Disabling the hard drive in BIOS ▷ ➡️ IK4 ▷ ➡️

Disabling the hard drive in BIOS

Table of Contents

General Information on Disabling Hard Drives in BIOS

The BIOS provides a certain set of parameters that are responsible for certain components of the system storage chain. Each of them can be configured as desired and can be enabled or disabled. In this way, the latter will allow access to the hard disk drive at one of the links in the chain. In this way, you can reconfigure:

SATA/IDE ports.
Hard drive controllers.
hard drive boot.

It is the motherboard manufacturers who decide how to present these parameters in the system menu. Sometimes they adjust automatically without the possibility of influencing the hard drives on a scheduled basis. However, it is often possible to change the settings yourself. Generally speaking, this requires:

1. While the device is on, start the BIOS by pressing the standard input key of your computer or laptop model (usually "Delete" o "F2"Read more: How to enter the BIOS of a computer / laptop
2. Find the correct hard drive configuration, be it a port, a controller, or a boot option Read More: How to Find Your Hard Drive in BIOS
3. Disable this setting according to the following techniques.
4. Clubs "F10" save the changes made and restart the computer. More information: Save the settings in the BIOS

Option 1: Disconnect the hard drive

There are two ways to disconnect the hard drive itself in BIOS: by disabling the ports or by turning off the controller. Both methods will prevent the device system from accessing the selected drive at the hardware level.

Method 1: Disable ports

You can disable hard drives through ports by disabling the corresponding parameter. Find this setting in your base menu and expand it. It is usually found in the "Principal"but it may be hidden in other sections / subsections of the interface, as well as the name and serial number of the SATA or IDE socket on the motherboard that your hard drive is connected to.

Once you open the port settings, you should find the option to enable it. Sometimes it has a name identical to that of this section. In our case, for example, this operation is carried out through the parameter "Guy"where you should select the value "Not installed" o "Disabled".. At the end, save the changes made.

Method 2: Disable the driver

Another way to disable the hard drive is to disable the controller chip. This is done in the hard drive configuration section.

You need to find the parameter "SATA" o "SDI" with the words "On board", "Controller", "Settings", "OnChip" o "Chipset" and select a value "Disabled" for it. Then save your settings and restart your computer.

Option 2: Block hard drive boot

The second option is to change the startup parameters of the storage device. Among other settings, this section of the basic menu allows you to allow and disallow booting from certain media.

Also note that the methods described in this option will not completely disable the hard drive: the operating system will still be able to detect and recognize it. However, if any other operating system is installed on it, the computer will not allow it to run.

Method 1: Boot Menu

The most obvious is to disable the hard drive boot option. Usually the list of boot devices is found in the tab "Boot". However, in some BIOS, motherboard manufacturers may put it in a different tab or subsection. The article linked below describes in more detail how and where these options can be changed.

Method 2: Hard Drive Subpartition

Usually, next to the boot parameters, there is a specific boot configuration for the drives. It can also be used to block BIOS access to the hard drive. These settings are found in "Harddrive unit". or in another boot priority setup menu.

Select the required hard drive from the list of attached hard drives and specify a value "Disabled". The device will not be available even in the list of boot drives.

Method 3: "UEFI Secure Boot" Settings

Parameter "Secure Boot". Allows you to disable all uned storage devices. This is usually relevant for UEFI systems partitioned on a GPT partition table. If you want the BIOS to see only these types of hard drives, enable this option and configure the boot "UEFI".Otherwise, disable this setting and enable "Legacy".