How do I get my G74SX to recognize a 2nd HDD

[GEB]

I recently purchased the following laptop.
ASUS G74SX-XT1
Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz
16GB DDR3.

Also purchased a Seagate Momentus Mobile Hard Drive.
Model # Seagate ST9750420AS,
750GB, 2.5", 7200RPM, 16MB SATA

I've installed the drive in the 2nd dirve bay, but the OS does not recognize the drive. I found a post from BrodyBoy with pictures of an SSD install in the 2nd bay and matched my install to BrodyBoy's pic. Still not recognized. Any suggestions.

[zsld0423]

Open up your start menu, and at Computer, right-click and click "Manage." Go down to Disk Management and click that, does the drive show up there? I'm wondering if you need to format it/give it a drive letter first, although I haven't had to do that in the past

[GEB]

No I can not find it in the disc drive section.

[zsld0423]

and you're sure the cable connecting the hard drive to the board is fully connected? I know it may seem stupid, but I've had laptops that the keyboard won't work because I didn't get the cable in all the way >.< But at least it's easy to tell with the G74 since the bay is wide open to view

[GEB]

Pretty sure... I've checked the connections several times and they are solidly connected at each end.

[zsld0423]

What about switching the 2 hard drives that are in there? Maybe it's a broken cable issue, idk thinking out loud haha

[GEB]

Calling it a night... will try that tomorrow and report back. Thanks.

[Zygomorphic]

Try going into the BIOS and figuring out if the second HDD is disabled under the security settings. Also, the BIOS will recognize the hard-drive if anything will.

[GEB]

OK switched bays and OS did not recognize the new drive. However, when I go into Bios during setup, I can see the drive on the save and exit screen. Under the "Boot Overdrive" section it lists:

P1: ST9500423AS - this is the original HDD
P0: ST9750420AS - this is the new HDD I'm trying to install
P2: Slimtype BD E DS4E1S- this is the Blu - Rays disc drive.

So it's there...I'm assuming from a previous post in this thread that the new drive needs to be formatted. I've only formatted a floppy drive, and it was quite a while ago The last time I installed an HDD, it was in a desktop and the OS did recognize the drive upon install and no formatting was required. Is my assumption accurate? I want to be sure that I'm doing the right thing. What are the next steps? Thanks.

[GEB]

I found the HDD, but the format option is greyed out. The HDD shows as unallocated disk space with few options to select from.