HP Laptop not detecting HDD

So Im trying to fix a friend of mines laptop and when ever I try to start it up or reinstall windows xp it always says that there is no HDD installed. I took it out and used a Sata to USB connector and the HDD works fine and I was able to browse files and everything.

Please help. :]

Bump

Hi.

It's possible the BIOS boot options isn't correctly set to boot from the HDD first. You should be able to change that by hitting F2 after a restart. It varies with different hardware and BIOS on how to change that.

No the boot was set to it before I started to fix the problem. It still does it no matter what I do. Someone told me about the 3rd party skuzzy software or something when you boot into the windows xp install.

make sure your cables inside are connected properly.
is the hard drive making a grinding noise or a clicking noise
if you have access to another computer, make sure you dont need a specific hard drive driver.

i have a netbook that needed special achi drivers and a custom windows xp disk to be made to work properly.

Theres no cables but its secure in the laptop and the connections.

Hard Drive isnt making any bad noises.

If I needed a driver for the HDD for the laptop how would I go about getting it?

look on HP.com for your model, or google your model and put achi driver behind your search. im assuming your computer is new and needing a achi driver so just check around on hp.com with your model type and download the driver.

heres a guide if you find your achi driver to slip stream it into a xp slipstream.
http://lifehacker.com/386526/slipstream-service-pack-3-into-your-windows-xp-installation-cd

it will help with what u need to be able to add it.

Well this isnt my laptop and it is pretty old. But Ill try that and see how it works.

If not is there anything else you think could be the problem?

what model is the laptop, i may be able to assist you in finding the driver or a fix to why the hard drive isn't being found because u said the hard drive works outside of the laptop so im guessing its missing a driver in the windows xp install disk like i said. do u know the brand and name of hte laptop and the hard drive

Its a HP Pavilion dv1000.

As GForce9000 alluded to - the XP install disk doesn't have the driver to see the SATA drive.

Look thru the BIOS setting for somthing related to the SATA. Look for ACHI and IDE. You probably have to set it to IDE.

Well even the Windows 7 install disk cant see the HDD.

bump

We know that the hard drive is working because you can connect it to a SATA/USB adapter and see the files on another computer. So we have to look to the dv1000.

The W7 install disk should 'see' the hard drive.

Sometimes laptops have a little adapter for the SATA connection. I'm pretty sure this is one of those. You have to remove this adapter to install your SATA/USB adapter. You said the drive is secure in the laptop. That may be true even if the electrical adapter is missing. So please verify that electrically the hard drive is connected to the laptop and that the adapter isn't missing. I think you have to press F10 to get into the Setup.

When you start the computer, go to Setup and tell us if the hard drive is being seen by the BIOS.

From what I can see the Bios does not see the drive. the adapter is connected and the HDD has been double checked in the housing to see if its connected properly.

The BIOS needs to see the hard drive. If it doesn't, you won't be able to do anything with it.

Can you put another hard drive in that machine?

Well I realize that I cant do anything but this drive works. I dont see why it wouldnt work.