Hard Drive Vanished and Reappeared

You can probably tell from my subject the extent of my computer knowledge.

I purchased an XPS 13 9360 laptop in December in London for £1300 ($2300). I was working on Microsoft word, and then left the computer idle for around 10 minutes. When I went back, it was running DellAssist and scanning for errors. It said no bootable devices found - error could be a corrupt OS image or a boot device is not enabled in BIOS setup.

From seeing similar problems here I went to the BIOS menu but there was no hard drive listed at all.

I tried googling but didn't understand the other fixes, so called Dell support Australia (since I am here now).

The man was so rude - his first question was where I bought it and I said London. He said sorry I can't help you. I asked if he could please explain the possible fixes to me I saw on Dell's support forum, as I'm in a panic. I've just lost a whole lot of important work I was planning to back up tonight. He told me "well go back to London and have them help you". I explained that I wouldn't be back for a month, and I was in the middle of applying for a university scholarship and really needed some help to try and fix it and recover my work. He said my hard drive was faulty and I've lost everything, I could go to a computer shop and see if they could recover something but I would have to pay for that myself unless I waited to return to London.

After crying for 20 minutes thinking I'd lost all my work, I went back and it was doing something - configuring and updating windows. It then came on as normal, and everything was there.

First, Dell, shame on you for being so rude and unhelpful!

Could someone explain to me what possibly happened? If I have a faulty hard drive I'd like to replace my computer before the warranty expires, as this has to last me through a PhD, I can't afford another one as I just splashed out on this 6 months ago :(

Thanks for your insight!!

Responses(3)

ejn63

10 Elder

•

24.8K Posts

0

August 22nd, 2018 03:00

First and foremost: if you're not backing up the system regularly, you're playing with fire - you MUST keep backups. No computer manufacturer warrants against data loss.

Second: run an extended diagnostic on the drive (F12 at powerup). Do the full media test - NOT just the 10 minute test. Only if an error shows up (which you'll need to record, along with its validation code) will Dell replace the drive.

Meanwhile: basic warranties (12 month return to depot) are valid ONLY in the nation of purchase. If you have moved for a long term, you'll need to buy an upgrade to onsite service, and then apply to transfer the warranty to Australia.

To transfer the warranty:

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln143036/ownership-transfer-and-retail-registration-guide?lang=en

J

JackInDobbs

1 Message

0

September 6th, 2020 05:00

9/2020. Following various updates to my XPS-8900 w 256gb SSD and 2tb HDD (the drive) in Aug 2020, the drive disappears on me intermittently. Of course my data is backed up via SyncToy on a 64gb flash drive. Anyhow, while dealing with photos on my drive, suddenly it starts working slowly, then disappears altogether. I "lose" thousands of photos and videos. I tried Dell SupportAssist, and Restore to Previous good state, and rebooting with Basic Recovery Drive I made when system was working well. All those steps not working: after F2 tapping during boot, the SYSTEM INFORMATION shows NO 2tb HDD, and under DRIVES (under System Configuration), Sata-0 through Sata-5, only show a DVD drive and the SSD. Unbelievable, the HDD just disappearing! Then under DRIVES, I tried a couple choices under RESTORE. Only the Restore to FACTORY SETTINGS option made my HDD Drive reappear again under the Sata-0 drive, and then in Windows Explorer as the Drive. The booting takes a long time, maybe 1-2 minutes, but so far that is working to restore my drive.

ejn63

10 Elder

•

24.8K Posts

0

September 6th, 2020 06:00

This would be a good time to run an extended diagnostic on the suspect drive. F12 at powerup.

Don't rely in the 10 minute quick test - run the extended (surface) test. This will take several hours.

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