SATA drive not working

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worthbillions

Posts: 19   +0
:confused: I am confused because my sata drive is no longer showing in my computer or in Hardware devices. Does that mean that it is dead? IF not how do I retrieve my files It was used as my e drive. I am using windows xp professional. It was showing until today.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.
 
First thing to check is whether it is still showing in BIOS. If it is recognised in BIOS, then it could be a software (e.g. Windows) issue.

If it isn't showing in BIOS, you need to remove the cover on the computer and visually check its data and power connectors haven't for some reason dislodged.

Did you move it, or drop it, or do anything with it PRIOR to this happening?
 
The sata drive is not showing in the bios. I checked the power connections and they are still connected. I don't know why the sata does not show. Thanks
 
Try moving the data connector on the motherboard to a different connector.

Also, with the cover off, power up the machine whilst listening close to the hard disk in question - Are you hearing it power up, or is it silent all the time?
 
If your drive has died you could try putting it in a freezer for half an hour and it may just come to life for long enough for you to save your important data. This brings home the importance of making regular back ups to re-recordable DVD's or an external drive.

You could try following this guide if nothing else works.

http://free-backup.info/diy-hard-drive-recovery-for-the-extremely-desperate.html

You could also try using a USB adapter to connect it to another PC, or even connecting it internally.

Did you actually pull off the connectors from the drive and then reconnect them?
 
Yes I did switch it to another connnector. One of the sata cables from the power supply seems to have two loose strings. Is this the cause of it not powering up?
 
By strings I think you must mean cable or wire. And what you see is two spare power connectors which is quite normal as these would be used for any additional drives.

Your hard drive should have one connection that goes back to the power supply and one that goes to the motherboard. Remove and reconnect these cables to be sure they are properly seated on the drive.
 
The two black wires are loose from one of the power connectors. I don't know if this is why their is no power with the power connector which is connected to the sata drive. If so I don't know if I should buy another pc, drive or motherboard.
 
The power connection on the hard drive should have two blacks a red and a yellow, are they all there?

Put some insulating tape around the loose wires or push them back into the spare connectors.
 
The black wires and the yellow and orange wires are now discconnected from the ide and power connectors and and they cannot be reconnected since this is a three connection. Should I buy another power supply?
 
I'm not following your explanation. As I said before the power cable to the SATA drive should have two blacks, a red and a yellow (and an orange in some cases) on a 5 pin connector.

In some setups the SATA power connector uses a molex adapter which only has two blacks a red and a yellow.

I have no idea what you mean by a three connection?

Sounds like your wiring is in a mess, I can't see whats going on from here so maybe you should get someone who knows a bit more about power connections to have a look for you.

You should not need to replace the power supply unless it has failed, it should be possible to repair your connections but that requires some knowledge.

If you can post a photo of the wiring that might help me to guide you. Or you will need to give a much clearer explanation.
 
I bought a power adapter but the hard drive still did not work. I have decided to buy a 1tb barebones kit so that I can back up and use it since my c drive is only 80 gigs and it has only 39 gigs left. I am wondering if I use professional xp will it partition the drive?
 
Good luck with the new set up.

Windows XP pro will like any other windows OS will format the drive when you install it and create its own partition, but it wont do much more than that. If you want to create other partitions you will need third party software like Paragon or you could try Gparted which is free but it will only do the basic stuff. You can get it from here.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted/files/gparted/gparted-0.7.0/
 
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