole system.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
 

DonHumas

Honorable
Apr 7, 2013
6
0
10,510


Hello Boogieman_WD,

Thanks for the reply.

So i did what you told me and i loaded up my BIOS/UEFI. The HDD does get recognized but it doesnt recognize the capacity of the drive which is 500GB, It says 0GB. I checked my other windows 7 drive with this "trick" and here it just says 500GB.

I guess this means i have a faulty drive, doesnt it? if so, is everything lost now or are there other tricks to get it working again?

Thanks in advance.
 
Unfortunately it's possible that the drive might be failing. You could give it a try with the options I've already suggested, but there's a big chance that they might not work if the HDD is not recognized properly by the motherboard. If your data is really important to you, I'd recommend that you go for a data recovery company. That's your safest and most reliable bet, but it won't be as budget friendly as data recovery software.

Hopefully you're able to get your files back. Good luck!
 
Solution