[appleman976]

Long story short: I had to replace the hard drive in my laptop and now when I try to reinstall Windows it doesn't seem to detect the hard drive. I've included a fairly detailed description of my problems below including major specs. Any help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

I have recently been having issues with my HP Pavillion dv6500 Notebook where it would freeze approximately every 30 minutes. It was found that the hard rive was corrupt and needed to be replaces. I replaced the OEM 120GB/5400RPM Hard Drive with a fully compatible 320GB/7200RPM Hard Drive (both manufactured by Seagate and both 2.5" SATA). As my laptop would freeze I was unable to create a recovery disc (no original discs came with the notebook) and as such, ordered Windows Vista recovery discs directly from HP.

I successfully installed the new hard drive and ran diagnostics; first via HP diagnostics by doing a hard drive self test (pressing f10 at startup) and then by doing a check with Seagate's Seatools software. Both confirmed that the drive is installed and functioning properly. I installed the recovery discs. Disc one fully installs and instructs disc two to be inserted. Disc two is inserted and installs. Once I click finish a new screen appears telling me that software is being installed. Upon completion of that software installs I receive a message stating "Please wait while Windows prepares to open for the first time." Then the screen goes black and nothing happens. I have tried to this reinstall approximately 10 times thus far. Sometimes I receive a blank black screen, sometimes I receive a screen stating "Operating System Not Found" or "No Hard Disk Detected." The only option I have is to turn off the laptop via the power button. When I turn it back on I receive a "Windows did not shut down properly, would you like to open in safe mode/normally etc..." screen. When I choose to start Windows I receive an error that says along the lines of "Window was not installed, please insert disc to reinstall" and when I do, the process repeats.I have also tried to install Windows XP (though I am aware is are SATA driver issues and I am unaware how to deal with this) and I receive the same message; I am told that Windows could not detect a hard drive.

Something that may be of interest though, when I attempt to install XP I am almost immediately told there is no hard drive, while when I attempt to install Vista it seems to go through the entire install process (lasting up to maybe an hour) before it fails.

Both HP and Seagate cannot seem to find a solution for this problem. As I see it, the hard drive is installed, but when installing windows it will not detect the hard drive.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Specs:
HP Pavillion dv6500 Entertainment Notebook
s/n: CNF7387WTH

Operating System: Windows Vista 32bit (I also can install XP)

Old Hard Drive: Seagate 2.5" SATA 120GB 5400RPM
New Hard Drive: Seagate 2.5" SATA 320GB 7200RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148336)

[Hughv]

Observations:
Your new drive is SATA 3.0. Is it compatible with your laptop?
XP usually needs a driver to detect SATA drives (Press F6 to load 3d party drivers)
"Corrupt" Hard drives are often repairable with chkdsk, or even a format.
Maybe a BIOS update?

[casper0191]

Did you try to install it your self or there is someone who installed it for you?