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Dimension 8400 Hard Drive replacement
The hard drive on my 8400 died. Got the XP blue screen of death. Safe mode wouldn't work etc.
Ran diagnostics and tons of HD errors. Purchased a replacement hard drive through DELL.
Now what? No CDs, everything on recovery partiton of old drive.
Gordzilla
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August 11th, 2009 06:00
So I call the DELL number provided for Canada.....support person is able to pull original order with all the info.
Because the warranty has expired, they're telling me they can't help me even if I want to pay for the CDs.
Great system!
Gord
Gordzilla
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August 11th, 2009 11:00
So here's the latest and greatest....finally dealt with a support tech who understood that PC Restore is not really an option when the hard drive is dead and that I will need CDs to reinstall. In the process though, he advised me that the replacement drive DELL sold me last week is not compatible with the 8400. This despiste providing them with the service tag when I ordered it. Appperantly the replacement drive exceeds the specifciations of the 8400 (HD must be 400GB or less).
They are now going to send me the correct drive and I have to return the other one. In addition, they will be sending me the required CDs.
We shall wait and see!
Gord :emotion-12:
RoHe
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August 11th, 2009 11:00
Gord - Hang in there, I just poked Dell in the other eye!
Ron
RoHe
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August 11th, 2009 12:00
Thanks for the update.
Why did you order a new hard drive from Dell in the first place?? You can use any brand of 3.5-inch SATA hard drive, within the GB limit.
Hope the rest of this goes smoothly and the system is running again, soon.
Ron
hazenworld
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August 25th, 2009 16:00
HI, I am having a similar issue.. My 8400 original HD has bit the dust, so i'm faced wih installing a new HD and a fresh operating system. I also seem to have boot sequence issues, where when I try to change them in BIOS, they don't work....at least at present with my broke HD and unresponsibe system.. Can't do safe mode, can't do anything but try to put in this old reinstall DVD to get to recovery or repair or whatever. But, I think the drive is really dead, so I'll have to start from scratch, and, indeed, that's what i'm doing.....I have new Dell disks, and a new HD arriving soon. I am hopeful that maybe I get this system up again so that my kids will have a pc available for school, etc... SO, I DID POST THE FOLLOWING TO ANOTHER COMMUNITY BOARD, AND I HOPE IT'S OK TO POST IT HERE AS WELL. THE FOLLOWING IS THE POST FROM THE OTHER BOARD, AND I WILL CHECK BACK OFTE
Ok, hi...here I go again. I just wrote a lengthy post only to have it disappear, I'm so bummed, as this new post will certainly not match the clarity I think I had in the post I just lost. Thanks, in advance, for any consideration and reply to my issue.
Anyway, I seem to have similar issues as described above,and I am sorry if this is all redundant, but I just have gotten pretty confused by all the research and readings I have made regarding my current issue and the upcoming issues about re-installing a new HD and a fresh XP OP system,
and I'm a bit of a tech novice, so any dumb-downed help, steps or advicewould be greatly appreciated.
I have a Dimenision 8400, and apparently my hard drive has died.. All diagnostic tests say 'failed' return code 7, and all that. So, I tried to use my Dell XP install dvd disc to maybe get into Recovery or repair to perhaps get the drive and system up for a bit longer, to save stuff, before the inevitable total HD failure. I guess I'm too late, but I also seem to have this same boot up issue. I go to BIOS, get to the boot list, up/down to choose cd/dvd boot (#4), highlight , enter, and try again. It never seems to change the order, #1 is always boot floppy. I have no floppies for this, but hope I won't need them in the next process. I then called friends and considered how I might get some floppy boot disks and such, but perhaps this is not needed, especially since I think I am convinced that the present HD is dead dead dead, and I should just accept that I need to do a complete new install on a new hard drive. So, this is where I am presently:
I received, today, new DELL INSTALL XP 2005 MEDIA CENTER operating system discs, and I have ordered a new 500gb WD hard drive that is compatible with my 8400. I am very concerned that when I start from scratch in a day or two , that I will run into this boot up issue where my dvd's will not be bootable. All of my drives are the original equipment installed by DELL, The cd and dvd optical drives are I guess IDE, and my HD is Sata, and I've read in various forums that I may need to play around with the optical drive hook ups, etc.., to get the DVD drive in place for booting sequence. Is this really the case? , Is there something i'm doing wrong in the BIOS? I did not 'remove' anything on boot list, and just tried to do what the menu says, but I guess it just didn't work.
Do you think that when I install the new HD and put in the new DVD install disk - everything will go smoothly, like it did when first purchased this rig? Any clear, dumb-downed advice on what to do about possible boot up issues would be greatly, greatly appreciated. IS there a chance that floppies will be the only way to get things going, and that after getting new dvd's, new hd, I WILL not be able to go further without floppies. What a pain, as I have no other rig to make these. Maybe the new HD install will make the boot sequence work where somehow my install dvd's will boot up without pain? I guess, from my forum and readings and all the pages i've put in favorites about this issue, that I'm almost convinced that it will NOT work unless I change the boot sequence succesfully, or start uplugging and mixing around the optical drives, etc..., that I read about. It's all very confusing, and the more I seem to look into this, the more I get confused. HELP please....
Also, I am interested in partitioning my new HD as well, thinking that maybe I'd like to split it up between 2 to 4 drives so to speak. I understand that I can do this with a windows utility, so any help on that would be wonderful too. Can I do a partitioning after the XP op and hard drive are working and installed and i'm back in business? Should I do it during install, and what advice can you give?
Of course, the primary issue is being able to have my DVD install disks actually work and boot up.
My plan is to install the HD, with power off of course. THEN insert the new XP OP system DVD in the DVD TRAY, and hit power on. If it works, I guess I'll go on, but, if not, then i'm prolly having the boot sequence problem. I'd also like to partition at some point. Is my procedure so far correct, install both hd and xp disk before turning rig on for the first time. Do I need the fresh 'vital' drivers that I got from a Dell download, or will these be on the new disks and I don't have to worry about that issue?
If any kind soul out there can give my particular problem consideration and provide any advice, steps, help, or procedures that I can readily understand, all I can say is: thanks, thanks, thanks, it is all greatly appreciated to the nth degree. I want to get this system up again primarily for my kids who are starting school next week, and it would be great to have this issue all finished.
THANKS FOR READING, and thanks for anything and everything you might supply me with to assist me in some sort of hopefully smooth process that I can understand, be prepared for, and actually accomplish. I will check back often. Again, .... THANKS !!! - hazenworld August 25, 2009 3:05pm p.s.t.
N. Your kind help, consideration, patience, and advice are all greatly appreciated. thanks:
RoHe
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August 25th, 2009 17:00
Follow-up comment:
Will the 8400 handle a 500-GB hard drive, which is what you ordered??
I've seen some posts claiming the max hard drive size limit in the 8400 is a 400-GB. I don't know the answer to this question, but perhaps somebody else will respond.
Ron
RoHe
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August 25th, 2009 17:00
EDIT: I fixed the link...
After you install the new drive, power on and press F2 to enter BIOS setup. Change the SATA Controller to: RAID Autodetect/ATA. Save the change, put the XP DVD in the drive and exit setup. If it doesn't boot from the DVD, reboot, press F12 and select the optical drive from the list.
Read this for Dell's instructions to install XP. After you install XP, you need to install all the hardware drivers. You'll need to know what hardware (eg, video card, etc) is installed. Click Support at the top of any forum page and then click the Drivers&Download box. Put in your Service Tag number and you should get a short list of the most likely drivers for your system. You can download the drivers on any PC and burn onto a CD for installation on the 8400. The drivers on the disk provided by Dell may not be the latest so it's better to download them directly from the site.
The correct order for installing on the 8400 is XP followed in order by:
Dell Desktop System Software (System Utilities)
Chipset driver
Video driver
Audio driver
Network driver
Modem driver
etc.
After all that's installed, get your firewall and antiviral software running. Then go directly to the Microsoft update site to download all XP updates and hotfixes (eg, SP3), IE etc etc.
You can partition the drive after XP is installed with software such as Partition Magic, among others...
Ron
shesagordie
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August 25th, 2009 17:00
Replaced the two 80gb SATA hard drives with two Seagate 500gb drives in my 8400 at the begining of the year without any problems.
Used Acronis to image to primary C:/ 80gb to one of the 500gb, swaped data cables to made this the primary C:/ and installed the second 500gb drive.
Bev.
hazenworld
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August 25th, 2009 18:00
HI Ron, thanks for that quick reply, and I'm sorry to be kinda redundant in my post - and I do recognize your instructs from other postings i've seen, and thanks for sending them along.
When I enter bios will it be obvious where the SATA CONTROLLER settings are? I'm not with my 'dead pc' to check how the bios screen appears.
Do I access the place to put all the drivers in DEVICE MANAGER. and do I just select a browse feature and then go to the disk or flash drive where I have them and then just install them that way? A dell rep just two days ago sent me an email with links for the drivers you mention, and I DO have these, but should I still go to the drivers page with my hardware info, etc..., or do you think the drivers I have are likely already the correct one's due to the rep knowing my service tag and system?
I don't really have a clue about getting my FIREWALL running, is this something you can tell me about?
AT the moment, i'm totally broke, so I can't afford to buy any partitioning software. Can I use the windows utility, etc... to accomplish partitioning after the xp install?
THESE QUESTIONS are for anyone that might care to add to this, I do appreciate all and any information on these topics, and thanks very much for your reply, I'm sure it will help. thanks again. - hazenworld aug 25, 4:58 pm p.s.t.
hazenworld
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August 25th, 2009 18:00
HI again, and thanks Ron. I just got your follow up comment about the size of the HD. Yes, it's a 500gb HD I ordered from Dell. On their site it says that it is compatible with the 8400? If anyone can verify or shoot this down, I'd appeciate it. I have no other drives except the opticals and one external, and I'd prefer to keep the drives ordered as they are, so I know DELL is not always correct, reliable, etc...., on their info but I DID BUY it because it was the same price as the 160gb drive, and because the page indicated that is IS COMPATIBLE. THANKS, again.........
RoHe
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August 25th, 2009 18:00
I figured Bev. would know the answer about 500-GB hard drives in the 8400. :emotion-5:
Just scroll down the screen in BIOS setup to find the Drive Controller setting under System Setup Options.
You can partition the drive during the XP install. Read this.
If Dell emailed you links to the drivers, chances are that they're the latest correct drivers for your system .After you get XP installed, you can copy the drivers from the the disk or flash drive onto the 8400's desktop. Each driver is a .exe file. All you have to do is double-click them, one at a time, and they will install by themselves, as long as you do it in the right order. Probably a good idea to reboot after installing the Desktop System Software and the chipset. Then install the others and reboot again.
XP has a firewall built in, so you can open the Windows Firewall control panel and make sure it's set to On. If it's not, change it to On and reboot.
Ron
hazenworld
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August 25th, 2009 20:00
hello,
Reading BEV'S comments about big drives, I guess the implication is that there should be no problem. Again, I just plan to hook it up, not do any splitting or rearranging or stuff, does this all sound good and doable? The 8400 can handle a 500gb drive without any special configs or wiring?
hazenworld
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August 25th, 2009 21:00
hi again, one more thing (for now), would the vital drivers mentioned, that I received from the dell guys via email links/downloads, be all the drivers that would be on the DRIVERS AND UTILITIES DISK that they sent, or might I have to pick and choose or ?
Or is it -- MEANING: I won't need to use that disc for anything? It is labeled : Drivers & Utilities / DVD for installing Dimension and Dell XPS computer software / Contents: Device Drivers & Diagnostics and utilities. Disc says 2005-2007.
RoHe
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August 26th, 2009 12:00
If a 500GB drive works for Bev. it should work for you. She's one of the forum's experts on the 8400. :emotion-21:
The disk has every possibe driver that might be needed on the 8400, depending on what options/upgrades were ordered (eg, video card). The list of drivers emailed to you by Dell is likely based on your Service Tag which allowed them to see exactly what hardware was installed in your personal system. So go with the list they sent you.
Hang onto the disk. You never know when something goes wrong and you need to reload a driver, but can't get on line to retrieve that driver. Just make a note somewhere of which hardware you have, so if you ever need to reload something.... :emotion-5:
The disk also has Dell's diagnostics on it, so if there's ever a time when the PC won't boot from the hard drive you can boot from that CD and run the hardware diagnostics.
Take the install slowly and follow the instructions in the manual to replace the hard drive and then the link about installing XP. You should be fine. If you talk nice to Bev, maybe she'll make a housecall if you need help....NOT! :emotion-4:
Ron