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2094
Inspiron 660 Will not Recognize Hard Drive
I have an Inspiron 660 where the hard drive has a bad sector, but was bootable. Today, I installed a new hard drive and upon booting, the power light lit white, the hdd light flickered white for about 3 seconds, then nothing happened. Nothing on screen. Monitor was never recognized. Tried a second monitor and the same results.
I then put the original bootable hard drive back in place and it will now not boot either. Same results.
Any advice?
Dan
Gears1674
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August 25th, 2017 18:00
Thanks for the info, SpeedStep. Unfortunately, even after replacing the battery, the PC will not boot. At this point, I suspect the motherboard. Now when I turn it on, the power light is orange and only the fan runs. I may buy a replacement motherboard, but I've already purchased a replacement PC since this was for my parents.
I'm going to mark this as a closed issue.
Thanks again.
Dan
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
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43.6K Posts
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August 15th, 2017 18:00
When was last time you replaced the motherboard battery? If the battery died when the PC was unplugged while you were replacing the hard drive, BIOS settings might have gotten scrambled.
So start by replacing the battery if it's old (CR2032 3-volt battery, ~$2 at discount stores). If nothing else you'll rule the battery out.
If the battery is recent, remove it and press/hold power button for ~30 sec to reset BIOS settings, then reinstall it.
Either way, also check that you didn't accidentally dislodge a cable, RAM module or PCI-e card while replacing the drive.
Always unplug PC and press/hold power button for ~15 sec before opening the case.
Gears1674
4 Posts
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August 17th, 2017 16:00
Hi Ron. I had never replaced that battery. I had some at home, so I did the steps you suggested with the battery. I also double checked every connection I could and gave them a nudge to make sure they were all connected. I am still getting the same results as in my original post.
I welcome any other thoughts you might have.
Thanks for your reply.
Dan
Gears1674
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August 17th, 2017 16:00
A new wrinkle. The powerlight is now orange and blinking. Also, there are 5 beeps and a pause then 5 beeps...repeating. I'll google it, but will still welcome a reply.
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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August 22nd, 2017 10:00
5 Beeps is DL2032 Cmos battery Bad. These GO BAD whether you use them or not. This is why they have date codes 10 years or more in the future. Batteries from 2006 are bad now. Blinking Amber = Bad Power Supply. Most grocery stores have these for $6 or less. Back where you get prezcriptions filled. PPHHARRMACY is a bad word in the filter.