Dell Dimension 9100 (2005) HDD and Boot problems

Hi KenyaCragrat,

Check BIOS of your computer and change the SATA operations to AHCI/RAID Autodetect.

You can follow the steps below:

• Restart the computer.
• As soon as you see the Dell logo, start tapping the ‘F2’ key on top of the keyboard.
• If you wait too long and the Microsoft Windows appears, then continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Now shutdown your computer and try again.
• After this a new window would appear. You can only use the arrow keys of the keyboard to navigate between the options as the mouse is not functional in this mode.
• Navigate to 'SATA Operations' -- > Hit Enter -- > Change Option to AHCI/RAID Autodetect -- > Save changes -- > Restart your computer.

 (Click on image for enlarged view) 

If you check the motherboard, there are SATA 0,1,2,3 ports. The drive connected to SATA 0 port will be considered as the primary drive. You can check the motherboard image below for more information:

(Click on image for enlarged view) 

For issues pertaining to Internet, you can update the Ethernet driver from the link: http://dell.to/Uqc3DP and driver for Dell Wireless 1450 (802.11a/b/g) USB2.0 Adapter from link: http://dell.to/12TaQs7 

Steps to download drivers:

• Click on “Download File”.
• Select “For Single File Download via Browser”.
• Click on “Download Now”.
• Save the driver on your desktop.
• Double click and follow the prompts on screen to complete installation. 
• Restart your computer. 
   
  

Wow, that was a quick answer- many thanks! Unfortunately I followd your instructions and it did not work. Firstly let me clarify that SATA 0 is the socket on the top left, as shown?

The messages are as follows:

Drive 0 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-0

Drive 3 not found: Serial ATA, SATA -3

Drive 5 not found: Parallel ATA,PARA-1 (PRI IDE Slave)

etc, etc, then:

RAID Volumes:

0       ARRAY      RAID0(stripe)     128kb        298GB   Failed        No

Physical Drives:

1   ST 316****** etc               149 GB     Member Disk (0)

2. WDC******* etc                   931GB       Non-RAID Disk

Strike F1 or F2, etc.....

Please can you suggest what I can try next?

You might try pressing F12 at bootup time, which should present you with a boot device menu; select the new WD hard drive and you should be on your way.

Another solution might be the Acronis TrueImage drive imaging software, which is furnished with a bootable DVD, but I don't know if it will work with a defective source drive.

Thanks, I tried that but every time I stick in the old drives, the boot sequence goes to RAID and then reports failure- as soon as I remove the old HDDs, then it boots fine from the new WD HDD. What else can I try, please?