hard drive

[ventureman]

i have a sony vaio that was in a house fire its pretty beat up i tried to wipe the memory but its not working could i just buy a new hard drive or what should i do.

 

[kof2000]

how do you know is the hdd and not the entire motherboard fried from the fire?

 

[jp198780]

yeah, im pretty sure it wouldnt be the HD, if anything, the mobo..

 

[ventureman]

it works it turns on when i got it i was using it and it froze and it messed up so i tried to wipe the hard drive but something messed up.

 

[Jet]

it works it turns on when i got it i was using it and it froze and it messed up so i tried to wipe the hard drive but something messed up.

Hmm. Does it put out any picture?

 

[Technogab]

Why don't you try booting off a live CD bootdisk such as Barts PE. The entire OS runs off the CD, or do a live linux CD. If the OS runs fine off the CD, then you will have a pretty good idea that it's the hard drive and worth replacing it.

 

[ventureman]

jet,yes it does put off a great picture

and now when i start it up it says missing os.

 

[ventureman]

now when i start it up it says primary master drive fails hit f1 to continue and f2 to cancel.

 

[Geoff]

Why don't you try booting off a live CD bootdisk such as Barts PE. The entire OS runs off the CD, or do a live linux CD. If the OS runs fine off the CD, then you will have a pretty good idea that it's the hard drive and worth replacing it.

Thats a good idea, that way you can make sure everything else in your computer is working.

 

[ventureman]

but it says primary master drive has failed will it read anything if i put it in the drive.

 

[goosy22]

but it says primary master drive has failed will it read anything if i put it in the drive.

do you know if your hard drive or optical drive is configured as the primary master? if you don't know, you could always try it...

 

[ventureman]

it says my primary master is on auto.

 

[goosy22]

it says my primary master is on auto.

i meant physically... nevermind... i would try to put a OS CD into your optical drive and see if it boots up...

 

[ventureman]

i dont have an os disc so should i just buy a new hd and os.

 

[goosy22]

i dont have an os disc so should i just buy a new hd and os.

hmm... i wouldn't go that far... i would download a small OS like pocket linux (google it) somehow, burn it to a CD and put it in you optical drive... boot it up and see if that works... then come back here...

 

[ventureman]

how would i do that does linux have a website and how would i copy it to a disc.

 

[goosy22]

how would i do that does linux have a website and how would i copy it to a disc.

yes... you can download Pocket Linux HERE... or if you want the full Ubuntu version... you can get it HERE...

 

[ventureman]

when i download how do i get it on a disc or does it download onto a disc.

 

[goosy22]

it downloads as a disc image (Ubuntu is an .iso file... i don't remember what Pocket Linux is...) and it must be burned onto a disc... and i don't mean just drag it onto a disc... like use nero and select the file to be burnt... does that make sense?

 

[ventureman]

i dont have nero.