Old HDD disappeared after installing SSD and Windows 10

RICHO · 01 Jan 2017

Hey there!

I had Windows 7 on a HDD and then I installed an SSD and windows 10 on it. It worked perfectly in the beginning with dual boot as I wanted! and then suddenly the old HDD with the windows 7 and everything on it disappeared!!! and the computer didn't want to start do I put the windows CD inside and tried to fix the boot manager! so I did fix but it but it could only recognize the SDD!! and now I am only working on windows 10.
In the Disk manager/Device manager/BIOS I can't see the old HDD!!! so what should I do to get it back!?

I hope there is a solution!

thanks in advance!

CountMike · 01 Jan 2017

If it's not in the BIOS than there's something definitively badly wrong with it. Check cables for data and power and try swapping to some other connectors.
Other things to try, plug it in some other computer or SATA to USB adapter. If none of that helps, it's most probably dead. Probably it's controller is gone because if it's a mechanical problem it usually shows in BIOS and/or Device manager but reports 0 bytes.

RICHO · 01 Jan 2017

thanks for the reply ya i tried that i swapped cables and unplugged cd roms and stuff to make less effort on the power supply and now im stuck on the intel boot screen!! nothing else! i tried only the ssd and only the hdd and both .. each time im stuck on the boot screen! come on!

CountMike · 01 Jan 2017

It's possible that boot files were spread on both disks so if second, disk is to go bad or taken out, nothing would boot properly. That can happen if let's say new disk (which is bootable) was inserted while OS was installed on other one.
I triple boot with 3 disks, one for W10, one for W7 and third one with couple of Linux distros. There are also couple of HDDs for data. I always disconnect all drives while installing OS on one intended for it. No mix-ups even with notoriously problematic mix of Linux with windows combinations. I made BOOT menu on W10 and W7 disks with EasyBCD program to boot selected OS instead of having to make selection thru BIOS. Works like charm and without problems.
Only problem I have is when I connect an eSATA HDD, my CDrom drive disappears although seen in BIOS but it's not in Device manager.