Windows 8 and 8.1 Forums


2nd hard drive shows in BIOS but not Disk Management

  1. #1



    Junior Member

    Join Date : Dec 2013
    Posts : 4
    Windows 8.1

    2nd hard drive shows in BIOS but not Disk Management


    Hello Everyone,

    Over the last couple days, I built a new PC and installed windows 8.1. Initially I had some issues installing windows, so I unplugged all my drives except the SSD and DVD. I installed windows to my SSD.

    Everything works great!

    Now I started adding my drives back in 1 at a time. When I plugged my 2nd SSD in, it showed up in BIOS, but not in Disk Management or Device Manager. So I booted back into the install CD, it showed up in the disk manager there. Since this was also a blank SSD, I partitioned and formated the drive from the install CD, then exited the installer and booted back to my windows drive.

    I have 2 SSD drives working great!

    Now to add my 2TB HDD... Same issue, it shows up in BIOS and the install disc, but not in Disk Management or Device Manager. This drive does not have a boot partition on it, however, it does have two existing data partitions. They were made from my previous windows 7 system and the option to delete these partitions is grayed out in the install disc menu. I also have some data that I would like to keep on it. I have a USB dock that I can use to read the contents of the disk just fine. Everything is there and in working order.

    Can anyone help me out here? What is different about Windows 8.1 that is preventing my hard drives from showing up in windows proper? I am reading things about UEFI online, but nothing seems to fit my exact scenario. I will try and post some screen shots when I get back at it.

    System:
    Mobo- Asrock Fatal1ty Killer z87
    CPU- i3 4330
    GPU- Gigabyte 660 OC
    SSDs - Kingston V300 120GB
    Windows 8.1 64bit

    Thanks Everyone!


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2
    oneeyed's Avatar

    Member

    Join Date : Nov 2013
    Posts : 300
    Windows 8.1 (x64)


    Check if your sata drivers are the latest here : ASRock > Fatal1ty Z87 Killer
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3
    alphanumeric's Avatar

    slightly off center




    Join Date : Sep 2011
    Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts : 5,031
    Windows 8.1 Pro + MC 64 Bit
    Canada ca novia scotia


    A drive can be partitioned and formatted but if for some reason it doesn't have a drive letter it will not show up in explorer/My PC. It should however show up in Disk management and device manager. I'm not sure what's going on. Booting up from the install DVD loads Windows PE, Preinstallation Environment. It's similar to booting up from a Linux Live CD. It's Windows, its just running from the DVD not the hard drive. What were your issues that necessitated your unplugging drives? Also where did you obtain your install media? Did you do a clean install?
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4



    Junior Member

    Join Date : Dec 2013
    Posts : 4
    Windows 8.1


    - I installed all the drivers first thing and made sure they were the latest off the website, not the CD.
    - This was a clean install on an unpartitioned SSD drive.

    I unplugged all my drives during install because I have 2 identical SSDs and I wanted to know which one physically contained my OS. I was also having issues with one of my 500GB drives on my old system and didn't want that to complicate anything. But, I haven't even gotten to that drive yet, I'm still trying to get my known good drives up and running in Windows.

    Thanks.
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5
    alphanumeric's Avatar

    slightly off center




    Join Date : Sep 2011
    Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts : 5,031
    Windows 8.1 Pro + MC 64 Bit
    Canada ca novia scotia


    OK, I'm with you now. I still don't know what's wrong but I understand why you unplugged the drives. Best guess is to check your BIOS and look for any RAID functions and turn them off.
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6



    Power User

    Join Date : Nov 2013
    Lacombe, Louisiana
    Posts : 472
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    USA us louisiana


    Quote Originally Posted by IllNate View Post
    - I installed all the drivers first thing and made sure they were the latest off the website, not the CD.
    - This was a clean install on an unpartitioned SSD drive.

    I unplugged all my drives during install because I have 2 identical SSDs and I wanted to know which one physically contained my OS. I was also having issues with one of my 500GB drives on my old system and didn't want that to complicate anything. But, I haven't even gotten to that drive yet, I'm still trying to get my known good drives up and running in Windows.

    Thanks.
    Have you tried Minitool Partition Wizard. You may just need to assign driver letters
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  7. #7



    Junior Member

    Join Date : Dec 2013
    Posts : 4
    Windows 8.1


    I could try another tool, but the drive doesn't even show up in the device manager... so I'm not hopeful.
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  8. #8



    Junior Member

    Join Date : Dec 2013
    Posts : 4
    Windows 8.1


    Well, I took some screenshots with minitool and diskpart with the drive plugged into the usb and then to the motherboard, from within windows and then from the install disk. After I got all my screenshots and booted back to windows the drive appeared.... so the problem is solved, but I don't know how.

    My next headache is that I had a mirrored drive set up in my old install. This makes it a "dynamic drive", which isn't readable in windows!!! WTF good is that? And windows can't convert it back to a basic drive without wiping the data? I gotta get/pay for 3rd party tools.

    Thanks for the input everyone!
      My System SpecsSystem Spec

2nd hard drive shows in BIOS but not Disk Management
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