Media test failure, please check cable??? Computer was working, now it is not...

[robpossible]

This is my first post on here, thanks to anyone with any help. This is a 4-5 year old Gateway laptop that I really need to get a little info off of before she goes into the trash. She was working last Friday but when I came in this morning she gave me this screen. I searched this forum for a solution but didn't really find anything that helped. Here's a picture of the screen:

Thanks again, Robby

[Allan]

Go to the website of your hd manufacturer and download and run their diagnositc utility. Alternatively, if you are running XP you can boot to the Recovery Console and run chkdsk /r

[robpossible]

Go to the website of your hd manufacturer and download and run their diagnositc utility. Alternatively, if you are running XP you can boot to the Recovery Console and run chkdsk /r

I am running XP... Can you explain both of these in a little more detail?

[Allan]

Boot to your XP Cd. Choose the FIRST repair option (that will take you to the recovery console). Once there, run chkdsk /r

[robpossible]

Boot to your XP Cd. Choose the FIRST repair option (that will take you to the recovery console). Once there, run chkdsk /r

gotcha, working on it now, thx.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Rob

[Allan]

It will take a while and run 5 passes. Let it finish. When it does, type EXIT and press ENTER (or just do a hard reboot, either is fine).

[robpossible]

It will take a while and run 5 passes. Let it finish. When it does, type EXIT and press ENTER (or just do a hard reboot, either is fine).

Actully it took me here after I ran the first repair choice:

Bad huh? Or did I do something wrong?

[Allan]

When the "install" process first starts it tells you to press F6 if you need to install the SATA drivers. You'll need to have the sata drivers on a floppy and then press F6 at that point.

Or - read this: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/01/21/install-xp-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-installed-in-your-computer/

[Computer_Commando]

I don't think the BIOS is recognizing the hard drive.

[robpossible]

When the "install" process first starts it tells you to press F6 if you need to install the SATA drivers. You'll need to have the sata drivers on a floppy and then press F6 at that point.

Or - read this: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/01/21/install-xp-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-installed-in-your-computer/

Is there a way to intall it without a floppy? Maybe from a CD or thumb drive? I don't have floppy and no real easy access to one. Also Lets say I installed all of Windows XP on an extrenal hard drive, would that work? Could I than mess around with the broken drive, in my laptop, and get my stuff off of it?
Thx again for all your help,
Rob

[Computer_Commando]

On Gateway Solo Laptop, hit F2-key on power up to enter BIOS.  If the hard drive is not recognized, it has probably failed.