BIOS Recognizes HDD After New SSD Install, But Not My Computer

[hahndm]

Hello. My SSD recently failed (with my OS on it) and today I replaced the SSD with a new one and installed Win 10. When I went to install Win 10, and it was asking me where I wanted to install the OS, the 1TB HDD was not listed. I assumed this was simply because of the new drive, but now once I am back on windows, I cannot access that internal HDD. It does not appear under Computer, it does not appear in the Device Manager, it does not appear in Disk Management. The only place I can even see it listed is in the BIOS itself.

I did notice that my new SSD is listed as the C: drive, when my HDD used to be listed as C: (and my old SSD was listed as D. It's how the computer came installed and I never changed it. I'm wondering if this is the issue, but I cannot change the SSD drive to D: because I keep getting errors (a quick google search is because I'm using that drive for Windows, so I'm not sure how to change it).

I'm at a total loss on how to even get my HDD to show up. I even downloaded a program called HDDScan and it only found the one drive (the SSD). What else can I do to get my files and programs from my HDD?

 

[USAFRet]

1. You do NOT change the drive letter of the OS drive...C...to something else. It does not let you for a reason.

2. When you installed the OS on the SSD, you should have disconnected all other drives.

3. Can you post a screencap of your current Disk Management window.

 

[hahndm]

1. You do NOT change the drive letter of the OS drive...C...to something else. It does not let you for a reason.

2. When you installed the OS on the SSD, you should have disconnected all other drives.

3. Can you post a screencap of your current Disk Management window.

Here is the picture of my Disk Management. I can't really go back and undo what was already done, so any help going forward is appreciated.

 

[USAFRet]

What motherboard?
Which specific SSD?

Possibly put the HDD SATA cable in a different port?

 

[hahndm]

What motherboard?
Which specific SSD?

Possibly put the HDD SATA cable in a different port?

I'm not sure. It's a Lenovo y510p. Everything is stock except now for the SSD.

This is the SSD I just installed.

I'm not sure how to put the HDD SATA cable in a different port. I could take it out of the laptop and put it back in, but I don't think there is more than one place for it to go.

 

[USAFRet]

Oh, OK...laptop.
Was there a similar SSD in there before?

 

[hahndm]

Oh, OK...laptop.
Was there a similar SSD in there before?

Yes, I posted in the Laptop help section

There was a Toshiba 24gb that came stock. That's what failed on me and is what I replaced.

 

[USAFRet]

Oh, OK...laptop.
Was there a similar SSD in there before?

Yes, I posted in the Laptop help section

There was a Toshiba 24gb that came stock. That's what failed on me and is what I replaced.

Ahhh....
That 24GB "SSD" was not a singular drive. It was originally just a cache for the HDD. It never held only the OS by itself.
It is highly possible that your HDD actually died, instead of that little 24GB SSD cache drive.

If you have access to another machine, preferably a desktop...try plugging that HDD into it and see hwat happens.
Not as a boot drive, but just a secondary to see if you can access it.

 

[hahndm]

Oh, OK...laptop.
Was there a similar SSD in there before?

Yes, I posted in the Laptop help section

There was a Toshiba 24gb that came stock. That's what failed on me and is what I replaced.

Ahhh....
That 24GB "SSD" was not a singular drive. It was originally just a cache for the HDD. It never held only the OS by itself.
It is highly possible that your HDD actually died, instead of that little 24GB SSD cache drive.

If you have access to another machine, preferably a desktop...try plugging that HDD into it and see hwat happens.
Not as a boot drive, but just a secondary to see if you can access it.

Well, I had it installed as the OS, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. In addition, the drive does show up on Device Manager under "Other Devices." I'm not sure exactly what that means.

 

[USAFRet]

Well, I had it installed as the OS, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. In addition, the drive does show up on Device Manager under "Other Devices." I'm not sure exactly what that means.

Again...take that HDD out, and put it in something else as a secondary drive.
See what happens.

 

[hahndm]

Well, I had it installed as the OS, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. In addition, the drive does show up on Device Manager under "Other Devices." I'm not sure exactly what that means.

Again...take that HDD out, and put it in something else as a secondary drive.
See what happens.

Haven't had a chance to look at the drive elsewhere, but I did a Windows update and now it is showing in the Device Manager and Disk Management. However, it is saying I need to initialize it. My research says this will format it, and since all my files are on there, I'd rather not format if I don't have to. Is there any avoiding this? Here is a picture of that updated screen.

 

[USAFRet]

Well, I had it installed as the OS, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. In addition, the drive does show up on Device Manager under "Other Devices." I'm not sure exactly what that means.

Again...take that HDD out, and put it in something else as a secondary drive.
See what happens.

Haven't had a chance to look at the drive elsewhere, but I did a Windows update and now it is showing in the Device Manager and Disk Management. However, it is saying I need to initialize it. My research says this will format it, and since all my files are on there, I'd rather not format if I don't have to. Is there any avoiding this? Here is a picture of that updated screen.

Not Initialized...
That will absolutely wipe out any data on that drive.

I'm still thinking the original config was a combination of the original 24GB and the HDD.
Not 2 individual drives.

Now, the HDD is inaccessible. Sort of like 2 drives in a RAID 0. One will not work without the other.

 

[hahndm]

Well, I had it installed as the OS, so I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. In addition, the drive does show up on Device Manager under "Other Devices." I'm not sure exactly what that means.

Again...take that HDD out, and put it in something else as a secondary drive.
See what happens.

Haven't had a chance to look at the drive elsewhere, but I did a Windows update and now it is showing in the Device Manager and Disk Management. However, it is saying I need to initialize it. My research says this will format it, and since all my files are on there, I'd rather not format if I don't have to. Is there any avoiding this? Here is a picture of that updated screen.

Not Initialized...
That will absolutely wipe out any data on that drive.

I'm still thinking the original config was a combination of the original 24GB and the HDD.
Not 2 individual drives.

Now, the HDD is inaccessible. Sort of like 2 drives in a RAID 0. One will not work without the other.

It won't initialize or format, so I'm guessing it simply failed. Makes me wonder if the shop that I took my computer to for the diagnostic had any clue what they were doing when they told me my SSD failed.

 

[USAFRet]

It won't initialize or format, so I'm guessing it simply failed. Makes me wonder if the shop that I took my computer to for the diagnostic had any clue what they were doing when they told me my SSD failed.

It sounds like they did not.
That 24GB "drive" would never have been the OS drive on its own.