A laptop has an NVMe drive (C:) and a mechanical hard drive (D:). When the user tries to save a spreadsheet to the D: drive, the user notices that the D: drive is not there. What should the technician do to see if the drive is recognized by the operating system?

To determine if the D: drive (the mechanical hard drive) is recognized by the operating system, the technician should follow these steps:

1. Use the Disk Management Control Panel: This is the first and most straightforward step. The Disk Management tool in Windows provides a clear view of all the storage devices connected to the system and their status. Here’s how to access it:
   • Right-click on the Start button and select “Disk Management,” or press Windows Key + X and select “Disk Management.”
   • In the Disk Management window, look for the mechanical hard drive. It should be listed with its capacity and partitions. If the drive is shown but does not have a drive letter, it can be assigned one right from this tool.
2. Boot into UEFI/BIOS and See if the Drive Appears: If the drive does not appear in Disk Management, the next step is to check if it is recognized at a hardware level. This involves restarting the computer and entering the UEFI/BIOS setup:
   • Restart the computer and enter the UEFI/BIOS setup (this usually involves pressing a key like F2, Del, or Esc during boot-up, but the exact key can vary depending on the manufacturer).
   • Once in the UEFI/BIOS, navigate to the section where it lists the storage devices. If the mechanical hard drive is not listed here, it indicates a potential hardware issue or connection problem.

The other options, while possible, are less immediate or practical as initial steps:

• Use the Msconfig Utility: The System Configuration utility (msconfig) is more related to startup processes and services and is not typically used for managing or viewing storage devices.
• Remove the Drive and Attach it to the SATA Port Used by the SSD: This is a more advanced step and should be performed only if the above methods fail to recognize the drive. It involves physically swapping the drives’ connections, which can be helpful in diagnosing a faulty port or cable. However, this should be done cautiously and is typically a last resort after software-level checks have been exhausted.