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HD not recognized
I started my computer today and when booting it said primary master drive not found . i went into setup and in Drive Configuration Primary Master was off, I placed on auto and rebooted and it was not found again. I have booted with floppy and even in dos Drive C not found. I booted in cd with Dell resource disk on ran dell diagnostics and hard drive not found. I find this strange and am concerned about virus because yesterday I could not not find my dvd and dvd rw drive and had to go into setup and found they were off in drive configureation but when i turned them to auto they were found on rebooting and I remember hard drive was ON then and no problems rest on night and then turned off computer. i have read the other threads about this but still not sure what to do.?can I clear NVRAM and see if this works? I'm not real computer savy but can follow directions. I ran Dell diagnostics on HD ytesterday when trying to fix dvd and it passed. I have MCAfee antivirus and is on auto updates. Does anyone know how I can get into windows?/ I have Dimension8300 XP Home every thing factory installed and have not installed any new software
Thanks for any Help
- Cleared NVRAM and then on reboot came up Performing automatic IDE Configuration and then said Secondaary Master: CD-RomSecondary Slave: CD-RomStill unable to recognize HDI had performed the custom test on the HDIt really seems like a virus to me to have dvd and dvd rw drives not recognized yesterday and the HD todayThanks for your response
shesagordie
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Posted March 28th, 2007 22:00
onsc
Time to replace the hard drive.
Bev.
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Posted April 2nd, 2007 09:00
This has happend to me on my 9200 the very 1st day i got it, I phoned them they made me do everything you've just done, still didnt work, the picked it up and replaced it but now its happend again to my brand new pc, Not even had it a month! Not impressed.- I contacted Dell and was told to run 90-90 test on HD by pressing CTL-ALT-DEL at Dell Splash Screen.When I did this the computer booted into Windows and runs fine. I have restarted multiple times with no problem. I have run Dell Diagnostics on HD several times and also did diagnostic for symptom of unable to boot and no problems found. Every test passes!!!!! I'm not sure how this corrected itself but feel it's just a matter of time before I am unable to boot again. I have the original 120GB I think Hitachi HD and I think I am going to add another HD to system before this happens. Can I insert 2nd HD as Primary IDE 1 and then move Windows drive to new HD,then switch new drive to Primary IDE 0 so I don't have to install XP and all the applications again?? I have DRive Image and it has a copy drive feature. I have found a Seagate Barracuda 250GB ata100 7200rpm which I want to place in as 2nd HD.Thanks
shesagordie
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Posted April 2nd, 2007 21:00
onsc
Yes, you can install a second hard drive and image the entire primary C:/ to it, using a imaging utility, such as Acronis True Image 10.
I've used PowerQuest's Drive Image 2002, but now I'm using only Acronis or Casper XP for this purpose.
Using this method, then if the C:/ fails, you open the case and move the data cable to make the second hard drive the master, leave the failed drive disconnected and boot the system using the new hard drive.
You can buy the boxed version of Acronis True Image 10 for $26.99 plus S&H, from here.
The Acronis True Image 10.0 pdf Manual, can be download from here.
Bev.
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shesagordie
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Posted March 28th, 2007 20:00
Did you check the cables to the hard drive are properly connected?
When you ran diagnostics, did you run the extended test [read, write and verify] on the hard drive, or the "express test?
How to clear the NVRAM of a D-8300 system.
If this does not correct the problem, then it sounds like a failed hard drive.
Bev.
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Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.