Hard drive can detect on bios and start up but i cant format it or install windows on it, got more than 20 hard drives ( from a reseller) all have the same problem may be its password protected o dont know

hi .. nt sure whether your talking about an external hard disk or somethingelse..

But here goes

In detail

Causes

• If the hard drive is not setup correctly in the BIOS or is not jumpered correctly, this may cause the BIOS and Windows to detect the drive incorrectly.
• Viruses or spyware program are capable of conflicting with Windows programs such as the format utility built into Windows.
• If the partition on the hard drive is corrupt or damaged, this would cause Windows to stop the format process or show an error message.
• If the computer system does not have the latest BIOS and hardware drivers, and the operating system does not have the latest Service Packs installed, Windows may not address or recognize the drive parameters correctly.
• You are attempting to format a partition larger than 32GB as FAT32 in Windows 2000, XP, or 2003., win7
• If the hard drive or data cable is physically damaged or defective.
• There may be a conflict between the hard drive and another device (on the same IDE cable).

Solution please try

It is recommended to low-level format the hard drive to resolve any partition corruption issues that may be present. For directions on how to low-level format a hard drive

If it's an internal hard drive, please ensure that the latest BIOS is installed for the computer, motherboard, or PCI controller card. BIOS updates can be obtained from the computer, motherboard, or controller card manufacturer. The BIOS should be setup to Auto-Detect the hard drive. If there is a Mode option, this should be setup as LBA, Large, or Auto

1. Ensure that the latest drivers are installed for the hardware in the computer. Drivers for the hardware should be available from the respective hardware manufacturers.

If this occurs on an external hard drive, connect the drive to another USB of FireWire port on the computer. You can also connect the hard drive to another computer system to perform the format. This issue may be caused by attempting to reformat a FAT32 partition as NTFS without deleting the partition first. You will need to repartition and reformat the hard drive

hope this helps you out

First - re-seat the hard disk and reboot the computer. If the computer does not boot up then reboot and go into the BIOS configuration to see if the BIOS detects the hard drive. If it doesn't detect the hard drive then it could be faulty.
Then the hard drive needs to be replaced in the computer/laptop, Windows installed and the computer or laptop's device drivers plus your programs etc. to get a functioning computer/laptop again.

The hard drive may be faulty.
Go into the BIOS setting and see if the BIOS detects the hard disk, if not reseat the hard drive and if the BIOS still does not detect the hard disk then the hard disk is faulty.

Dead drive.

hi
Checked the Bios Setting and check whether the Hard drive is recognizing or not -
Check the Boot sequence
Check Boot from the CD Drive
Format the Hard drive
it will work

Hello Sir,
While windows is booting first go to BIOS settings by pressing "Del" or "Esc" then change the boot priority that is save the first boot priority as cd-rom and second boot priority as hard drive... so that you can boot you system with bootable cd...
And then while formating the system just delete the partion that is only "c:/" and install the windows in to that and don't even do anything to your "d:/" drive then you can get all your data back... Abd the cd should be bootable format...

see after teh utility named Partition Magic, It will solve these typoe of errors. Another cheap option is to try to format it with a vintage computes BIOS, HDD Formattion option, Not available in newer BIOS.
Tyr aldo Fdisk /mbr in the DOS PROMPT , booting with D.O.S. Ver. 6.0 Anyone remember this Operating system?
And the last option is to format the drive undel LINUX and thern get it back to Windows XP.

Firstly have you set your jumpers on your hard drive setting before placing into computer. If not check if the cd rom is on the same cable, if on same cable then change the jumper.

Have you gone into bios and loaded the hard drive. If a new hard drive you will need to detect it in bios first. Then Save and exit.
To go into bios, press f1 or f2 or DEL when you first start computer. Each computer is differentand you'll have to see which you require to press.

After bios is setup, put in your copy of windows xp, or your boot disks and follow instructions to set partition and format drive, then install operating system.

If you are only installing a new secondary drive as a backup, you will still need to detect in bios first. Then load you windows and go to my computer and format the drive using windows.

Hello.
Have you check if every thing is ok in the setup ?
If you have the documentation of your Hard drive, set the HDD
manually( cilinders, heads, etc), i don't know the difference between 4M and 3M models, but may be significant.
The battery wont have any effect in the BIOS, you should thanks god for that, because if you could erase what is in the BIOS you could say good bye to your PC.
In order to recognize many new devices the BIOS manufacturer make software updates you can download ( if available)from they website an install it ( i don't recommend you to do that unless you have no other option).
The battery is only for the CMOS, a memory that keeps your setup configuration when you turn off your PC.

- Most Probable cause of that problem and possible solution:

You hard drive must be partitioned and properly formated.

You will have to start you computer using a 3 1/2 floppy disk or bootable CD with MS-DOS.
Note: go to SETUP and set the right drive to boot from first( A: in case of floppy, CD in case of CD), save and exit
Make sure the disk have some commands you will need, FORMAT among them.
I suggest you look for totorials about partitioning a hard drive.
Is no big deal but you have to know what you are doing.
Create a partition using FDISK command and activate it
then format the drive.
Now it is ready to be recognized for Windows.
In the process of windows installation( only XP), right before it start it will ask if you wish to format de Drive, answer yes( the fast one) and choose NTFS( a more efficient Partition for windows XP.

I hope this help you.
Good luck

firstly check your cable connections, then log onto your bios setup menu during startup and check whether the Hard drive is detected by your bios, if it is then you can try to format the harddrive using the ntfs system (use the long formatt) if you are using windows xp or later if using any earlier os then formatt with the FAT32 system.
If your HDD is not detected by the bios then try to download bios updates for your motherboard and install thed in windows. is this does not work then its time to get a new HDD. thanks