Dell Optiplex 360 series - error autosensing

Y

ydono

New Member
Hi. When my computer starts up I get an "error auto-sensing secondary master hard disk drive". then it gives me options to run diagnostics, try again or see some complicated system menu operated by arrows only. I ran the diagnostic and it said it couldn't find anything.

I am able to get the computer to start up if I unplug to shut off and then plug back in and start it up. When done like this, it starts up correctly.

A tech at work said the computer is about to fail and to replace the hard drive. so i backed up my computer, got a new hard drive, and put it in. As soon as I turned the computer on I got the same error message. I thought maybe it needed to have the os software installed, so I used the reinstallation cd for vista. It installed, but everything looked funny, and nothing really worked. It couldn't find the internet card, etc.

I then tried to install the drivers, but I got an error message that there were missing files. It was a long and complicated message that I didn't understand.

At this point, I had to put the old drive back in in order to use my computer at all.

FYI, this computer came with XP and Vista installed. I opted to start with Vista for the reinstallation this time. Do you think that is possibly the problem? That maybe the computer is looking for information that is on the XP disc? Keep in mind, the Vista cd is not an upgrade but a full install.

I thought I would try to install XP but didn't know how to get rid of Vista first (off the new hard drive).

So a couple questions:

What do you think the original problem is and was a new hard drive the answer?

How do I get rid of Vista on the new hard drive so that I can install xP and will that work do you think?

thanks everyone
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
I work in a school that had a lot of these machines. They're horrible! Do you have the option to just install the OS from an original disc and try that? Is the Vista DVD you used original? It could be worth installing SP2 and the other fixes for Vista before you install some drivers, or make sure you've downloaded all of the latest drivers in advance.

I wouldn't put XP on this machine, it's an old OS that's no longer supported. I wouldn't suggest Vista for the same kind of reasons (Vista only has a few months of support left). We got 7 and even 10 working fine on these old 360s.

Is there any chance of a replacement PC? If you can get a newer PC, I wouldn't spend too long on this one.
 
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Y

ydono

New Member
I put windows ten on it and it was working fine. now I'm getting an error 39 - issues with the driver for the Optiarc DVD D7230Sata device (cd/dvd)
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
IDE drives? You could force the jumper to master/slave for each device on the ribbon to avoid auto-discovery/cable-select
 
Agent Smith

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
I'd toss that Comp and at least get a Optiplex 780. I bought this for my parents and it's been pretty good. I would upgrade the RAM in it though. They can be had on eBay for about $70. You can install Windows 7 on there and many that sell on eBay already have it installed. I'm sure Winblows 10 could go on there too.
 
jack_of_trades

jack_of_trades

New Member
Agree with @Agent Smith. Toss the computer and get yourself an OptiPlex 755 or 780 off of ebay for $100. Those machines are very reliable and very upgrade-friendly.

I'm suspecting the original problem to be a motherboard or controller problem.
 
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