Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows XP => Topic started by: Regulator on November 22, 2009, 06:10:18 PM
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First off Im on a laptop not my computer, the problem is with my computer.
It started after I turned off my computer to hookup a new monitor that I got from my aunt. After the monitor was hooked up, I rebooted and get a message saying to insert bootable media and press any key to reboot or something. So I inserted a bootable cd and rebooted and tried to reformat but it said that my hard drive was inaccessible for some odd reason.
Is there anyway to fix this besides buying a new Hard Drive? Everything is hooked up correctly I have doubled and tripled checked everything.
If you need specs list the ones that will be most helpful and I will give those if I know them.
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Welcome to the CH forums.
In order to attempt to make a meaningful diagnosis we need to know what your pc is telling you. So I inserted a bootable cd and rebooted and tried to reformat but it said that my hard drive was inaccessible for some odd reason.
We need to know what that "odd reason" is. Please post the full error message displayed.
Please read the first post on this forum titled "Please read this first"
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Heres what my computer says:
Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in you computer.
Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.
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Does the drive show up in BIOS?
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What cd are you booting to? What happens if you try to boot directly to the hd without a bootable cd inserted?
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First off Im on a laptop not my computer, the problem is with my computer.
It started after I turned off my computer to hookup a new monitor that I got from my aunt. After the monitor was hooked up, I rebooted and get a message saying to insert bootable media and press any key to reboot or something. So I inserted a bootable cd and rebooted and tried to reformat but it said that my hard drive was inaccessible for some odd reason.
Is there anyway to fix this besides buying a new Hard Drive? Everything is hooked up correctly I have doubled and tripled checked everything.
If you need specs list the ones that will be most helpful and I will give those if I know them.
I am at a loss here. If you were only installing a different monitor, why are you trying to reformat the hard drive?
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The drive does show up in bios but it cant be accessed to boot into WinXP which i think is weird.
Im booting to a Windows XP SP3 cd. nothing happens when i try to boot directly to the hd i just keeping a screen saying to insert media and pressing a key to reboot.
Im trying to reformat to see if it'll fix my problem.
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Okay. First of all, changing a monitor would not cause the problem you describe. I guaranty you did something - I just don't know what. Second, the error message you describe is not generated by a "missing" hd (that would be "unbootable device..."). One guess is that you removed the HD from the boot order in bios, so let's start there. In the bios go to the boot order setting and make sure the cd is first and the hd is second. Save the setting and exit. Reboot. What happens?
Oh, and stop trying to reformat until we find out what the problem is.
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i never did or change anything and the boot order is cd first and hd second. the same problem occurs asking for bootable media.
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Then the cd to which you are trying to boot is not bootable. Remove it and reboot. What happens?
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the cd is bootable, all the cds i've tried are bootable but when i get to the install part of installing winxp it says that the hd is either not there (it is there though) or inaccessible.
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Okay, that wasn't clear. It sounded as though you were getting that message right off. Boot to the XP CD and choose the first repair option (press R). That should take you to the Recovery Console. Does it? If so, run chkdsk /r
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i think I've tried that before but it says that there is no HD.
EDIT: I saw something from a search i did here on computerhope.com about a virus that blocks access to the hard drive forget what it was called something like Stoned Empire Monkey.
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Do you have the sata driver?
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I dont think so but i could try to find it but that would take awhile since my room is messy.
Then again i might have thrown away on accident if the drive even came with one because i dont think i saw one but its been a year since i installed the hard drive.
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Well, it's likely you need the sata driver for XP to see the HD
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This (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/241072-31-sata-install-question) may provide some answers.
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well thanks for the help but i think i will just have to buy a new one or wait for more help from here or somewhere else.
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More help? You need the sata driver.
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well how do i install the driver if i cant access the hd and cant get into windows?
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Unless you create a slipstream XP CD, you don't install them. Follow the instructions in the link Computer_Command posted above. And if you happen to have a floppy drive it's easy. Then again, so is creating a slipstream cd with nlite (http://www.nliteos.com/)
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floppy? as in that old crap before cds? i dont have one of those anymore.
anyways i dont know how to use nlite and cant download anything since im on my moms laptop.
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Did anyone ever teach you ANY manners? You were right before. Wait for someone else to help you.
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The hard drive may need to be enabled in BIOS. On my Dell, there is a check next to the drives that are enabled.
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Maybe, just maybe you should think about taking into a computer shop and letting them fix it for you. You are looking for a real simple fix, and although it might be relatively simple for some people it isn't for you. They probably won't charge you anything extra for the attitude either.
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ok sorry about my attitude its just i get a little upset when Im not on my own computer. Anyways I finally got a program to run to look for errors on my hd and so far its found 1,000's upon 1,000's of errors hopefully ill be able to fix them.
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This (http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm) program?
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i tried that program but it didnt detect the HD, anyways its not that program that im running its something.
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ok it seems like no matter what i do i always get a error that says this (or something similar)
There is no disk or the disk cant be accessed.
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So exactly what program are you runing that has found all these thousands of problems on your hard drive? Why do I get the feeling this is a game?
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1. Hard Drive.
a. How does it interface to motherboard; PATA (IDE/EIDE interface) or SATA?
b. Which drive do you have; make and model name/number?
c. What is the total capacity of the drive; e.g. 80 GB?
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@theripster it was Test Drive or something i dont think it would've fixed the problem anyways it was gonna take too long since my hard drive is 400 gb so i stopped the process.
@dahlarbear
a. its a SATA drive
b. Western Digital WD4000AAJS
c. 400 GB
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Sorry regulator...
But if you don't have the patience to let a drive diagnostics app finish and do
it
's job...and you want to keep it Top Secret we can't help those that won't help themselves.
You've been given good advice and not followed it.
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I have tried everything that everyone's said its just not working even xp install cds that have sata drivers slipstreamed.
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Use the drive manuf. FREE utilities to partition/prepare the drive for use in a PC and move on....
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i've tried those utilities before patio and they all come up that the disk cant be found or inaccessible either way that dont work.
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Bad SATA connector on the MBoard...
Bad Data cable on the drive...
Dead drive...
Move the drive to another machine to confirm this.
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well tried it on my dads computer with his cables and nothing worked so i think its a dead drive. his computer is a couple months old so his cables are somewhat better than mine, and i tend to leave my computer on at night (which i know can be bad for a computer) to download stuff.
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Leaving a machine on does not hurt it...
Find the manuf. webpage and see what the Warranty is on the drive...you may be in Luck.
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good news i can get a replacement from WD.
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ugh this is painful using this slow laptop...I miss using my fast computer...its gonna be at least 2 to 3 weeks before my new hard drive arrives.
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My last one only took 3-4 days....