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Can I format hard drive using my computer?

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sphinx76

Technical User
Aug 22, 2002
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Hi... I have been trying to fix my son's computer...the hard drive is not detected in BIOS or by the computer. I cannot fdisk. If I format the drive using my computer, is there a chance that I can get the drive to be detected? Has anyone done this?? Thanks for your help.
 
If its not detected by the BIOS, formatting will do it no good.
Can you answer these questions...could help:

* Have you checked the jumper settings?
* Have you made sure its on the right cable etc.
* Has this drive worked on your son's board before?
* Can the drive be detected on another computer?
* How big is the drive?
* When did the problem start?

Regards
 
Try reseting to default settings to see if it will detect the hard drive. Otherwise I suggest trying to set the hard drive as the primary bootup and set the hard drive settings to user defined. You will have to enter the sectors, tracks, cylinders of the maximum drive capicity.

Normally if your bios supports autodetect, it should normally detect the drive. I have had this problem before. If your cmos battery is about to go, it will reset your bios settings each time the computer starts. To fix this, replace the cmos battery and it should work.
 
Hi guys...thanks for your replies.

Yes, I have checked the jumpers..I've read the motherboard manual and I am pretty sure that they are in the correct places.

Its on the right cable, too. I have tried putting it alone on the drive, tried different settings (master/slave/cable select) and have even tried a different IDE cable. I have even tried the cable upside down.

The drive is a new drive. Not brand new but different. The old one was a 2 gig, and it stopped being detected when too many things were installed on the drive.(Coincidence maybe?) This drive is a Maxtor 8 gig, but it isn't detected at all either.

I have not yet tried the drive in another computer.
 
Hello.

I have tried the user defined settings...when the computer boots up it looks like it is being detected, but when I attempt to format it says no fixed disk present.

I have also removed the CMOS battery in order to reset the bios. Nothing. I have replaced the battery with a battery from another motherboard, but this also does not make any difference.

Thanks for your suggestions....you got anymore????
 
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