# Setting up a new hard drive for a PC?



## Brian G Turner (Oct 9, 2015)

So my original hard drive is reporting sector errors it can't fix, so I bought a new hard drive of the same size (1TB).

I presumed it would be a simple case or physically replacing the old hard drive, then simply installing Windows 7 on the new one.

However, the process stopped early on, with Windows reporting that something was wrong and it couldn't continue. Attempts to boot from that drive failed because it reported that BOOTMGR was missing (that's not the message I got when I first loaded up the new hard drive).

Anyway...I now realise that I probably need to format the new hard drive first, and ensure it's NTFS. 

So now the old drive is back in as the primary, but when I attempt to set up the new hard drive as a slave - connecting it up with its own bundle of orange, red, and black wires - so I can format it via Windows, my PC doesn't see it. 

This is proving more challenging than I expected!

I could always buy a hard drive dock, but I figured there should be an easier way than that? 

Any pointers welcome.


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## SilentRoamer (Oct 9, 2015)

Are you just checking My Computer or are you checking Computer Management?

You need to format it in Computer Management before you can see it in the My Computer are of Windows.

Right Click>My Computer>Manage>Computer Management>Storage>Right Click the drive>Format

Can you see it in BIOS?


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## Brian G Turner (Oct 9, 2015)

The drive simply isn't listed. Either I haven't connected it properly, or something else is up.

BIOS is going outside of my comfort zone, am afraid.


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## SilentRoamer (Oct 9, 2015)

It sounds as if the motherboard can't see the new device.

Are you using known good cables and connecting them to a known good SATA port? Maybe use the cables and the same port as the old HDD.

When the machine boots there should be a screen that says something like F11 for settings before you get to the Windows screen - its entirely dependent on the the device which button it is - usually a Function key. Exact instructionsa are difficult to give as BIOS settings differ a lot.

Basically just look for an auto detect function or Storage or Hard Drive options. Make sure you save and then exit - *just be careful in the BIOS if you are unsure.*


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## Mirannan (Oct 9, 2015)

First make sure the BIOS can see it, as described above. However, you then need to go into Computer Management/Disk Management and initialise the drive, which allocates partitions on the drive - you can split the drive into sections if you like, and they will have separate drive letters, but it's usually a waste of time. Then select the new drive and format it. (Be VERY sure you're formatting the right drive!) Incidentally, formatting a brand-new, unused drive takes ages; long enough to cook and eat a meal, at least.


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## J Riff (Oct 9, 2015)

Well, 'bootmgr is missing' is a common error with a few different fixes...


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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 9, 2015)

Handing over to hubby: 

1) Is the new hard drive the only one in the machine?

2) If yes then the Windows Installer should take care of the formatting.  At one of the stages of set up it asks where to install - delete everything so it is unformatted space.  

I hope that makes sense to you cos I'm more confused then when I asked.


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## J-Sun (Oct 10, 2015)

I'm not much of a Windows guy and very out of date besides but a couple of things occurred to me that I haven't seen mentioned yet. One is whether you're using the Windows that came with your computer or not - I think OEM Windows will often fail or refuse to install on a changed system - it's supposed to take changing a couple/three components but sometimes Windows is twitchy. If this is your own copy of Windows, that isn't it, though. The other is that, if you now have both drives installed, make sure the jumpers are set properly (master/slave or cable select with them on the correct cables). You may well know about that and have already checked it, but you didn't say. Also, of course, unplug and replug it all to make sure the data and power cables are firmly set. Also, if your computer is at all decent and has the slots, it should be fine, but some PSUs are so feeble they might not run the second drive properly, especially if you've got other power drains like extra optical drives. But this is unlikely.

As far as the bootmgr missing, the Windows install obviously failed, so that's probably no big deal - just a secondary problem as a result of the primary problem which will be fixed as soon as the drive is. But whatever error message Windows gave you at that time was important. Always write stuff like that down so you can post it here or with tech support or whatever.

As far as the BIOS, it's not all that scary. You shouldn't change anything unless something's obviously wrong and the BIOS should ask you if you want to save changes - just say no unless you're sure and nothing will get changed. (I have to twiddle with my BIOS all the time just to set the freakin' hardware clock because the CMOS gets random amnesia, though it shouldn't be the battery because it sometimes remembers.) You're just trying to view the BIOS to see if the drive is recognized at a sub-OS level.

And not to be that guy, but you can try to download and burn a Knoppix (or whatever variety) live Linux disk and see if it is a Windows problem that way. If Knoppix doesn't see it either, you know it's low level - bad connection, bad drive even if it is new, etc. If Knoppix sees it, then you'll know it's a Windows thing.

And there's all kinds of IRC channels and dedicated web sites where you might get good, albeit amateur, tech support.


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## Mirannan (Oct 10, 2015)

J-Sun; I'm not entirely sure of this, but the master/slave business doesn't apply to SATA. However, what sometimes happens is that the new drive doesn't get noticed until you delve into the BIOS; I can't remember what you have to do and it probably varies between motherboards anyway.

There is also a boot priority listing built into the BIOS. A fairly standard setup is to have the CD/DVD drive as the first priority (this is to run installs and such things as Memtest on CD, I suppose) followed by the hard drive if you only have one. If you install a new drive that you want to be first after the CD and ahead of the old drive, then it's BIOS time again.


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## J-Sun (Oct 11, 2015)

Mirannan said:


> J-Sun; I'm not entirely sure of this, but the master/slave business doesn't apply to SATA.



Brian didn't say what type of drive he was installing but, given the terabyte size, it probably is a newer computer and drive so you're probably right that it's SATA. As far as those (which I still think of as the "new" kind ), I think I've only installed one but something tells me you're correct. It can definitely be an issue on IDE/PATA but probably doesn't apply here. Whatever the trouble, I hope he gets it straightened out.


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## Kylara (Oct 11, 2015)

I would ask my OH who loves making computers and is a whizz at vetting new bits to play ball, but he is visiting friends in Manchester, I can ask him layer, but I doubt he is even awake yet! I would also suggest getting into the BIOS, but understand the worry of pressing the wrong thing! I'll report back later.


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## tinkerdan (Oct 12, 2015)

If the drives are SATA you may want to check the cables to be sure they are on tight.

But if they are SATA you should be able to plug it into an open slot.

To check if it is being seen by the operating system:
After booting to the desktop.
Right click on the computer icon if you have it.
select properties and that should launch a system window.
On the left of the system window are some choices: near or at the top will be Device Manager.
Select Device Manager and that will open the Device manager window.
In device manager you will have all the devices listed.
Chose the Hard Drive selection and open the tree.
This should list your hard drives.
It will have the main drive and if the other is installed correctly it will show that drive usually with information that matches the manufacturer.
If you don't see a second drive then you need to shut down and check the cabling.
If the cables are attached properly to both the board and the drive try again.
If it still fails you might want to contact the place you purchased the drive from
It should show the drive even unformatted and you won't get a drive letter until you use the utilities to format the drive.
note:: if you have any usb hard drives attached it will show those there also.


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## Brian G Turner (Oct 21, 2015)

J-Sun said:


> I think OEM Windows will often fail or refuse to install on a changed system



That's surprisingly, but also makes sense - it is an OEM disc, and the installation failed, resulting in the bootmngr error. 

I believe I do have a Windows 7 Premium disc somewhere, as I had to buy an upgrade in order to using the Virtualisation feature to install Win 98 for some legacy files. Will see if I can do things through that.

If not, I'll be contacting Dell, demanding to know why they have not provided an adequate recovery OS disc, even though I almost certainly paid extra to ensure that I had one.


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## Ray McCarthy (Oct 21, 2015)

Brian Turner said:


> That's surprisingly, but also makes sense - it is an OEM disc, and the installation failed, resulting in the bootmngr error.


If it's licence issue, due to too much changes, it still installs but claims to be un-licensed. A phone call (it's 24hrs too!) and they ask a couple of questions and invariably give you a new key.

If it fails at boot with MS error , then it's 100% a bios configuration issue (not a compatibility issue) or a driver issue. I've had both (many BIOS have 137G byte limit, if that's the case then the BIOS complains, you don't get as far as an MS error).
If you get an MS boot error then:
1) Missing driver (XP for instance had no SATA, drives had to be mapped to IDE PATA or a slip-stream CD with SATA driver or F8 and a floppy based driver). I'm sure with Win7 there is also a way to add a driver not included.*
2) Mis-configured BIOS settings
3) Wrong jumper settings on SATA drive. Yes, some DO have jumpers!
4) Earlier SATA on Motherboard. Will never work with newer SATA drives with no jumpers. Only seen this once. Only older SATA drives with a compatibility jumper worked.

(* All OS ever, not just windows, need a supplemental driver at INSTALL time for newer hardware not existing at OS release time. There were many incompatible flavours of PATA/IDE and also now SATA. It's just most people don't encounter combination of Bios + Motherboard + Drive + OS that's not automatically supported. Some combinations using the same electrical connections will never work**)

(** I have a 250G SATA  drive on an SATA - IDE adaptor in a media bay in a laptop. If I pop it in AFTER booting, Windows OR Linux can use it. If it's connected at boot time, even though it's a 2nd drive, the main 120G drive won't boot at all. This is the classic 137G limit. The original BIOS actually had a 32 G limit and laptop had a 32G drive! 160G IDE/PATA drives were as cheap as 120 when I upgraded it, but obviously a 160G drive wasn't ever going to work.)


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