Computer won't turn on after replacing hard drive. What to do if the hard drive does not start. What can be done if the hard drive is not readable

Imagine: you are working at a computer and then you need documents from an external hard drive. You plug it in and... nothing happens. Your HDD is not working. Don't panic, there are several ways to extract data from it that you can try before contacting the professionals.

Breakage can occur for a number of reasons, but most often for the following two. The first (and most easily fixed) problem is in the software. You may have accidentally deleted the folders you need or formatted the drive. The second - and most common - is disk damage. As a rule, in case of damage to the disk, there is little you can do on your own, you will need the help of professionals. However, here a few tricks that can save your files.

Data recovery by software

The first thing to remember when recovering data is the damaged disk should be disconnected. With every second of his work with the computer, the chances of his recovery are fading. operating system The computer constantly reads and writes information to the disk, regardless of whether you work with it or not. It will determine the space freed from the lost files as “unoccupied” and write new data, erasing the last chances for recovery.

Turn off the computer to which the lost data drive is connected. Now that the HDD is relatively safe, you can make a copy of it and try to recover data from it.

There are many different programs for disk cloning, Clonezilla and Redo Backup Recovery are suitable for Linux.

Scan the clone with several recovery programs: TestDisk (Windows/Mac/Linux), Recuva (Windows), PhotoRec (Windows/Mac/Linux), Restoration (Windows), Undelete Plus (Windows).

Hard Drive Main Components: Removed cover and circuit board.

Hard drive disassembly

Congratulations, if you managed to recover your lost data software tools. But what if the disk is not detected, or the computer detects it, but hangs on access? Or does it just not start, do not hear the characteristic sounds of rotation?

Let's take a quick look at the main components of the HDD and the symptoms when they break.

Printed circuit board: The green board at the bottom of the device contains the main controller (similar to the processor in your computer) and many other electronic controllers. This is an interface that turns binary code into commands available to the computer.

Magnetic disks ("pancakes"): HDD contains from one to several thin magnetic disks. Data is stored directly on them. Made of glass or alloy, they are coated with a magnetic layer and rotate at a speed of 5900 to 7200 rpm.

Head block: Data from magnetic disks are read by a set of magnetic heads. In the process of work, they do not come into contact with the surface of the disk, but "hover" in nanometers from it, reading and writing information. As a rule, each HDD disk equipped with two voices, one on each side. If the heads break after being dropped or hit by a device, they no longer "hover" above the disk, but come into contact with its surface, destroying data at a speed of several thousand revolutions per minute.

Firmware: Data processing is controlled by the device firmware. A firmware failure can result in inaccessible data on the drive. Unfortunately, the HDD firmware is not similar to that used in mobile phone or tablet - it cannot be updated or reflashed.

Now, having familiarized ourselves with the main components of the HDD, we will consider breakdowns and their symptoms. By determining where the problem arose, you can assess the likelihood of fixing it on your own.

Disc won't start

The case when there is a good chance to resurrect HDD if you are willing to put in the time and effort. If the drive does not respond at all when connected to a computer, in 99% of cases the reason is printed circuit board.

For older HDDs, it was sometimes possible to find a suitable board from a similar device and replace the defective one. Modern hard drives use new architecture and technologies, each HDD contains a unique microcode. A simple replacement of the board in this case will not only not solve the problem, but can also lead to a complete loss of data.

There are two reasons for such a failure: due to a voltage drop, the TVS diode burned out or one of the main components of the board failed. To protect against power surges, the hard drive board is usually equipped with two TVS diodes: 5 and 12 Volts. If the problem is only a burned out diode, replacing it will bring the device back to life. This is easy to check with a multimeter - if the resistance is near zero ohms, the diode is burned out. Remember that after removing the TVS diode, the hard drive remains defenseless against power surges!

PCB: TVS diodes marked
If the multimeter shows the correct resistance, the problem is in the printed circuit board and it needs to be replaced. A ROM block with a unique microcode is soldered on the board; to restore the device, it must be unsoldered and transferred to new fee. Some hard drives, such as Western Digitals, do not have a ROM block, and the firmware is contained in the main controller, which is almost impossible to replace. You should also check the head connectors on the board. Sometimes, over time, they corrode, which is easily removed with an eraser.


Contact corrosion can cause drive failure.

Disc starts up and clicks are heard

This severe damage to one or more magnetic heads can also mean damage to the magnetic disk. In this case, it is worth contacting specialists. The HDD will be opened in a clean room (without dust), the head will be replaced and the data will be restored. The clicking disk should be turned off; turning it on again may permanently disable it.

A hard drive after damage to the magnetic heads that scratched the drive.

The hard drive starts up and is detected by the computer, but hangs when you try to access it.

This usually means damage to the surface of the magnetic disk. The disk tries to read bad sectors, of which there are too many, and hangs. If SMART monitoring shows a large number of reassigned sectors, the diagnosis will be confirmed. This is a common problem that is solved with the use of professional disk imaging equipment.

If you want to fix this problem yourself (at the risk of worsening the situation or losing all the information at once), you can use software tools to capture the disk image. The Linux application dd_rescue is best suited for this purpose. However, the effectiveness of such programs is limited, since the commands still go through the BIOS.

Hard drive beeps when turned on

Beeping sounds mean that the motor is trying to set the disk in motion and cannot. This may be a "sticking" of the magnetic head. If the heads have not been properly parked and remain above the surface of the disc after it has stopped, they may "stick" to the surface of the disc. To eliminate this breakdown, it is necessary to open the disk in a clean room, remove and replace the heads. Definitely a job for professionals.

Parked heads after disk stop. When sticking, they get stuck on the surface of the magnetic disk.

Another cause of beeping sounds when the drive is turned on may be a spindle lock. This is the axis of rotation of magnetic disks. The spindle may jam due to a fall or impact. HDD . This problem has two solutions, both requiring the intervention of professionals: replacing the spindle or rearranging the magnetic disks in a new donor hard drive.

The hard disk starts up normally, but is not detected or the disk size is incorrect

As a rule, this indicates problems with the firmware. It is not read correctly, possibly by a faulty head, or written incorrectly for the same reason. Modern HDDs in this case require professional intervention.

Summing up, in several cases you can try to reanimate your hard drive yourself. However, remember that any such attempt is very risky and, if the lost data is very important, you should seek professional help.

Question: Win installation does not start after replacing the hard drive


Replaced the old HDD with a similar (not new) one. CD disc with Windows bootable, the priority in the boot is set. But the installation doesn't start. The Samsung splash screen hangs (F2 - for setup F4 - for recovery), when pressed, they do not work, nothing happens at all. Clearly the problem is with the hard drive. What actions can be taken?

Answer:

Message from Condor1992

boot priority set

Photo ... What was the priority? did you save it before leaving?

Message from Condor1992

Windows CD bootable

Verified? can you hear how it accelerates? rumbles there or something else? maybe it can’t overclock the disk?

Message from Condor1992

Clearly the problem is with the hard drive.

Is he a worker at all?

Added after 2 minutes

From a flash drive, the first method is fast. I personally checked it 4 days ago

Question: Error, permanent restart after replacing the hard drive and Windows installation 7


Hello gentlemen! I really ask for help. The situation is this. The old hard drive (Seagate) was almost covered, the constant shutdown of the laptop, bad sectors, etc., it was impossible to work. I bought a new one, installed it in the laptop. Naturally, the question arose that it was necessary to install the system, and here I got ... I installed the system repeatedly, everything was fine, but after installation the error was "STOP: c000021a (Fatal System Error) The initial session process or system terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x00000000 (0xc0000001 0x001003f0). The system has been shut down." and immediately the laptop turns off. I probably tried everything I could .... what I could see and press)) After the flight, I turned it on, went into the BIOS, switched to the hard one and started loading Windows, went in fine and after 3-4 minutes turned off again, tried to check with the chkdsk c command: /r does not find errors, but the system is no longer loaded at all after, even in safe mode does not enter and is cut down. Tried 3 more times to install the system, to no avail. The system that I installed was previously on the last disk and worked without problems, I don’t know how to fix it all ... I don’t understand all this very much and I don’t want to break it, but those who are familiar with computers are on “you” ... Tell me, please how can i fix this? Maybe the hard drive is not compatible? The laptop is not the oldest, although for someone it may turn out to be junk

P.S. Perhaps there was a similar topic, and if it's a repetition, I'm sorry)) It seems that I looked - I didn't see

Answer: Old - Seagate 320 Gb Sata II 5400 rpm cache - 8 MB and new hard drive - Seagate 500 Gb Sata III 7200 rpm cache - 32 MB. Now, in connection with the question about hard, I'm afraid that I bought the wrong one) Earlier, before buying, I asked - they said that you can buy any. And so, I drove him away with Victoria, clean, without any bad sectors there, should work well .... (

Added after 59 minutes
Oh, I forgot to add, I bought it for an old hard drive outer box. I think, since he glitched, I’ll connect the external one now with the already existing Windows and log in as usual, so he refused to log in from the old one too, it immediately turns off .... I also broke the old one, it’s fun

Q: Computer freezes after changing hard drive


A friend suggested your forum, I hope it helps.

Hard drive what is now - 1 (Windows 7)
What was the hard drive - 2 (Windows 10)

After replacing the hard drive(2) with a hard drive(1) there was a problem. After 30-60 minutes of operation, the screen becomes covered with artifacts, or freezes and practically does not show signs of life (<1 фпс, лагает звук).
There were no problems with the hard drive (2) that stood before.
When the hard disk (1) was in another system, there were no problems either.

The video card does not overheat.

If it's not the graphics card, then what is? Will there be a result if you demolish 7rku and put 10ku, as it was on the previous hard drive.

Answer: If the drivers are new, you can try to roll back to the old version.
Exazeus, I don’t even know, you can try to put the old screw in and see if it will fail or not.
Or is it no longer there?

Question: The system does not start due to the hard drive


In short, it all starts with the fact that I peacefully watch the series on a laptop. I look, nothing portends trouble, but then the computer freezes. Nothing happens, neither the mouse nor the buttons work, you have to forcefully turn off the computer, because. There is no reset button on the laptop. and this is where it starts. I launch it, and nothing happens, that is: They show the logo of my laptop, then only the underscore blinks and that's it, no reaction, no matter how much I waited. I read on the forums, it is said they say maybe my hard one does not work. I checked in the bios, everything is found. Then I thought to change Windows to restore, but figs here. The blue screen pops up. Again suspicion to hard. I brought it to a friend, they put another hard drive into my computer, everything works, they pushed my hard drive into his laptop - the same thing. Then it immediately becomes obvious - the problem is in the hard. Through various programs through the disk, I checked for an error, like vivard and so on. I tested it, there were a lot of errors, then I started installing Windows. Progress has reached the partition selection window. But here again, crap, there is not a single disk, plus only 698 GB of unidentified memory and error 0x80070017 are written. And here is the problem itself. What else needs to be done to make the hard one work?
Notebook Acer aspire v3-551g
bios screenshots and some data:

Error while booting windows initially:

When installing Windows, the choice of disk partition:

Answer: Is there valuable information on the disc? Hard is divided into several sections or one section? Show SMART from victoria 3.52.

Question: Error 0x0000007B after repartitioning a hard drive


Hello, I am getting error 0x0000007B while booting up my computer. After what did she appear? My hard drive was divided into two partitions - C: and D:. On C: Windows 7 is installed, on D: a lot of memory is occupied, although I measured the files, and their volume took up much less than what is written in the properties. More than 100 GB was taken to nowhere. I decided to create a new partition, move everything I need there, and format it. When the volume was compressed, 60 GB were freed, I created a new volume and transferred some of the necessary files there. The volume was not compressed anymore, he said that 0 MB was free for compression, although it was also free, like about 100 GB. I read that Acronis Disk Director will handle all the problems. Installed, began to free up space, he asked to restart the computer, nothing changed after the reboot. I installed Paragon Partition Manager, there was some kind of error, and I downloaded another version, installed it, remembered that the old one needed to be deleted. I started deleting, I thought that I was deleting a new version, and canceled the deletion, after which everything became dull, the programs began to disappear, a black screen remained, and then an error popped up. Now, when the system is restarted, it always appears. Startup restore doesn't help. Restoring from a restore point gives an error, the last system configuration does not help either. Even when I select recovery, when choosing an operating system, it loads, and then asks to select an operating system, although there is none in the table.
Will it be possible to restore the system startup without deleting the necessary files? If not, then I can still delete it, it is on another computer, it just takes a very long time to transfer, and I'm not sure that everything is there.
Sorry for the quality of the photos, they were not made for the topic, I'm sitting now with Dr. Web Live USB.
If necessary, I will post the AIDA64 report, but I need to reboot.
Thank you in advance!

Answer:

Message from 20BaLeN02

"I booted from a flash drive with Windows PE on it, opened the Windows iso file that was on another flash drive, clicked on setup.exe, selected the full installation, after which an error began to appear when booting from the hard drive"

Why so then? There are also normal standard methods: from a DVD, the Internet or a bootable USB flash drive, but not like that.
When installing and formatting as needed.
According to your SMART, I glanced briefly: there are errors, it seems uncritically, then I'll review it.

If you perform all the actions in this way - incorrectly, in your own way, then the problems will not disappear. Maybe you have someone to help, who fumbles in computers?

What error is coming out now, this one? If different, show.

Question: After replacing the hard drive, at the start of the operating system not found samsung r425


Good day, an unusual situation arose after replacing the hard one, everything is fine with the old hard one, but there are broken sectors and it doesn’t remap, put a new one gives this error OS several times re-uploaded the adapter is on the sata in the laptop changed the new hard one for bad sectors checked the Phoenix BIOS, set Windows and from a flash drive and from a hard drive and from a disk, if you do not remove the bootable USB flash drive from the OS, then Windows starts without errors without a flash drive operating system not found

Answer: And what system are you going into it?

Question: Installing win 7 after replacing the hard drive from another laptop


The bottom line is this - there were 2 laptops, one for win 8, the second for win 7. After the screw died on the first one, I made a replacement from the second one. Naturally, it did not work to start Windows. But the installation of both 7 and 8 does not boot from the LiveCD either.
Total - win8 is written in the BIOS, but there is someone else's disk with win7. The task is to reinstall win7 on it. No data needs to be saved.

Answer: Yep, it's all gone.
A plus for you in karma xd

Question: 350v5c (LA-8861P) Turns off intermittently after hard disk replacement


Actually the HDD was replaced, win8 was installed. Without load, it periodically turns off and after that it starts up by itself, I thought it was overheating, I cleaned the cooling system, replaced the thermal paste. Now it also periodically turns off / turns on, but now even when you turn it off with the button, or from the system it turns on itself. If you turn it off forcibly through the button, it does not turn on anymore. This behavior with the connected charger and without it.

upd. I found that if you close the lid immediately after turning it off, then the laptop itself does not turn on.

Answer: To sew two flash drives, it would be nice to have a cartoon, but tl866 does not support these cartoons. In principle, the ME region in the flash drive is 4 meters. Here are the firmware from a friendly forum, with a clean ME.
UH4 - P03ABE_2MB.bin, UH3 - P03ABE_4MB.bin, P03ABE_EC.bin - cartoon.

Question: Anti-vibration pads for mounting hard drives


Will their installation affect the durability of the hard drive?
a friend drove that because of these rubber pads, the hard drive leaves all the vibration on itself, and not on the case. And because of this, the life of the hard drive is reduced. Is this true or nonsense?

Answer: Hello,

My personal opinion is that these spacers reduce vibrations in the case and thus prevent the annoying resonant noise that hard drives sometimes create. I personally recently had such a problem, and I directly resolved it in this way. Purely theoretically, the computer should become quieter, but its contribution to the overall noise level is small compared to fans. The noise of disk heads and fans will remain almost completely. And the type of disc mounting cannot affect its service life (except for the position of the disc - vertically or horizontally, 45 degrees, etc.)

I hope this was helpful, Citizen_WD

Question: Replacing a hard drive


Good day. On a Samsung NP355V5C laptop, a hard drive flew off, tried to fool around with it for another day and took it to a friend, he checked it and said that the partition had flown (I could be wrong, it was a long time ago, I don’t remember exactly, but that’s not the point). In short, I want to put a hard drive on it from the DNS A35FB laptop: 465GB Seagate ST500LT012-1DG142 (SATA). As I connect this hard drive to the laptop, I get a message that the hard drive was not found, connect it and press any button (I don’t remember verbatim). In the BIOS, it is also not readable, although it sees the old (broken) one. What could be the problem?

In today's developed society, the computer has become part of a multifaceted life for a significant part of the population. Many people sit at the computer for years: someone communicates, someone works, most just play. Today, even small children can easily run their favorite games on their home computer. A modern computer is maximally compatible with additional equipment (camera, photo camera, Flash drive), you just need to “plug” the device into the USB connector, and the necessary software will be installed automatically. Some inquisitive minds begin to experiment not only on the operating system (OS), but also on the hardware (physical devices) of the computer.

For example, swap video cards or borrow a RAM bar from a friend or download a special program to fix problems in Windows.

Why the computer does not start when installing another hard drive

Today I would like to dwell on the problem of starting Windows from a hard drive from another computer.

We simply connect the removed hard disk (HDD, hard drive) to another machine and try to start the computer as usual. But an unexpected problem can arise almost immediately: if you simply move the hard drive from computer one to computer two, the chance of starting the operating system tends to be zero. The computer seems to be starting, it seems to be loading - but then there is a blue screen, overload, and so on ad infinitum. The first question that comes to mind is why? Let's try to figure out why Windows does not start from a freshly connected HDD from another computer.

Many have probably tried to install Windows themselves; in principle, nothing complicated: you insert the disc into the DVD drive and sit, waiting for the installation to complete. People who melancholy watch the automatic installation of Windows often do not quite understand what is happening to their computer at this moment in time.

Immediately after the first launch of the setup program, Windows copies the files necessary for work, namely, standard or built-in drivers for your computer configuration. Right at the beginning of the installation, system devices are detected and connected, namely: standard controllers (and for your HDD, of course), processor and optical disc drives. That is, the operating system starts working with your hardware configuration.

The operating system is sharpened specifically for your set of devices. After the first reboot, standard drivers are installed for all other equipment. The operating system is installed, but for the correct operation of some devices (sound and video cards, USB connectors) specific drivers are required that are installed by the user.

Each motherboard comes with a set of drivers that allow you to work correctly with additional devices from a specific manufacturer. These additional drivers improve device usability, but differ from the standard ones. For example, a standard video driver gives a screen resolution of 800x600, and only the video card manufacturer's driver allows you to use all the capabilities of this gadget provided by the manufacturer as efficiently as possible.

Installing third-party drivers significantly improves the performance of the computer, but makes it almost impossible to directly transfer the hard drive from machine to machine, because the hard drive stores information about specific installed devices needed to boot Windows.

Today there are many manufacturers of computers, spare parts for devices. Many firms specialize in the production of specific devices: someone produces motherboards, someone processors, someone video cards, someone software. Each manufacturer invests a lot of money in the development of their own products.

This, of course, moves progress forward, but, as a rule, leads to the fact that each high-tech device needs its own driver. That is, the software is sharpened not only for the desired manufacturer, but also for a specific series of manufactured devices. Drivers manufactured by one company will not work correctly with devices manufactured by another company. The variety of computer device manufacturers leads to the emergence of a variety of computer configurations, that is, almost every computer becomes unique in terms of the use of system devices.

It is worth noting that it is quite feasible to transfer your old hard drive to a new machine without any problems. You just need to know that such a transfer is feasible on computers with an almost identical configuration of the main system devices. But if it is you who, all of a sudden, has several completely identical computers, you can safely transfer the hard drive from one computer to another, and the operating system will work fine.

All configuration information in such a specific case will be almost identical, and problems should not arise.

A reasonable question arises: why, then, additional devices can be easily connected to the computer, and the hard drive refuses to work during transfer? Everything is outrageously simple: the hard drive is a system device and starts working even before Windows starts, that is, the operating system itself starts from this very hard drive.

So if initially working with the hard drive is incorrect, the operating system will not start, and even more so, it will not be able to select the drivers necessary for the hard drive to work.

How to properly connect a hard drive from another computer

Reinstalling the operating system is the only correct solution when transferring a hard drive to a completely different computer. But if you just need to connect your hard drive to another computer, you should prepare your HDD for transfer a little. In a working operating system, it is necessary to remove specific drivers installed for various equipment, replacing them with standard ones. This will significantly increase the chances of the operating system starting correctly on the computer in which you have connected your drive. When booting from this HDD for the first time, the system will use a standard set of drivers, which will increase the chances of a correct startup.

If the system startup was successful and the desktop appeared, Windows will try to select drivers for uninstalled equipment on its own. If the required driver is missing, the operating system will display a message that the device was detected, but a suitable driver was not found. Usually, the operating system selects drivers for devices built into the motherboard (built-in video, built-in sound card) quite simply. It is worth going to the “control panel” - “device manager”, and all uninstalled equipment will be perfectly visible. After that, it is worth installing the necessary drivers that come with the motherboard or drivers for specific equipment, such as a video card or TV tuner.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that if you absolutely do not want the appearance of inexplicable glitches in the operation of your computer, you should not experiment with transferring the HDD from one computer to another for the sole purpose of wondering what will happen. A modern computer is a rather specific thing and some experiments endure quite painfully. The operating system is “attached” to a specific computer and to a specific hardware configuration, which is why it would be more correct to reinstall the operating system when transferring a hard drive from one computer to another than trying to fit an existing one to a new configuration.

Today I want to talk to you about such a thing as physically transferring a hard drive to another computer. Why might this be necessary? Let's imagine a couple of real situations that occur with regular frequency (take my word for it) in organizations with a large number of computers.

There is also such a situation when it is necessary to transfer a hard drive due to the fact that the user needs to install a new (or not new, but more powerful) computer, but he has so many specific and difficult to configure software installed that it is easier to try to transfer the old hard drive to a new one configuration rather than reinstalling the OS and configuring all programs.

At home, the method described below can be used if necessary. replacing the motherboard without reinstalling Windows. Although, as a rule, here the issue is solved by a banal reinstallation of the system, exceptions to the rules are possible here too :)

Transferring a hard disk (while maintaining the operating system and application programs) to a different hardware configuration is not an entirely trivial task. Now I will explain why. Remember, we had an article on our site dedicated to? In it, we looked at various standards and drive connections implemented using control boards called "controllers".

For these controllers themselves, the operating system installs drivers to interact with them. Moreover, this interaction takes place between two controllers: one hard drive controller on the side of the motherboard, which is part of its system logic (chipset) and the second, located as a separate board (on the HDD drive) and - chips in solid state.

And now, imagine that we take and "pull out" the drive from its "familiar" environment, transferring the hard drive to another computer (another motherboard, another chipset). The operating system installed on it "remembers" which set of system logic was on the previous board and has drivers installed for it. And if we just move the hard drive to another computer, then there is a very high probability that the OS will not be able to boot there (without finding the "expected" hard disk controller drivers). She does not know how to substitute them on the fly.

It is for this reason that transferring a hard drive to another computer is not as easy a task as it might seem at first glance!

So, back to our poor user, who was unlucky or "lucky" to get a new computer :) In fact, he doesn't care what and how exactly we will do with his PC, but he needs it quickly and with all the data saved and working software!

Let's look at what options we have here (as a responsible employee of the IT department) in general?

  1. search (with subsequent replacement) for an absolutely identical
  2. hook the user to another (spare) computer and give it back
  3. reinstall the OS, transfer user data and configure programs

Let's briefly consider each option separately. The first one is hardly suitable for us for the reason that the motherboard may no longer be produced by the manufacturer and be obsolete (there is simply no place to buy it for a replacement). If you have a fleet of relatively old computers, this is a very likely situation, but driving and looking for it in some kind of "collapse" and radio markets ... well, you yourself understand - it's not kosher :)

Option number two, for all its simplicity, has a big pitfall, which we considered above (there is a very high probability that the transferred OS simply will not boot on another motherboard). Although there may be exceptions here (they come into force if the hardware configurations are similar or the motherboards are from the same manufacturer and have similar sets of system logic). It's called: oops - lucky! Usually, as you know, it happens - on the contrary :)

The third option is not an option at all :) Especially if everything needs to be done quickly (and this usually happens in emergency situations), and set up all these client-banks with digital signatures again - brrrrr ...

So, whether we like it or not, we are left with one option - moving a hard drive to another computer. But this migration must be prepared, otherwise it won't work!

I propose now to practice a similar procedure and see what happens?

Note: I recommend that you carry out such settings on all computers in your organization at once after Windows installations and before placing a PC at the user's workplace. This can greatly simplify your life in the future. After all, you do not know what and when can happen to equipment during its operation?

So, we have a task: to quickly transfer a hard drive from one computer to another and give it to the "new" user.

We have two computers. One (from which we will transfer the hard drive), let's call it "Workstation01". Here is a screenshot with important information about it for us, taken from the program "".

On it we see the model and manufacturer of the motherboard, as well as the version and manufacturer of the chipset (Intel I845G), in which the hard drive controller is located.

And here is another screenshot of the computer, on which we will transfer our disk:



As you can see, this is a DFI mainboard running on the SIS 650 chipset. We have two fundamentally different configurations.

Here are two more screenshots that show us the differences in the controllers and, as a result, the motherboard drivers installed for them.



A Samsung hard drive (with a driver for the controller board located on it) and an Intel 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage controller (with a driver for it) located in the motherboard chipset.

And here is our second computer "Workstation02":



We see here the Seagate hard drive (Seagate) and the controller on the board from SIS. That's where the whole problem lies!

To begin with, let's try to transfer the hard drive by simply unscrewing it from the first computer (with a controller from Intel) and connecting it to the second one (with a set of system logic from SIS). Perhaps a ride? In my case, it didn't "roll" :) Instead of loading and the Windows logo, I got a black screen with a blinking cursor at the top left. It all ended there.

If you think about it, it's logical. The operating system transferred to the hard drive "remembers" all the drivers installed in it for the previous computer, but it simply has nowhere to get others (for the new hardware).

What to do if the hard drive does not start? Let's start the test by inspecting the hard drive board. If that doesn't help, move on to checking the screw heads.

from 270 rubles RUB

Many users of a personal computer are familiar with the following unpleasant situation: while working on the computer, there was an urgent need to extract information from the hard drive, but when you connect the HDD, you find that the hard drive does not start.

Do not rush to sound the alarm. You can immediately contact a specialist, you can try to reanimate the railway yourself.

If the hard drive does not boot, then a failure has occurred in its operation, and a message may appear on the monitor screen about a screw failure during boot, or an error, or that the hard drive cannot be found in the BIOS settings.

There are two main root causes that the hard drive does not boot: damage to the hard drive itself or software failures. The latter is explained by the fact that the user formatted the disk, or accidentally deleted unnecessary folders. Here you can try to take action yourself.

But with mechanical damage to the screw, professional help is indispensable. There are, of course, other reasons why the hard drive does not open, for example, viruses that block the operation of the hard drive and other special cases.

What can be done if the hard drive is not readable:

  • First, test your hard drive on another computer, perhaps the problem is not at all with the hard drive. Just in case, connect the screw to another connector, it happens that the HDD starts working in another port.


    It happens that the connectors become corroded over time, in this case it is necessary clean the corrosion with a regular eraser. If, nevertheless, the screw does not start, then continue to perform the following steps.
  • See if all cables are connected to the hard drive correctly. If a cable is coming off the plug, or you find that the cords are not connected correctly, this may well be the reason that the hard drive does not start.


    Check the cables all the way, mechanical damage to the cable cannot be ruled out. You are lucky if this is the reason why the screw is not readable, as this is the most easily fixable problem. You just need to replace the faulty cord.
  • Check if your hard drive is reading the hard drive controller. True, not in all cases the controller does not see the disk if it does not start.
  • If you have already used this hard drive, and before the breakdown it worked properly, then you need to change the screw letter in the disk management menu.


    This action is especially relevant if you formatted new partitions on the hard drive.
  • Be sure to check the magnetic drive for viruses, in this case, you need to install antivirus programs.
  • It is necessary to check whether the disks are detected correctly. You can see this in Device Manager. There should be no yellow or red exclamation marks indicating an error.
  • Reinstall the drivers on the hard disk controller.
  • Reinstall the Windows operating system, sometimes this measure is effective.
  • It will not be superfluous to clean the computer from temporary folders. Then optimize the registry and utilities service.

What to do when a hard drive that has not yet been used does not start?

So, for the first time you turn on a new hard drive, but it does not open:


If everything is in order with the software, Windows, cords and USB, and the hard drive does not start, then you need to find a breakdown of the device itself. Winchester consists of:

A) printed circuit board(green detail at the bottom of the disk, consisting of many electronic controllers). The task of the board is to convert the codes into commands available to the computer;

b) "pancakes" (magnetic disks), on these thin glass or metal magnetic plates all computer information is stored. The maximum number of revolutions per minute of such plates is 7200, the minimum is 5900;


V) set of magnetic heads, there is one magnetic head on each side of the "pancake" of the hard disk, that is, two heads per "pancake". The heads do not contact the surface of the “pancake”, but upon impact, the heads contact the disk, and the information on the drive is destroyed;

G) firmware, which provides control over the processing of incoming information. If the problem is in the firmware, then the data from the disk will not be available. The firmware on a computer hard drive cannot be updated, as, for example, on a phone.

If the hard drive does not boot, then the problem is in the printed circuit board (99% of all cases). Modern hard drives have their own unique microcode, so replacing the board, unfortunately, will give practically nothing, on the contrary, if you try to replace the board yourself, you risk losing all information from the disk.

The printed circuit board deteriorates during power surges, when semiconductor devices (TVS diodes) burn out on it, protecting the board from overvoltage.

The board has one diode for 5 volts, the second for 12 volts.

You can check the condition of the diodes with a multimeter, if the device shows zero ohm, then the diodes burned out. In this case, you can replace them, and the board will work fine.

When replacing diodes, keep in mind that without these devices, the hard drive is completely defenseless against power surges.

If the semiconductor devices did not burn out, then, unfortunately, the printed circuit board itself failed. You can try to replace it. To do this, unsolder or disconnect the permanent memory block with a unique code, and solder it to the new board. Check the connectors for the magnetic heads, if they have corrosion, then remove it with an eraser. Corrosion can be the reason why the hard drive won't boot.

How to start a hard drive

Another reason that the hard drive does not start may be its absence in the BIOS, that is, in the settings for the disk, the “Off” parameter is set. Change the setting to "Enabled".


How to reload the drivers if the problem is in them.




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