Missing hard drive

[silverboots]

Hi, I'm new and don't know much about computers so you'll have to explain as if I were a kid - sorry! (I had a mate who was really good at it - but we don't talk anymore so I no longer have my own personal IT expert) 

I recently turned my pc on to discover my 500gb hard drive that my mate installed a few months ago wasn't showing up. I tried going to add hardware but I don't know what it's called, I opened the pc up wondering if something had come loose but I don't THINK that's it (I pushed all the plug/connector things in to be sure) but it's still not showing up.

HELP!!! Pretty please with a cherry on top!

[Allan]

Go to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Drive Management. Does the drive show up and does it show as healthy?

[silverboots]

OK done.

Still can't find it.

Any idea what happened and how I can fix it? 

[Allan]

So the drive does not show up at all in drive management? I'm guessing this is a secondary hd since your system still boots, is that correct?

If the drive worked one day and then all of a sudden did not work the next day (and it doesn't show up in drive management) I have to believe it's one of two things. Either the drive has died or the cable is bad.

[silverboots]

Yes it's a 2nd drive - 1st one is only 40gb.
So what do I do? Is it fixable? Expensive? Can I get a refund?
Can I save any of my files?

[Allan]

Check the cables. If everything there is okay, the drive is probably dead.
And no, drives are not very expensive these days.
If it's a new drive or new computer you can probably exchange the drive.
If your system can't see the drive then you can't get to the files yourself. There are some 3rd party services that may be able to help. In the future you should always backup critical data.

[lectrocrew]

Does the drive show up in Device Manager and is it listed as "This Device is Working Properly"?

[silverboots]

Thanx.
It's not really critical data - but I have over 150 movies, dozens of books and tons of music on that hard drive. I really don't want to lose it all. 
How do I check the cables - what am I looking for?
Could you recommend any good (preferably cheap) 3rd parties to help? (I live in England).

[sierobin]

To check the cables you can either swap the cable out for a new one (assuming you don't have any laying around the place) or  you can make the HDD that will not show master and see if the drive will show. Obviously it will not boot since there isn't an OS on the drive I'm assuming, so you will have to check if it shows in the BIOS.

That's what I'd do anyway, might wanna check with Allan first though.

Anyhow, if it shows, it's a cable problem not a HDD problem.