Tecra 8100 wont detect my new HD

[nonworkingmouse]

Tecra 8100 laptop won't auto detect the new HD I installed. Is there a way to manually detect the drives?

Thanks in advance

 

[nonworkingmouse]

BTW, I've tried the new drive on another machine and it works fine. When I place the old HD back, the machine detects it.

Thanks

 

[alzan]

This might be a drive that a format utility provided by the manufacturer. If you go to the drive mfrs site, see if they have such a utility and download/run it. Seagate has been doing that with their most recent SATA and EIDE drives.

You could also try the version of fdisk for WinME, it saved my neck on a system I built for a friend; you can get a copy from bootdisk.com.

alzan

 

[nonworkingmouse]

Basically the problem here is that my laptop's BIOS won't detect the new HD. I tried using Ultimate Boot CD but it can't find any HD present.

Thanks for your help

 

[LiLithTecH]

Do you have a DVD-Rom/CDR-W drive installed in the modular bay?
If so, remove before installing the HD.

Also, you are removing the battery and ac power before swapping the drive, correct?

 

[nonworkingmouse]

I have a DVD-Rom drive installed.

I removed the power cord but NOT the battery when I swap the drives.

 

[Fardringle]

You should always remove the power cord and the battery when working with internal components on the laptop including drives, memory, modem, NIC, keyboard...

The battery provides the same current to the internal circuits that the external power cord does and you run a serious risk of shorting out and permanently damaging the system if you leave the battery in while making changes.

Having said that, try what LiLithTecH said and remove the DVD-ROM drive then plug in just the new hard drive with no other drives (no CD, DVD, Floppy, etc) and see if the computer is able to detect the drive. If so, turn it off and disconnect ALL power and plug in the DVD drive then turn it back on to see if the hard drive and DVD are detected. If they are, then install Windows and get it configured properly before reconnecting any additional drives you might have.

If it will not work with just the new hard drive plugged in, but does work normally with the old hard drive, then you likely either have a bad drive or have a drive that is not compatible with your laptop.

 

[nonworkingmouse]

I appreciate everyone's replies.

The new drive is the exact model as the old one. BIOS still can't detect the new drive after I took both the battery and DVD drive out. I might have to get a replacement drive from the seller.

Thanks everyone

 

[nonworkingmouse]

I bought a 2.5 enclosure to see if the new HDD will work on my desktop. XP detected the mass storage and the drive but when I go to My Computer I couldn't find the drive. I tried refreshing but no success. My question is, do I need to do anything i.e. formating it or what not before Explorer can see it?

Thanks in advance

 

[LiLithTecH]

You need to go to 'Disk Manager' and Partition and Format (FAT32 or NTFS)
the drive before you can use it.

 

[nonworkingmouse]

Thanks Lilith, I was able to format the disk and can now see it in XP. When I installed it on my laptop, BIOS still couldn't detect the HDD. I know that the new HDD works fine. It comes down to Tecra 8100 BIOS setting. Maybe Tecra got some special keys you need to hold during boot up or what not to install a new HDD. BTW this laptop used to be a corporate asset, hopefully this helps. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[LiLithTecH]

What BIOS version are you running?
There are ALOT of Bios updates (nothing dealing with HD specifically)

If you are running anything less than BIOS v2.00 an update woould be in order....

 

[nonworkingmouse]

Its got ACPI BIOS ver 2.30