I am trying to get a computer going and I cannot get it to recognize drive C or D in Bios. When the computer starts it shows CPU Memory and then after a very long time it shows the hard drive and cd as you would expect. However, just as the startup ends it says HD failed. If you look in BIOS it shows no HD. The green light on the CD stays on all the time.

Backgrond - MB 7VIA71A ACORP ; CPU Athlon 650 MHZ ; HD western Dig 20 MB; CD Genica 52x

I put this system together and Formated the HD. The CD was not working so I changed it from primary slave to secondary master. Since then I cannot get the Hard Drive to work, and the CD is still screwed. I have checked cables and even replaced them with new ones. The Bios has an autodetect feature for the hard drive but when I select it it still can't find the HD.

Hi;

This is a Slot A motherboard? There is a bios update on the Acorp website.
http://www.acorp.com.tw/English/default.asp.

First, if you do not feel comfortable flashing the bios, you may want to download the Western Digital Data Guard software that will assist in formating your Western Digital drive and overcome any limitations the bios may have with the size of the drive, as well as formatting the drive so the bios can identify it. It can be found at
http://www.westerndigital.com/service/.

I would try this utility and see if the hard drive can be found after using the software.

I would also suggest making the CD rom the secondary master and trying to boot with just the essentials... hard drive, keyboard, mouse, memory installed, Maybe forget the CD Rom until the system boots, then go from there.

Are you sure that the jumpers and cable are set correctly on the Western Digital hard drive/to the motherboard? Follow the directions that came with the hard drive for proper jumper config., and the motherboard manual for proper cable placement. It's been known to happen!

Dido on the Genica CD Rom.

Good luck!