Computer help for beginner

[Mandy]

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right spot sorry if I'm not. I have a Dell Dimminsion 4400 with Windows Xp the computer is about 4 yrs old. It was working fine until I loaned it to my brother till he got a new one and now I can't get it do do anything. When I turn it on it stays at the dell logo for awhile and then turns to black screen with message that says Boot Device not Detected System Haulted. I am not technical at all so if someone could help me in the simplest of terms I would greatly appreciate the help. I have no clue where to begin.

                                          Thank You, Mandy

[saint_hades]

Have you tried installing, the Window CD(DVD), that came with your Dell.
Mines red (the CD(DVD) cover), so I believe yours might be.

It's should say something like this on it.
Operating System
Already Installed On Your Computer 

Also to reinstall it, put the CD(DVD) in your computer when it's loading up, then look for a message on the top right saying
Boot somthing(can't really remember)

Hope this helps

[Mandy]

Ok I tried to reinstall windows with the cd. It goes through setup but then says setup did not find any hard disk drives installed on computer, windows was not installed.

[superman777]

first make sure all your computer peripherals are properly installed like your hard disk and cd roms. Once you are sure that these devises are properly installed, then start your computer by booting to your cd drives using your bootable installation disk of windows. If you don't know how to boot thru your cd you should first run the bios set-up and have the boot sequence start with your cd roms before your hard drive. Once you've set this up, save it. Then run your installation disk.

[GX1_Man]

You guys are about to blank her hard drive with the half baked advice. Are you aware of this? 

Mandy walk away from the computer and post back more information about what happened prior to this according to your brother and if you want to lose all of the information on the drive permanently.

[Mandy]

I really don't know what happened before it quit working. According to him nothing. Typical of a 15 yr old! LOL I know it first started having problems cause he deleted the anti virus and by the time he told me is when the computer started acting up. He also installed Lime Wire on it. I don't know if this caused the problem just heard bad stuff about it. I don't think there is anything on there I can't live with out. I just wanted to get it working and let my kids have it. I'm starting to think the hard drive is already gone. Last night it was making clicking sounds when I turned it on. I really have no idea what I'm doing. So if the hard drive is dead what are the chances of someone like me who doesn't know anything about computers replacing the hard drive myself?

[GX1_Man]

Clicking sounds are not good, and the fact that it does not see the harddrive indicates that it has indeed gone south.

Replacing a harddrive is not terribly difficult, just two cables to be removed from the old one and then attached to the new. Several screws are what hold it in place. If you have never done it, it might be a good time to ask a geeky friend over for dinner and have him do it, or show you, or both.

Here are some sites with info and pictures:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=how+to+replace+hard+drive&spell=1