GUYS I NEED MAJOR COMPUTER HELP!!!

[RyanbabZ71]

Oh man right now I am SOL. Hopefully someone can help

 

Ok I have a dell 2500 (laptop). Yesterday (Friday) it was working in the morning and after work fine. I came in after washing my truck to find it on the dell startup screen not doing anything. My gf told me when she was in my room it was running the virus scan (that was 30 min prior). So i restarted it and it doesnt do anything except say No operating system So i hit F2 and it also shows I do not have a hard drive ( I Forget exactly what it says). So i tried to put in the windows xp cd. I ran it and hit option 3 i believe it is this is a restore option. It came back and said I didnt have a hard drive. I have everything on there and now its gone??? What does this sound like? A virus? Can my computer be saved in any way? Also my mom said the fans have been running alot more than usual??? I dont think so but I was thinking maybe the fans failed and the harddrive crapped out?

 

I hope someone can help me out FAST!!! THANKS!!!

[lrymal]

Maybe---maybe. Check to see if the harddrive assembly is pushed in. It is a small module off to the side, at least it is on mine. If the restraining screw loosened out, eventually the module will work its way out and loose contact---hence no hard drive.

 

Secondly, are you sure little brother or little best friend didn't go into the CMOS while you were gone and disabled the hard drive? That's an easy fix---just re-enable it.

 

That's about all I can come up with, assuming the hard drive is actually ok.

[RyanbabZ71]

CMOS while you were gone and disabled the hard drive? That's an easy fix---just re-enable it.

 

no cant reset it

 

Also i did notice a screw was loose last night Thanks I am going to check now

 

Ryan

[99Silver6.0]

Hehe. Better check to see if somebody ganked your drive! Get into BIOS and see if you can auto-detect IDE drives. See what it comes up with. You might have a bad drive or a virus that killed the master boot record. Then you gotta FDisk the drive, format and reinstall Windows. Theres only a few different possibilities.

[RyanbabZ71]

no go on taking it out and putting it back in.

 

All i get on startup is a black screen that says no operating system. If you hit any button it makes like 3 clicking noises (like it is trying to read the HD)

 

how do you format the drive?

[pacodiablo]

Your problem is probably because it is a Dell. I have a Dell and it has been a waste of money. Next time around I am going with a Mac.

 

It probably won't be any help, but try support.dell.com.

[RyanbabZ71]

I am 99% sure my hard drive is toast. I was told on the dell message board to put it in the freezer to recover the files.

 

Ok where would I buy a new hard drive fast. Does officedepot or officemax sell laptop harddrives? I couldnt find any on their site. How would I transfer from 1 hard drive to another and save all my info (if the freezer thign works)

 

Heres what I found online

 

Description: 20 Gigabyte Hard Drive

 

 

Kahlon Part No: KDEL-20.0JC

OEM Part No: n/a

 

Description: 20 Gigabyte Hard Drive

 

Price:

$115.00

 

 

Specification

Capacity 20 GB Notebook Hard drive

 

 

Max Height / Width 12.7 mm / 69.85mm

 

 

Data Transfer Rate 100MB/Sec

 

 

Average Seek Time 13 ms

 

 

Interface ATA-2/3/4/5

 

 

Rotational Speed 4200 rpm

 

 

Performance 100% Compatibility Guaranteed

[tmf6902]

Dood....I know how you feel...but without being in front of it and screwing with it myself I can't help ya....

 

Next time anybody buys a computer, goto Ibuypower.com that's where I got my last PC....they have really competitive prices, and you can completely customize your system...I highly recommend them.

[snoman]

no go on taking it out and putting it back in.

 

All i get on startup is a black screen that says no operating system. If you hit any button it makes like 3 clicking noises (like it is trying to read the HD)

 

how do you format the drive?

Sounds like a IDE controller failure. I suspect that the harddrives built in IDE controller has failed and the system no longer sees the drive itself let alone the data. If it is in warranty call Dell, if not you may need a new 2.5" HD and they are not that expensive on line and easy to install as most reasonably new laptops will auto detect a new drive on power on. Depending on how old it is I can tell you how big a drive it should support in BIOS. I mess with this stuff all the time and it is not really that big a deal to fix though your data is gone. You might recheck connections as usually the drive sliding into a fixed connector socket in HD bay on laptop. Maybe you will get lucky! PM me if you have further questions about this.

[snoman]

I am 99% sure my hard drive is toast. I was told on the dell message board to put it in the freezer to recover the files.

 

Ok where would I buy a new hard drive fast. Does officedepot or officemax sell laptop harddrives? I couldnt find any on their site. How would I transfer from 1 hard drive to another and save all my info (if the freezer thign works)

 

Heres what I found online

 

Description: 20 Gigabyte Hard Drive

 

 

Kahlon Part No: KDEL-20.0JC

OEM Part No: n/a

 

Description: 20 Gigabyte Hard Drive

 

Price:

$115.00

 

 

Specification

Capacity 20 GB Notebook Hard drive

 

 

Max Height / Width 12.7 mm / 69.85mm

 

 

Data Transfer Rate 100MB/Sec

 

 

Average Seek Time 13 ms

 

 

Interface ATA-2/3/4/5

 

 

Rotational Speed 4200 rpm

 

 

Performance 100% Compatibility Guaranteed

If it is not a Toshiba or Hitachi drive, do not waste your time with it. They make the most reliable laptop drives out their (Hitachi bought the rights to IBM hard drives and IBM was the first to put fluid bearings in a laptop drive).

[Tucson_02Silverado]

High side it's the hard drive that failed. If you are in the bios and can not see the hard drive......

 

No chance on getting a 2.5" drive QUICK

Fastest maybe ebay with a buyit now.

 

Compusa and BEASTYbuyte have repair but probably no drives in stock.

 

You could get an external USB drive (kinda expensive though) and if the notebook is of the last year or so vintage and you have XP, you might be able to load the OS on the USB drive......but you probably only have and OEM XP and a Dell one at that that'll only look for the IDE drive. Anyways a temporary solution till you get a replacement 2.5 and need to be running.

 

If you need a computer quick, picking up a Wally megalo mart for $500 Compaq 2.7 celeron 256MB 40GB 48xCDR 17" monitor. Or course there are probably cheaper, but not at 1AM and in your hot little hands.

[RyanbabZ71]

Thanks guys I can survive a few days without a computer (I am on my moms work computer now). My current HD is a IBM.

 

I appreciate all the help

 

Hopefully Ill be back on the computer soon

[snoman]

Thanks guys I can survive a few days without a computer (I am on my moms work computer now). My current HD is a IBM.

 

I appreciate all the help

 

Hopefully Ill be back on the computer soon

Check out newegg.com for a drive.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-149-017&depa=0

 

They show them in stock and they are a quick shipper too. I have used them for several years.

[99silveradoz71]

Also i did notice a screw was loose last night Thanks I am going to check now

 

Ryan

Had to bring a little humor to the situation.

[Wingnut]

Thanks guys I can survive a few days without a computer (I am on my moms work computer now).  My current HD is a IBM. 

 

I appreciate all the help

 

Hopefully Ill be back on the computer soon

Check out newegg.com for a drive.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-149-017&depa=0

 

They show them in stock and they are a quick shipper too. I have used them for several years.

Sorry Ryan, I can't help you much more without restating what's already been said.

 

But snoman is right. I'll second newegg.com as a good place to buy from. When I built my home PC, I got about 75% of my parts from them. Great customer service.