The computer does not see the ssd drive. System setup after SSD installation

Wi-Fi setup

Want to connect an additional hard drive to your computer, but the system doesn't see it?
If you buy a new computer or laptop, then the hard drive is displayed there, and if you buy a hard drive separately, then it is not visible to the system.
Not everyone knows that a hard drive is formatted, and only after that it becomes visible.
This article will tell you how to format a new hard drive.

We check if everything is ready

1. We connect the hard drive.
As you can see, the power is connected and the sata cable is also connected.


(Picture 1)

2. Check if windows sees the hard drive.
We open "My Computer" and see that there is no hard disk.
In the figure below, we can see only one hard drive with the windows operating system installed.


(Figure 2)

Formatting the hard drive: creating two logical drives

1. Go to the control panel.

If you have Windows 7, then click "Start / Control Panel".
In Windows 8, in the window my computer on the "Computer" tab, click the "Open Control Panel" button.


(Figure 3)


(Figure 4)

3. In the next window, click "Create and format hard disk partitions".


(Figure 5)

4. The "Disk Management" window appears and a message prompting you to choose how we will use the hard drive.
Click "OK" choosing "Master Boot Record" so that you can install Windows on this hard drive.

click - ok


(Figure 6)

5. Move the cursor to the lower right corner of the Disk Management window and when the cursor changes and becomes multidirectional arrows, press the left mouse button and drag it down.
This way we increase the size of the window.
When all the contents of the window are available, you can now see that there is only one 118.90GB disk at the top of the window
At the bottom of the window, we see a 931.51GB hard drive (1 terabyte), which is not currently visible by the system, since its capacity is not allocated.


(Figure 7)

6. Move the cursor to the strip indicating the disk and right-click. In the context menu, select "Create Simple Volume".


(Figure 8)

7. After clicking, the "Simple Volume Wizard" window appears. Here we press the "Next" button.


(Figure 9)

8. In the next window, type in the size of the future logical disk and click "Next".

In the picture below, we see the hard disk capacity of 953857 MB. If we want to split the hard drive in half, then 953857/2 and it turns out that we need to enter the number 476928MB into the form. If we want the hard drive C to be 300GB, then you need to type in the number in megabytes 300 * 1024 \u003d 307200 MB.
In the remaining free space, we will create another logical drive later.


(Figure 10)

9. We give the system the right to choose a drive letter and click "Next".


(Figure 11)

10. In the next window, we also leave everything as the system chose and click "Next".

It is not worth changing the file system, as your operating system uses the NTFS file system.


(Figure 12)

11. To close the window with information about the completion of the creation of the first logical disk, press the "Finish" button.

button - done


(Figure 13)

12. Go back to the "Disk Management" window, which we opened in step 3 and did not close.
Here we again bring the cursor to the free space on the strip denoting the new hard drive and by right-clicking we call the context menu.
Select "Create Simple Volume".


(Figure 14)

13. The wizard for creating simple volumes appears, with which we are already familiar.
We repeat steps 6 - 7 in the window, a number will already be entered, indicating the entire remaining volume - 10.
In general, it's easy to see that you just have to click Next and Finish.

14. After creating the second logical disk, simply close the Disk Management window.
If a restart is required in Windows 7, then restart the computer.

15. Check the visibility of the hard disk.
Open "My Computer" and see two more logical drives that we have created.


(Figure 15)

If you have questions, doubts, or something remained unclear - write in the comments.

Solid-state drives (SSD), or the so-called. external HDs. These devices are more mobile than the usual hard drives installed inside the computer case. Many external drives can be connected to standard USB ports on a PC, which is very convenient when transporting large amounts of data. These SSDs are essentially regular USB devices, and they can experience the same problems as any other similar hardware.

Major SSD malfunctions

An external drive may not be recognized by your computer for a variety of reasons. The most common faults are:

  • Operating system problems, including driver failures, malware actions, incorrectly set system parameters, etc.
  • Errors in the file system of the SSD drive.
  • Software malfunctions of the control controller (firmware malfunctions).
  • Hardware malfunctions of the disk, ranging from the inoperability of the USB port and ending with the failure of one of the functional electronic components.

Many of these problems can be removed without the help of specialists. Let's start with the simple ones.

Incorrect Windows settings

When connecting any storage device to a computer, the operating system automatically assigns it a path, represented in the form of a Latin letter. It's about "Local Disk". If for some reason the SSD drive has not been assigned a letter, then it will not be possible to access it using usual means ("Windows Explorer" or any third-party file manager).

This is easy to fix, but keep in mind that all information stored on the drive may be lost. You can still try to save or restore it after changing the letter when using a special program (for example, R-Disk), but we will not consider this in this article.

The actions are as follows:

  • Open Control Panel, then go to System and Security or System and Maintenance (depending on your Windows version).
  • Next, open the "Administration" section, then run the system utility - "Computer Management".
  • On the right side of the Computer Management utility window, open the Storage Devices subsection, then select the Disk Management item.
  • In the central part of the window all existing "Local disks" will be displayed, a little below - the system names of the storage devices in which they were created.

  • Pay attention to "Disc 2" shown in the image above. On the contrary, the volume is displayed, followed by the file system name "RAW". This could mean that there is a file system problem on the disk, or there is a minor logic error. Although the drive is assigned a drive letter (in this case "F"), it may still not be recognized by Windows Explorer. There may be no letters at all.
  • Click on the area to the right of the disk name with the right mouse button, then select the menu item "Change drive letter or path ...".

  • A small window will open, click on the "Change ..." button.
  • In the next window, opposite the "Assign drive letter" line, select any of the alternative drive letter options from the drop-down menu, then click "OK". If a warning dialog box appears, click Yes.

If the problem was a small software glitch in the operating system, the name of the SSD and its file system type will be displayed in the Computer Management window. In addition, Windows Explorer will automatically open the contents of the disc.

SSD file system issues

Any storage device has its own file system, which, in simple terms, is a set of rules by which data is written to disk. The absence of a file system will make reading the recorded information impossible without using special software. The way out is to manually format the disk. As in the previous case, all information from the SSD will be deleted.

To format the disk, open the Computer Management system utility as described above. The absence of a file system can be determined by the information given opposite the name of the SSD-drive. The presence of the inscription "Not allocated" or the indication of the file system type "RAW" in front of the disk size will mean the need to perform formatting.

If the volume is not allocated, right-click on the block labeled "Not allocated" and select "Create Simple Volume", follow the instructions on the screen. To format the disk, select "Format ...". In the new window, enter the volume label, select the file system and cluster size (you can leave everything as the program suggests), then click "OK".

If the problem was in the file system, after the last step, the external drive should be detected by the system.

SSD driver malfunctions

Standard drivers for various types of storage media are installed with Windows. If the system does not experience any failures, there are no malicious programs, the settings are correctly set, no problems with the operation of external drives usually arise. If this happens, be sure to check for drivers. This can be done from the "Device Manager" system application:

  • Press the "Win + R" keys on the keyboard.
  • In the window that opens, enter "devmgmt.msc", then click "OK".
  • In the list that appears, find and open the "Disk devices" section, which will display the storage devices connected to the computer, including the SSD drive.
  • If there is a yellow exclamation mark next to the name of the SSD, the device driver may be defective or missing.

  • To fix this, the driver needs to be reinstalled. First, it is recommended to remove the installed software from the system. Just right-click on the name of the SSD drive, then select "Remove device".
  • The new driver can be downloaded from the external drive manufacturer's website.
  • An easier way to install a driver is to use an automatic driver installation application such as DriverHub. You can download the program from the developers website https://ru.drvhub.net/.

If the SSD name does not appear under Disk drives, also check the Other Devices and USB Controllers subsections.

SSD firmware issues

All solid state storage devices are equipped with a microcontroller, which in turn is controlled by low-level firmware or firmware. If for some reason the firmware starts to malfunction, the SSD will stop functioning.

Firmware malfunctions can be eliminated by completely clearing the data (including information from the protected system partition) on the SSD-drive or by reinstalling it. This operation is not recommended for users without appropriate skills.

Nevertheless, the process of deleting data from an external hard drive and its firmware is not very complicated. For example, for the Kingston SSD, the developers created a special service utility Kingston SSD Manager (https://www.kingston.com/ru/support/technical/ssdmanager). To erase all information from the disk, including hidden system data, just click on the "Secure Erase" button, which is located in the "Security" tab of the main program menu.

You can reinstall or update the microcontroller firmware from the same program ("Firmware" tab).

Any other proprietary utility designed to service SSD drives has the same functionality.

Hardware malfunction of the PC or external drive

You can verify the absence or presence of PC malfunctions by connecting the SSD hard drive to another computer. If the disk is not detected there, then the problem should be looked for in it. The drive should be taken to a service center if manipulations with OS settings, reinstalling drivers, full formatting, and other software operations did not help restore its performance. It is highly discouraged to try to repair the device yourself, because it can be incapacitated with one awkward movement.

Sometimes computer owners have problems with the fact that the BIOS does not see the hard drive. BIOS is a program that is responsible for recognizing hardware connected to the motherboard and configuring it.

If the line “DISK BOOT FAILURE. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER "or" No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key ", first of all you need to find out why this happened. There can be two options:

  • the problem is in the software part;
  • damaged disk hardware.


In any case, if the computer or laptop does not see the hard drive, go to the BIOS settings. To do this, at the start of the system, you need to press Delete or F2. Sometimes there is a special button for this on the laptop panel. The main section shows all devices connected to the computer (DVD-ROM, HDD, SSD, etc.).

  • In BIOS AWARD, this can be displayed in Standard CMOS Features;
  • In AMI BIOS, this is the Main tab.

If the hard drive is displayed, then the problem is in the program section or in bad sectors.

To solve such problems, you will need a disk or flash drive with an antivirus and a program for testing the hard drive. This can be, for example, MHDD (or Victoria) and Dr.Web®LiveDisk. First, you need to check the disk for bad sectors. If the physical condition of the disk is satisfactory, check with an antivirus. If viruses are found, you can either try to cure the HDD and restore the system, or reinstall it again.

And what to do if broken sectors are found? They can appear on both HDD and SSD media. In this case, everything will depend on their number and how quickly they spread. If there are few such sectors, then you can simply try to reinstall the system and observe the behavior of the disk. You can reassign them if necessary. For these purposes, the HDD has a backup partition. If there is little or no sector growth, then everything is fine. Nevertheless, it is better to use such a hard disk as a second, and not the main (system) one.

If the number of badges increases rapidly, then it is worth buying a new hard drive and not waiting for the old one to become completely inoperative. Otherwise, you can lose all information. However, such a disk can be used as an auxiliary one, but do not store important information on it.

Drive not detected

If a computer or laptop does not see the hard drive in the BIOS, then the matter is in the hardware. First, you should check the device connection cords. When the hard drive appears and disappears, with a high degree of probability we can say that the matter is either in the cable or in the connection connector. Use a different cable to eliminate this option. Please note that a specific type of connector is required. The most popular are:

  • SATA;
  • mSATA.

The latter is fine if you have a solid state drive.

Also check the connector that determines the connection of the hard drive, both on the disk and on the motherboard. Make sure they are not physically damaged.

If, after replacing the cable, the BIOS still does not see the SSD, then the problem may be in the motherboard. Connect a disk that you are sure is in working order and check if the BIOS sees it. An alternative might be to connect the problem hard drive to another computer as an additional one. If another BIOS also does not see the second disk, then the problem is in it. Then you should contact a specialist, because you won't be able to fix it yourself.

It also happens that the BIOS does not see the hard drive because automatic recognition of a new device is disabled. This may be the case if you have connected a new SATA drive. If the hard drive is not detected in the BIOS, you need to go to the settings and switch the automatic detection to Automatic. When exiting BIOS, be sure to save the settings!

How do I turn on the hard drive if I used to have an IDE connection and the new drive has a SATA interface? Older computers need to be configured slightly differently. Check the Compatible option in the BIOS. Sometimes the default is PATA only. This allows only the IDE to be used. Since the drive will be connected with a SATA connector, change the settings to SATA only.

If it happens that you connected the hard drive to another computer and it recognizes the hard drive, then you should take the motherboard to the service center. If the BIOS stops seeing the hard drive while your system unit is under warranty, you should never remove the computer cover. This will break the seal and void the warranty. Therefore, you need to immediately contact the service center.

Such problems also arise with additional media. It is necessary to perform the same operations with it as described above. If the hard disk is visible in the BIOS, but not in the system, then the error is most likely a software error.

Logical partitions are invisible in Windows

To solve this problem, go to the disk manager. To do this, right-click on the "My Computer" icon and then "Manage". In the window that appears, go to "Disk Management". If there is system-defined media, see if a letter is assigned to it (or to its logical volumes). In case the letter is missing, assign it. Call the context menu, select "Change drive letter or drive path" and assign a free letter to the partition.

If the partition is displayed in the "My Computer" menu, but it cannot be opened, you should check the entire hard drive for viruses and bad sectors. You can determine this using antivirus and programs for diagnosing the surface of the hard drive.

If we talk about removable media, then the most common reason why the BIOS does not see the SSD may be a damaged connecting cable, and when the hard drive is not detected in the system, the lack of necessary drivers. In the first case, it is enough to change the cable, and in the second, download the drivers on the website of the company that produced the hard drive.

If you begin to notice that the drive has started to stop working, be sure to run diagnostics. After all, it is better to prevent the problem than to run it to the point where the computer does not see the HDD.

When choosing between SSD and HDD, give preference to the former. This is a prominent type of hard drive, it has a number of advantages over a disk with moving parts. And it is preferable to buy drives from trusted sellers who provide warranty service. If you buy it from your hands, check for broken sectors. This will save you time and money in the future.

The computer does not see the SSD - A solid-state drive, compared to a hard drive, has such advantages as a high level of performance and reliability, low power consumption, lack of noise, and much more. Therefore, more and more users choose SSD as a system. When you connect such a drive, you can find that it is not detected by the system or is not even displayed in the BIOS. It may look like there is no disk in Explorer, Windows settings, or BIOS boot selection list.

Reasons for SSD connection problems

Problems with displaying the SSD in the system can arise for reasons such as the absence of a drive letter or initialization, the presence of hidden partitions and a file system incompatible with Windows. At the same time, this can occur due to incorrect BIOS settings and physical damage to the disk itself or one of the elements of the connections between the motherboard and the SSD.

Reason 1: The disk is not initialized

It often happens that the computer does not see the SSD drive and is not initialized when connected to a computer and, as a result, is not visible in the system. The solution is to perform the procedure manually according to the following algorithm.

    1. Press simultaneously "Win + R" and in the window that appears, enter compmgmt.msc. Then click "OK".
    2. A window will open where you should click "Disk Management".
    3. Click on the required drive with the right mouse button and select "Initialize Disk" from the menu that opens.
    4.

    Next, make sure that there is a check mark in the "Disk 1" field, and place a marker opposite the item with the mention of MBR or GPT. "Master Boot Record" is compatible with all versions of Windows, but if you plan to use only the latest releases of this OS, it is better to choose "Table with GUID partitions".

    5. After completing the procedure, create a new partition. To do this, click on the disk and select "Create Simple Volume".
    6. The "New Volume Wizard" will open, in which we press "Next".
    7. Then you need to specify the size. You can leave the default, which is the maximum disk size, or choose a lower value. After making the necessary changes, click "Next".
    8. In the next window, we agree with the proposed version of the volume letter and click "Next". If you wish, you can assign another letter, the main thing is that it does not coincide with the existing one.
    9. Next, you need to format. We leave the recommended values \u200b\u200bin the fields "File system", "Volume label" and in addition enable the option "Quick format".
    10. Click "Finish".

As a result, the disk should appear in the system.

Reason 2: Missing drive letter

Sometimes the SSD does not have a letter and therefore does not appear in File Explorer. In this case, you need to assign a letter to it.

    1. Go to Disk Management by repeating steps 1-2 above. Right-click on the SSD and select "Change drive letter or drive path".
    2. In the window that appears, click on "Change".
    3. Select a drive letter from the list, and then click "OK".

After that, the specified storage device is recognized by the OS, you can carry out standard operations with it.

Reason 3: Missing partitions

If the disc you purchased is not new and has been used for a long time, it may not appear in My Computer either. The reason for this may be damage to the system file or MBR table due to a crash, infection with a virus file, misuse, etc. In this case, the SSD is displayed in "Disk Management", but its status is "Not initialized". In this case, it is usually recommended to perform initialization, however, due to the risk of data loss, this is still not worth doing.

In addition, it is still possible that the drive is displayed as one unallocated area. Creating a new volume as usual can also result in data loss. The solution here is to restore the partition. To do this, you need certain knowledge and software, for example, MiniTool Partition Wizard, which has a corresponding option.

    1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and then select “Partition Recovery” from the “Check Disk” menu after specifying the target SSD. Alternatively, you can right-click on the disk and select the item of the same name.
    2. Next, you need to select the scanning range of the SSD. Three options are available: "Full Disk", "Unallocated Space" and "Specified Range". In the first case, the search is performed over the entire disk, in the second - only on free space, in the third - on certain sectors. Leave "Full Disk" and click "Next".
    3. The next window offers a choice of two options for the scan mode. The first - "Quick Scan" - recovers hidden or deleted partitions that are contiguous, and the second - "Full Scan" - scans each sector of the specified range on the SSD.
    4. After the disk scan is completed, all found partitions are listed in the results window. Select all you need and click "Finish".
    5. Then confirm the execution of the restore operation by clicking on "Apply". After that, all partitions on the SSD will appear in Explorer.

This should help solve the problem, but in a situation where there is no necessary knowledge and the necessary data is on the disk, it is better to turn to professionals.

Reason 4: Hidden section

Sometimes an SSD won't show up in Windows due to a hidden partition. This is possible if the user has hidden the volume with third-party software to prevent access to the data. The solution is to restore the partition using disk management software. The same MiniTool Partition Wizard copes well with this task.

    1. After starting the application, right click on the target disk and select "Unhide Partition". The same function is launched by selecting the line of the same name in the menu on the left.
    2. Then assign a letter to this section and click "OK".

After that, the hidden sections will appear in the "Explorer".

Reason 5: Unsupported file system

If after following the above steps the SSD still does not appear in File Explorer, the file system of the disk may be different from the FAT32 or NTFS that Windows works with. Typically, such a drive appears as a "RAW" area in the Disk Manager. To fix the problem, you need to follow the steps below.

    1. Start "Disk Management" by repeating steps 1-2 from the instructions above. Next, click on the required section and select the "Delete volume" line.
    2. Confirm the deletion by clicking "Yes".
    3. As you can see, the volume status has changed to "Free".

Reason 6: Problems with BIOS and hardware

There are four main reasons the BIOS does not detect the presence of an internal solid state drive.

SATA is disabled or has the wrong mode

    1. To enable it, go to BIOS and activate the advanced settings display mode. To do this, click on the "Advanced" button or press "F7". In the example below, all steps are shown for the UEFI graphical interface.
    2. Confirm the entrance by clicking "OK".
    3. Next, we find the Configuration of embedded devices in the "Advanced" tab.
    6. If the connection problem still remains, you can try switching SATA mode from AHCI to IDE or vice versa. To do this, first go to the "SATA Configuration" section located in the "Advanced" tab.

Incorrect BIOS settings

The BIOS will also not recognize the drive if there are incorrect settings. It is easy to check by the system date - if it does not match the true date, it indicates a failure. To fix it, you must perform a reset and return to standard parameters according to the sequence below.

    1. Disconnect your PC from the network.
    2. Open the system unit and find the jumper labeled "CLRTC" on the motherboard. It is usually found near the battery

    Data cable defective

    The BIOS will also not detect the SSD if the SATA cable is damaged. In this case, you need to check all the connections between the motherboard and the SSD. It is advisable not to allow any bends or pinching of the cable when laying. This can damage the wires inside the insulation, although the outside may look normal. If there is any doubt about the condition of the cable, it is best to replace it. Seagate recommends using cables less than 1 meter in length to connect SATA devices. Longer ones can sometimes fall out of the connectors, so be sure to check that they are tightly connected to the SATA ports.

    Defective solid state drive

    If, after carrying out the above procedures, the disk is still not displayed in the BIOS, most likely there is a factory defect or physical damage to the device. Here you need to contact a computer repair shop or an SSD supplier, after making sure that there is a warranty.

    Conclusion

    In this article, we examined the reasons for the absence of a solid state drive in the system or in the BIOS when it is connected. The source of such a problem can be both the condition of the disk or cable, as well as various software failures and incorrect settings. Before proceeding with the fix using one of the listed methods, it is recommended to check all connections between the SSD and the motherboard, try replacing the SATA cable.

    The computer does not see the SSD drive after connecting

First you need to define a hard drive. Hard disk or "hard drive", also known as HDD, is used to save data. All computer files are located here (with only minor exceptions). It contains Windows 10, along with all the information. Thus, if the hard drive is not displayed, the information from it will also be unavailable.

HDD diagnostics

If the system does not detect the hard drive, then you need to determine the reason.

Find out if the problem is in the hard drive itself or in the operating system.

It is required to connect the hard drive to the system unit. If the device is successfully detected, there may be a problem in the software, otherwise there is a defect in the hard drive.

Working with software

If after updating Windows 7 / 8.1 to Windows 10, the operating system stopped seeing the second hard drive, then below are the best actions to fix the problem. This instruction will also help if the user has installed an HDD or SSD in the system unit, but only BIOS sees it, and does not display the operating system explorer. And if the BIOS does not show it, then it is required to analyze the correctness of the equipment connection.

"Turn on" the second hard drive correctly

It is necessary by pressing the + R keys to call the "Run" menu, type diskmgmt.msc. Then press Enter. The Windows 10 Disk Management utility will start. At the bottom of the window there will be an area where disks are listed, study the following information about them:

  1. “There is no data. Not initialized "- this will be written if the physical hard disk or SSD is not displayed;
  2. Are there parts on the disk where "Not allocated" is written - this is if there is no partition on a virtually partitioned space;
  3. In the absence of the above, the RAW partition and NTFS or FAT32 partitions are displayed, they are not visible in Windows and the volume letter is not assigned. You need to click on it with the right mouse button and click "Format" (if RAW) or "Assign letter".
  4. Right-click on the name of the area and click "Initialize".

In the menu that appears, define the partition structure - MBR (in Windows 7), or GPT (GUID). For Windows 10, GPT is better.

Next, you need to right-click on the unallocated part, select the "Create simple volume" item.

Follow the step-by-step instructions for creating a volume: choose a letter, define the file system (NTFS is better) and the amount of gigabytes of space. If you do not specify how many gigabytes there will be, then it will take up all the unallocated space.

After completing these steps, the second drive appears in Windows 10, ready to use.

Using the command line to make the second disk visible

This option is provided for information only and is not recommended. If you do not have a positive result after following the steps above and if you do not know the essence of the steps below, then it is strongly not recommended to use them.

It is required to display a command line with administrator privileges, then enter the following commands in sequence:

  1. diskpart
  2. list disk

Write down on a sheet of paper or remember the number of the not displayed disk (hereinafter - X). Run the command select disk X by pressing the Enter key.

If the second hard drive is not visible, then use the following commands. Caution! Files will be erased! If you need to save files on a partition that is not displayed, you cannot perform the above actions. So, we sequentially enter the commands in the console.

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