Hard drive not found?

K

Kail

New Member
Hello~ You guys helped me out before, so I'm hoping you can help me again. =w=

My computer won't start up. This happened before, and I had to reinstall the OS. I haven't tried that yet, though. Instead I ran diagnostics first, and it's giving me an error that says it can't find a hard drive.

I have a Dell Inspirion B130 laptop, about four years old. When I checked out the Dell website, it said to remove the hard drive then put it back in. Did that, didn't help. (And I can't call them cos they'll charge me.)

Not sure what's wrong here. I was using my computer the night before and it worked fine, shut down fine, and I've never had a problem with the hard drive before. It could be dead, but I'm really hoping its not. >>; Any help would be appreciated.
 
Dell should send you the diagnostic dvd and also a OS reinstall/repair dvd for free, they sent them to me for free. I'd get the dvd's and run the dell diagnostic on the hard drive.

Though, it does sound like a dead hard drive, hope you backed up.
 
Um, I can't really tell. I did hear a sorta humming sound when I put my ear to it, but that could be just the echo.

I already have an OS repair disc. It gets past the first part of the set up, but then it says it has to restart to finish and when it restarts, it just goes blank like usual.

It does pick up that I already have Windows installed and my partitions still show up too. (Assuming that's on the hard drive.)
 
Nope, can't get into safe mode. Windows doesn't start up at all. The screen just goes black, with a little white underscore flashing in the upper left hand corner.

I tried putting the hard drive into my dad's computer, but it doesn't fit, and I don't have anything else it would go in.

I'm assuming it's dead. So I either need a new hard drive (apparently my laptop can only handle HDD with up to 120 GB; so that kinda blows) or a new laptop all together.
 
Is your Dell still under warranty?

Be absolutely certain! If it is under an extended hardware warranty Dell will come to your home and diagnose then replace the part for free if its found to be defective. They have done this in the past for my fathers latitude laptop when his motherboard burnt up.

If you don't know if it is still under warranty, call Dell and ask! They can help walk you through the process (over the phone) if it is still under warranty. They may even walk you through their diagnostic process. If they find it to be a manufacturer defective hard-drive they would have to replace it for free if you are the original owner and its still under the manufacturers warranty time period.

1-877-293-1197

When you call, have the Express Service Code for your Dell computer, its printed on a manufacturer label on the case. Its about 7 characters long with numbers and letters.


IF IT IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY

If you call Dell and its not under warranty, then ask that they send you a "Drivers and Utilities" disk of drivers and utilities already on the computer hard drive. Since you cant access your hard drive, you can use the diagnostic tools on this disk for the hard drive diagnostic. You can boot from the disk to a diagnostic menu and check all the parts you choose. This is NOT, NOT the OS reinstall disk! Make sure they know EXACTLY which disk you want.

There are options on the diagnostic disk for checking the motherboard, cpu, HDD, screen, audio system, etc....

Just call and tell them what you need. It takes about 1-2 days to get it, they send stuff quickly. And do not let them make a mistake and tell you that you have to purchase the disk, its free. This is same number as above for ordering the disk:

1-877-293-1197

And again, have your Express Service Code ready for when prompted on the call.
----

Oh, and don't take any crap from 'em. They will try to constantly sell you this and that. Just say no and cut them off if they start their sales pitch. It can be annoying, just don't listen. The people on the phones usually HAVE to try and give that sales pitch and will do nearly anything to get you to buy cause its part of their job.
 
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It sounds like it's dead, but if you could hook it up to another computer you might still be able to recovery your data, and maybe run a program like HDD Regenerator. The laptop should handle more than 120 GB.
 
No, I'm definitely not under warranty anymore. Found out the last time. ):

I do have Driver's disk, though. Actually, it goes to my dad's Vostro, but it seemed to work the same on mine. I ran the "verify hard drive" test and it failed.

But the HDD did start up during the tests, oddly enough. I could definitely hear it then, and it kept going even after I removed the disk, though Windows still didn't boot up.

When I checked the specs, it said it could only take a HDD with up to 120 GB, unless I misunderstood. The one it came with (the same one that I'm having trouble with now) only holds up to 40 GB.
 
I got the boot into black screens on account of defective RAM. i.e. Black screen with a dash blinking in the upper left corner. To cure that what I had to do was reduce the speed of the memory timings from 5, 5, 5, 18, 3, 3. to 6, 5, 5, 18, 3, 3. Apart from that you could try replacing the mobo battery. Some boards require them to be functioning properly in order to boot.
 
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