Dell Computer Nightmare :::
 

Anybody here had any issues installing an internal hard drive into a Dell computer w/Vista? I've done it before in other computers and have never had this much problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Dell XPS 420 Quad Core and I'm trying to install an additional internal hard drive - a Seagate 1TB SATA. I've installed the hard drive, switched the BIOS to recognize the drive and although the drive is showing up the device manager, it is not showing up when I go to MY COMPUTER. When I right click "properties" in the device manager, it says that the drive is working properly.

When I look under "Computer Management", I see my drive there. But when I right click to format it, it's all greyed out and I can't do anything with it.

I tried to install a Western Digital 1 TB drive this morning and had the same problem. I thought the drive was fucked so I took it back and got this one. :mad:

Any thoughts?

This sounds more of a Vista issue than a Dell or Western Digital problem to me.
WG

You may be right...I'm new to Vista. Never had an issue like this with XP :Oh crap

Do you have a spare PC you can install the HD into that isn't Vista based to test it?
WG

Yes - I'll try that now!

whatever happened to the dell kid

Maybe partition it and just put XP boot up on it to get it started? XP may not know what to do with the Vista.

Does vista maybe need a driver for that size of drive?

Well apparently the drive must be partitioned and formatted before it shows up in "my computer". The only way to do that is to load up the wizard software that came with the drive. I was having issues getting the software from the CD so I went to their site and downloaded it there and after running the wizard - the drive is now installed. Shit - I've wasted half a day on this project. I need to stick to taking pictures and hire someone to do this computer crap for me :Oh crap

I only require redbull and an occasional peek at the content :winkwink:

sticky says vista is great lol

I'm sure it is....just a bit of a learning curve on my end :thumbsup

Did you check to see if there is an update to the BIOS of your Dell?

not trying to make you sound like a cock, but are you sure your computer can handle a SATA drive? you might only be able to hook up IDE drives

if not, its probalby an issue with Vista, not dell. check the configuration of the system to make sure it allows for expansion drives. my sony only allows for 1 more drive even though i can fit 3 more in

I'm sure Habib in New Deli might help you out ;)

nevermind..

I thought everyone uses a Mac now?

actually all you had to do was go to "administrative tols -> computer management -> disk management"
then right click on the disk and choose format
would have taken you only a few minutes :)

If only it were that easy. I found the drive in "disk management" but the format options were greyed out...wouldn't let me choose format. We're all good now though - thanks for all your comments!

Not sure how Vista does it, but with XP you have to right click a slightly different area in disk manager (the one that lists media, eg "Disk 0") in order to partition the drive, *then* you're able to format. It's not an intuitive system at all, you'd think Mickeysoft would offer to partition the drive if you wanted to format it...

BTW - now I know why the Dell supplied drives in my server come pre partitioned and pre formatted in NTFS format! OEM drives are usually completely blank, absolutely no formatting or partitioning or any data on them.

I've got the same XPS 420 setup and swap drives in and out all the time np...

Right Click My Computer > Manage

Slide down to Disk Management and you should see all active and inactive drives. Set inactive drives to active through a right click, format and go...

Hit me on ICQ if you are still have probs...

If you can see it in the Device Manager but not under My Computer that sounds like it hasn't been formatted.

should have taken it to the person that built it for you.