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Primary drive 0 not found

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19 replies

by wesley.chin

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When the machine starts to bootup, the message is that that the "primary drive 0 not found" F1 to retry, F2 to enter setup utility". Besides the hard drive, the computer only has a floppy drive and a CD/RW drive. The BIOS reports the primary master drive as not installed, the secondary master drive as the CD/RW, and the floppy drive as installed. Primary and secondary slave drives are off, as indicated by BIOS

According to the user, he came in one morning and saw a cryptic message against a blue background. User said machine was normal when he left it to go home.

The GUI does not ever begin to load.

The BIOS indicates the boot sequence as cd, hard disk, then floppy.

19 replies

by Former member

If the old drive is ide or sata then leave them off, install the Windows Operating system and then attach the old drive to get access...

Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

by wesley.chin

the hard drive is IDE, but it is also the only drive. so if that is removed, the OS can't be installed...

by older mycroft

Presumably normal turned on.

So the question is - what happened while this user was away at home, until the following morning (assuming it wasn't left on all weekend!). Pity the user doesn't know more of the 'cryptic message'.

Why did the user turn it off, if it had a cryptic message - is that not when the Tech guy should've been called?

The HDD will require examination under slave conditions at the very least.

by wesley.chin

From what I know, one thing that should have occurred was backup of data. Other than that, another thing could have happened in retrieval of new email by Outlook. The computer is on 24X7, since the backup solution in place here is software based and requires the machine to be turn on. Yes, it is a shame that contents of the message were lost. There is not enough money to maintain a tech guy here, so problems of that nature dealt with as time permits.

by older mycroft

If the backup ever happened.

Sorry, but if it were me, I wouldn't be thinking it's a shame the Blue Screen 'was lost' - I'd be hanging the user out to dry!

[u]Your choice is simple:[/u]
Re-install Windows to a new hard drive, then connect this crashed drive as a slave and hopefully retrieve the data from it.

OR

Re-install to this crashed drive and lose everything.

Maybe the Company can find enough money for a new hard drive, out of the money they've saved not having a full-time Tech guy. ;)

by Former member

NT:

by rob miners

Try useing the IDE Cable that is connecting the CD or another one if available.

A damaged or insufficiently charged internal battery can corrupt CMOS or BIOS settings try another one.

by oh smeg

If it is a IDE Drive the Drive is either disconnected, the Data Lead has failed or the Drive has failed.

Download the HDD makers Testing Utility from the Drive Makers Web Site and test the Drive. If it fails you need to replace the HDD to repair the computer. If the drive has died and you need to recover the Data off it that is going to be extremely expensive. The last time I had to take a dead HDD into recover data it cost the owners $46,000.00 AU and I didn't add anything to that for my out of pocket expenses. Of course recovering from the most recent backup may be all that is required here. Though if it isn't a Rush Job it will be slightly cheaper the above was to have the Data Recovered in a 24 Hour Period. Longer times cost less but not that much less.

If you can not locate the HDD Makers Testing utility Seatools will accurately test the drive but any error reports may not be considered as the Absolute Truth but the fact that it fails the test is all you need to look at here.

http://tinyurl.com/yvq99t

Seatools like all the HDD Testing Utilities are a DOS Application and need to be used in conjunction with a DOS Boot Disc.

Col

by Former member

with the prices you toss up for us, maybe I ought to invest the $15,000 for the equipment for clean room data recovery and do this instead of all the other stuff I do. Currently, I just do the software data recovery along with a handful of tricks.

by jkallega

my home PC gave a similar error. before doing anything, i just opened the PC cabinet; cleaned out all the dust; removed all connector and replugged them.
PC booted as normal. It is very unlikely that the HDD goes a toss. there is no harm in trying is it not ?

by rob miners

that I regularly have to reconnect the IDE cable at least once a month. It is getting a bit long in the tooth but when it is working it serves its purpose. ;)

by wesley.chin

The user has everything of importance backed up as far as I know. The backup here is such that everything is backed up to an external hard drive connected to another PC. Judging by the time stamp of the backup, it appears the last backup took place.

The OS of the user is OEM installation from Dell. Are you suggesting installing the OS from scratch with the install CD?

by older mycroft

You'd be well served to try out the other suggestions offered below, first.

No sense in reinstalling if it is unnecessary.

If it proves necessary then whatever OEM disc you have (Install or Recovery) will make no difference, once you know the drive is dead because you won't be attempting a Repair. ;)

by wesley.chin

Assuming that the critical data is backed up, then is there any reason to not proceed with a reinstall? Keep in mind that there is only one hard drive on the computer, and that the message appears when booting of that hard drive. in this case, is even reinstallation of Windows even an option to consider? Obviously, something that would not involve reinstallation is preferable, or for that matter purchasing a new computer,

by rob miners

The BIOS reports the primary master drive as not installed.

How are you going to reinstall? Have you tried another Hard Drive to see if it is being detected? Have you tried any of the other suggestions?

by wesley.chin

I have relayed the information to others. Nothing has happened yet.

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