During the start-up, the BIOS may fail to detect the hard drive, and therefore it is not listed by the BIOS during POST.
- First, check all connections and try again.
- If it still doesn't work, failure to recognise the hard drive may have been caused by a number of factors, like corrupt boot sector.
However, at start-up, your computer you can tell whether the drive has been detected by the BIOS or not.
- Power up the computer, and look for the on-screen instruction to tell you how to enter the BIOS. Usually this is achieved by pressing F1, F2 or DEL keys.
- Examine the menus for options on viewing the BIOS IDE peripheral setup and set your BIOS to automatically detect IDE drives. On some BIOS’s there is an option to "automatically detect hard drives now". If you run this option and the computer 'hangs' or appears inactive for a minute or more then it is likely that your Hard Disk Drive has failed to be recognised by the system BIOS.
Before getting too worried, power down the computer and unplug the hard disk and check if all the jumpers on the hard drive are set correctly according to the hard disk manufacturer's instructions. Incorrect jumper setting can prevent the hard drive from being detected by the BIOS. In some hard drives such as IBM and Hitachi, incorrect settings will corrupt the data and damage the logical structure of the hard disk.
Again, at this stage, you need to consult a Rockingham I.T. Solutions Technician who would advise you what to do next.
