hdd not showing.....

[zniv]

i have read "Guide: If you installed a new disk but the system can't see it", but it not doing or showing what you said it would on step five.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/404/imagezvuy.jpg/

dunno if make any difference, the hard drive is from a laptop 2.5" 500GB but i used it on my ps3, so it could be on a ps3 format....if there is such a thing?!
any help please.

thanks
vinz

 

[Paperdoc]

A hard drive formatted for a PS3 may not be readable by Windows. BUT before that is investigated, look for whether the HDD is alive at all. In Disk Management, look in the LOWER RIGHT pane and SCROLL it to be sure you are seeing all the hardware device in the machine. If that HDD is NOT there, it is malfunctioning at the hardware level, and formatting is not your issue. BUT if it is there, post here exactly what it says about the HDD and the Partition(s) on it.

 

[zniv]

A hard drive formatted for a PS3 may not be readable by Windows. BUT before that is investigated, look for whether the HDD is alive at all. In Disk Management, look in the LOWER RIGHT pane and SCROLL it to be sure you are seeing all the hardware device in the machine. If that HDD is NOT there, it is malfunctioning at the hardware level, and formatting is not your issue. BUT if it is there, post here exactly what it says about the HDD and the Partition(s) on it.

i can see all the hdd drives in Disk Management, but the one i want is in back (see above link for image), and only showing about 300GB when my hdd is a 500GB, maybe it to do with the partition??
also if i go into device manager, i can see all the drives but it does shower any detail of the hdd when i right click in to it. i use this hdd on my computer before i use it on my ps3, so i realy dunno what is wrong with it.

 

[Paperdoc]

I presume it is the first one labelled Disk 0 in your image, with a size of 298.09 GB. So it certainly seems to be working, but with two "problems".

The most obvious problem on the image is that this drive appears to have no Partitions on it at all - it is all Unallocated Space. However, it does not say that in your image - odd. Does this drive have any information on it? Do you need any info on it, or can you afford to lose any of its data by just wiping it clean and starting over?

The image clearly shows the size as about 300 GB as you say, but you believe it should be 500 GB. What model number is that drive? Are you sure of its size?

IF you do NOT want to try to save any data from that drive, I suggest you start by doing a thorough diagnosis of the HDD. For that you need to know the manufacturer of the unit, and maybe its model number. Most HDD manufacturers have a set of diagnostic routines available from free download from their website. But get the ones from YOUR manufacturer, not some other maker. For example, if the HDD is from WD, get their Date Lifeguard utility package. Personally I prefer the "for DOS" versions of these because you burn them to a CD and can use them even if your HDD has failed. But in your case you do have a working system that boots into Windows from another HDD, so you may be able to use a Windows version of the diagnostics.

Use the diagnostics to test the HDD that is giving problems. Usually there are three simpler tools to use. The first will simply read and display the SMART messages. The second is usually a "Short Test" that will examine a small representative subset of the drive. The third is the "Long Test" that will examine everything and take MANY hours to do that. If these tests say there is nothing wrong with your HDD, then it is really OK.

Often these diagnostic suites also include other tools that can destroy data on the drive. (Usually those first three types do not.) When you go to use them, they will warn you that you will lose data if you continue. CAUTION: If you use any of these tools, be VERY SURE that it is working on the troublesome drive, and NOT on any of your good drives!! These things may include tools for changing the apparent size of the HDD (some makers) or zero-filling the unit. Seagate (and maybe some others) has a feature in some drives that allows you to use this utility to set the maximum size of the HDD to something less than its real max, if you need to. There is also a tool to reset it to its full max size. So IF something like that has been done to limit the unit's apparent size, you MAY be able to change that. But as I said, I think that will destroy any data on it.

A zero fill writes all zeroes to EVERY part of the HDD, thus completely destroying all data - you CANNOT get data back after this! But it also triggers a background feature that lets the HDD "fix" any bad sectors by replacing them from a hidden stock of spare good ones so that the unit is perfect again. AND it is completely empty. After that you can use any normal tools (for example, those in Disk Management) to Create a Partition on the unit of any size (up to its max) and Format it.

 

[zniv]

I presume it is the first one labelled Disk 0 in your image, with a size of 298.09 GB. So it certainly seems to be working, but with two "problems".

The most obvious problem on the image is that this drive appears to have no Partitions on it at all - it is all Unallocated Space. However, it does not say that in your image - odd. Does this drive have any information on it? Do you need any info on it, or can you afford to lose any of its data by just wiping it clean and starting over?

The image clearly shows the size as about 300 GB as you say, but you believe it should be 500 GB. What model number is that drive? Are you sure of its size?

IF you do NOT want to try to save any data from that drive, I suggest you start by doing a thorough diagnosis of the HDD. For that you need to know the manufacturer of the unit, and maybe its model number. Most HDD manufacturers have a set of diagnostic routines available from free download from their website. But get the ones from YOUR manufacturer, not some other maker. For example, if the HDD is from WD, get their Date Lifeguard utility package. Personally I prefer the "for DOS" versions of these because you burn them to a CD and can use them even if your HDD has failed. But in your case you do have a working system that boots into Windows from another HDD, so you may be able to use a Windows version of the diagnostics.

Use the diagnostics to test the HDD that is giving problems. Usually there are three simpler tools to use. The first will simply read and display the SMART messages. The second is usually a "Short Test" that will examine a small representative subset of the drive. The third is the "Long Test" that will examine everything and take MANY hours to do that. If these tests say there is nothing wrong with your HDD, then it is really OK.

Often these diagnostic suites also include other tools that can destroy data on the drive. (Usually those first three types do not.) When you go to use them, they will warn you that you will lose data if you continue. CAUTION: If you use any of these tools, be VERY SURE that it is working on the troublesome drive, and NOT on any of your good drives!! These things may include tools for changing the apparent size of the HDD (some makers) or zero-filling the unit. Seagate (and maybe some others) has a feature in some drives that allows you to use this utility to set the maximum size of the HDD to something less than its real max, if you need to. There is also a tool to reset it to its full max size. So IF something like that has been done to limit the unit's apparent size, you MAY be able to change that. But as I said, I think that will destroy any data on it.

A zero fill writes all zeroes to EVERY part of the HDD, thus completely destroying all data - you CANNOT get data back after this! But it also triggers a background feature that lets the HDD "fix" any bad sectors by replacing them from a hidden stock of spare good ones so that the unit is perfect again. AND it is completely empty. After that you can use any normal tools (for example, those in Disk Management) to Create a Partition on the unit of any size (up to its max) and Format it.

thank you so much for your detail reply, i will give it a go over the weekend and let you know if it sorted or not.
thanks again
vinz