Without the PC Model number we can only generalize. But, it does sound like whatever was wrong on the hard drive on the original hard drive was mirrored to the other drive.
It sounds like its going to take a complete hard drive format then reinstall as the next step. Depending on the PC Model there can be a Dell Recovery Partition on the hard drive that will restore the PC to the original factory condition and no discs are needed. CTRL/F11 will access the partition for systems delivered with XP. This will reformat the hard drive then reinstall everything. As you have it imaged to another drive any user data can be recovered from the second drive. If the recovery partition is gone or corrupted a manual install will be required.
With most Dell's the correct and required manual install sequence is (1) Install Windows (2) Install Dell Desktop System Software (3) Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers (4) Install Device Drivers including Video, Dell sound driver, Ethernet, etc.
There is an outside chance there is a controller problem on the motherboard but most likely it's a physical drive problem. If a motherboard is suspect, only another Dell exact replacement motherboard will work (on most models) due to the Dell proprietary front panel connector on most XP models and other proprietary items.
fireberd
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33.4K Posts
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May 30th, 2011 08:00
Without the PC Model number we can only generalize. But, it does sound like whatever was wrong on the hard drive on the original hard drive was mirrored to the other drive.
It sounds like its going to take a complete hard drive format then reinstall as the next step. Depending on the PC Model there can be a Dell Recovery Partition on the hard drive that will restore the PC to the original factory condition and no discs are needed. CTRL/F11 will access the partition for systems delivered with XP. This will reformat the hard drive then reinstall everything. As you have it imaged to another drive any user data can be recovered from the second drive. If the recovery partition is gone or corrupted a manual install will be required.
With most Dell's the correct and required manual install sequence is (1) Install Windows (2) Install Dell Desktop System Software (3) Install Motherboard Chipset Drivers (4) Install Device Drivers including Video, Dell sound driver, Ethernet, etc.
There is an outside chance there is a controller problem on the motherboard but most likely it's a physical drive problem. If a motherboard is suspect, only another Dell exact replacement motherboard will work (on most models) due to the Dell proprietary front panel connector on most XP models and other proprietary items.