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2206
March 22nd, 2003 18:00
Can not boot computer
I can not get my computer to boot. I get a variety of messages One is:
Warning Dell's Disk monitoring system has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications. It is advisable to immediately back up your data and replace your hard-disk drive by calling support desk or Dell Computer Company.
I can not seem to boot up in safe mode. The computer also seems to keep resetting itself.
I have tried to boot off of the XP disk, but I don't know the administrator password. I don't recall ever setting a password up, so I just hit enter. That brings me to a c:\windows prompt. Can I do anything from there?
Thank you,
Bill
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The_Namek
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2.8K Posts
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March 22nd, 2003 19:00
The message you posted is what is known as a SMART error. It essentially means that a failure of the computer's hard drive is imminent in the very near future. Without knowing more about your problem and what other error messages your system is displaying I can only speculate that your hard drive has already given up the ghost.
You can try a repair reinstall of Windows XP or download a file that creates a set of Windows XP boot disks that should allow you to bypass the administrator password and get into the recovery console. The file is available in this MSKB article. Unless you have some very important personal data that you want to recover from the hard drive I wouldn't bother with either of these procedures. The hard drive is going to have to be replaced by Dell if your system is under warranty or at cost to you if it isn't.
wjk62
16 Posts
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March 22nd, 2003 19:00
I tried the repair reinstall. It says that Windows can not detect a previously installed version.
Bill
The_Namek
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2.8K Posts
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March 22nd, 2003 20:00
There must be some bad sectors on the hard drive that have damaged the file system. You can kiss whatever data you have on that drive goodbye if the XP setup utility can't find a Windows directory....unless you're willing to send the drive to a company like Ontrack or Drivesavers for them to perform a data recovery service on it, which from what I've heard is pretty expensive.