Sata drives not detected in the bios or Windows xp?

[Magik09]

Hello,
I am having trouble with my computer detecting any sata drives. I purchased a Seagate ST3400633AS-RK 400GB Barracuda 7200 ATA and it stopped showing up my bios and windows xp after about two years of use. So I purchased a new Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 ATA to replace it and it is not detected as well.. I’ve tried the Seagate hard drive detection tool and only shows my IDE drives. I did get a virus a while back, could it be that? Or, any feedback would be great!

My computer specifications are the following:
Windows xp Service Pack 3
AMD Athlon 64 3700
A8N-SLI DELUXE Motherboard
2GB of RAM
IDE drives
Seagate 120 GB
Western Digital 120 GB

 

[Magik09]

Hello,
does anyone have an idea of what it could be?
Regards,
Brian

 

[Paperdoc]

When you say the new WD disk was not detected at all, I need to know more details. For example, if what you did was simply to mount it inside your case and plug in the power and data cables for it, then boot and look for it in My Computer, you should NOT have been able to see it there.

Every new hard drive needs to be prepared for use by a two-step process. You need to create on it a Partition (there are options for more than one) and then format that Partition. Only then can it be seen and used by windows.

Now, Windows has the tools to do these two steps in an area called the Disk Manager. But if you want the easy way out, look for free tools to do this for you from WD. IF the drive you bought came with a CD of utility tools, look in there for the tools and instructions on how to prepare a new blank disk for use in Windows. If your disk came with nothing like that, go to the WD website and look up their Data Lifeguard Tools. They have several versions you can download, install and run to do a variety of tasks. Choose the one that suits your situation. For example, you might want to get only the one that is actually intended to run under Windows as an application, and not the version that must be run from a floppy disk. Read its instructions, again looking closely for how to prepare a new disk for use. It can do both operatins for you in one easy step.

By the way, it is just possible your Seagate drive is OK. Sometimes they "disappear" just from a loose cable connection. If you go to the Seagate website look for their Disktools for DOS, another free download. Again, several versions. Some must be downloaded and run to create a bootable floppy disk. You have to boot from that floppy to run its diagnostic tools. But if you don't have a floppy drive, there's probably a set of diagnostics you can run under Windows, or from a bootable DC-ROM disk you can burn. Anyway, with those tools available you can re-install your Seagate drive in your machine and run the diagnostics. If they confirm the drive has failed, contact Seagate for replacement under warranty - they were supposed to come with a 5-year warranty at one time. If the tools say there is nothing wrong with the drive, then try using it again normally. If it still gives you trouble, contact Seagate Technical Service for help.