The other day I erased some important files on my computer and it won't work. I put in another drive and except for some missing drivers, it worked okay. Then I took out that drive and put back the original drive. Now the computer will not recognize any drive. I looked in the cmos and it's says that there is no drive installed and the first and second pci(don't remember the whole name) are disabled. When I tabbed down, however, I can't get to the part about the pci to enable it. I've tried every other button on the keyboard to get it to get down there.

So far I've checked the drives in another machine and both work. I've used different data cables and that wasn't the problem. Cables were checked to make sure that pin 1 went to pin 1.

Does anyone know why they would have been disabled and how to enable them. Or if you don't think this is the problem, do you have any other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help. Lisa

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Unfortunately there could be any number of things wrong. The first thing I would do is reset the BIOS to defaults and see if that helps. It sounds like you may have changed some BIOS settings that prevent it from seeing the computer's components properly.

If that doesn't work, please post back telling us what files you removed and why. Have you scanned for malware (virus, spyware, trojans)? Please give more details about your hardware and what version of Windoze you are running. The more you tell us, the more likely we can help...

Also check that you have connected the cables correctly and firmly. Both at the board (you could have nudged it loose) and the drive.

I just typed up a bunch of information and then hit submit but it's gone. The computer is a sony vaio that was running win95. It has a 166mmx processor and 32mb of ram. All of your suggestions were tried and nothing worked. It's hard to describe but if I go into the bios setup and tab over to the Advanced section, this is what I see.
Peripheral configuration

Primary PCI IDE interface - Auto configured
Secondary PCI IDE interface - Auto configured


Primary PCI IDE status - Disabled
Secondary PCI IDE status - Disabled
Floppy stauts - Enabled

The floppy drive does work. The hard drive is connected to the primary pci ide and it is not recognized. The cd-rom is connected to the secondary pci ide and no where in the bios does it say if it is recognized.

In the bios setup, I can tab over to where it says Auto configured, hit the enter key and change the settings. I cann't tab over to where it says Primary pci ide status and change it from disable to enable.

Would there be any jumpers on the motherboard that would enable or disable the pci ide. ( I don't have any of the original paperwork, all the computers in the house are second hand).

I originally wrote a bunch more information but it dissapeared.

Thanks again, hopefully this is enough.

I assume there is another thread regarding this. You should keep them together. I haven't read the other thread so here's my take.


You say you are using the "TAB" key while in the BIOS? Have you tried using the arrow keys or the page up/ page down keys?

i'm not sure how to keep them together. I've tried every key on the keyboard and nothing seems to work.

In your BIOS can you navigate to other sections at all (using arrow keys or pg up pg down keys?

If so, can you find an entry for reset configuration defaults?

To keep everything in the same thread just click on the "Post Reply" button at the bottom right of each post.

yes. I can get into everything except the one section I need. I use the tab key to get into the different heading ex: main, advanced, power, exit etc. Then I use the up and down keys to highlight the information that i want to change. Then I use the enter key to make the changes. A sub menu will pop up with the available choices.

Well, if you can find an entry for reset defaults, or reset configuration defaults, try that then save and exit.


Ahh- I see mjc has merged the two threads.:)

I merged the two threads....

Is this machine a laptop or a desktop?

It could be the battery, if it is dead then it will not remember the BIOS settings.

The fact that your Primary PCI IDE shows as being disabled could be why the drive is not being recognised, change it to Enabled and reboot.

thank you for merging the threads. This is a desk top. i've tried the default settings and nothing changed. as for enabling the pci ide, that's the trouble that i'm having. cant get to the section. it makes no sense but something like this could only happen to me.

It may be the battery as mjc said.

But usually under the exit heading there is a section for resetting default setup. Try it and save.

if it were the battery, would i be able to get into setup at all?

Yes, it just wouldn't save the changes for very long....like until the power was off for more than afew minutes.

okay, as embarrassing as this is, i'll say it. I thought I checked the pin 1 connection with pin 1. Must have been asleep the first time I checked it and awake the second time. Thank you to all the people who helped.