dell laptop hard drive

sst1226 · 11-30-2006, 01:54 PM

Hi! I recently changed hard drives in my dell laptop. The reason I did this is because it would just freeze up and then when I rebooted it said I have no bootable device. I am referring to the HDD. I have since put in another hard drive and the same thing is happening. I talked to Dell tech. which instructed me to replace HDD (which they sent me). It is under warranty. I have the HDD in and screwed down. The CD boots up and load windows to a point. Then it says no HDD, press f3 to quit setup. Any ideas about this.

Sst1226

dai · 11-30-2006, 03:30 PM

if it is a sata drive are you loading a driver with f6

sst1226 · 11-30-2006, 06:00 PM

I don't know if it is or not. How do you tell if it is? This is in a laptop.

dai · 12-01-2006, 12:26 AM

look at the label on the drive or see what it lists it as in the bios

sst1226 · 12-01-2006, 12:43 PM

it doesn't list it in the bios. It says I have no HDD. I just dont understand it. I am begining to think it it something internal and not the HDD, because on 1 boot-up it showed the HDD, but on subsequent boot-ups it said "none". Also, the original HDD was a SATA, so I am assuming that Dell sent me the same thing. I tried the F6 key but it did not help. It still said no HDD. By the way, the new one is a SATA drive as well.

sst1226

dai · 12-01-2006, 02:30 PM

until it is seen in the bios it will not be seen anywhere
you will have to pull it out and check they have sent a sata and if it is sata or a sata 2 drive
if you still have the old one see what that is

**TheMatt** · 12-01-2006, 09:01 PM

All laptop SATA hard drives are SATA150 drives. If you have a restore disk, you should be using that instead of a retail XP disk. If you don't have a restore disk, you can use the restore partition. To access its function, press CTRL + F11 (I think that was the key combination, I will have to double check), and you will be brought to the symantec restore utility. You can restore the laptop to the factory state. It will format and partition the drive, and from there, you can use XP.

sst1226 · 12-02-2006, 01:38 AM

I no longer have the old one. I had to send it back so as not to get billed for it.

**laboye** · 12-02-2006, 01:19 PM

Are you performing the F6 command properly? You'll have to get the SATA drivers from Dell's site and put them on a floppy (which isn't a viable option for a laptop). Did this computer not come with recovery media? If not, give Dell a call and request one. Without a floppy and SATA drivers or recovery media, this will be much harder to fix.

-Eddie

11-30-2006, 01:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
sst1226 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pa Posts: 60 OS: windows xp	dell laptop hard drive Hi! I recently changed hard drives in my dell laptop. The reason I did this is because it would just freeze up and then when I rebooted it said I have no bootable device. I am referring to the HDD. I have since put in another hard drive and the same thing is happening. I talked to Dell tech. which instructed me to replace HDD (which they sent me). It is under warranty. I have the HDD in and screwed down. The CD boots up and load windows to a point. Then it says no HDD, press f3 to quit setup. Any ideas about this. Sst1226

11-30-2006, 03:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,784 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	if it is a sata drive are you loading a driver with f6 __________________

12-01-2006, 12:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,784 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	look at the label on the drive or see what it lists it as in the bios __________________

12-01-2006, 12:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
sst1226 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pa Posts: 60 OS: windows xp	it doesn't list it in the bios. It says I have no HDD. I just dont understand it. I am begining to think it it something internal and not the HDD, because on 1 boot-up it showed the HDD, but on subsequent boot-ups it said "none". Also, the original HDD was a SATA, so I am assuming that Dell sent me the same thing. I tried the F6 key but it did not help. It still said no HDD. By the way, the new one is a SATA drive as well. sst1226 Last edited by sst1226; 12-01-2006 at 12:47 PM.

12-01-2006, 02:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,784 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	until it is seen in the bios it will not be seen anywhere you will have to pull it out and check they have sent a sata and if it is sata or a sata 2 drive if you still have the old one see what that is __________________

11-30-2006, 06:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
sst1226 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pa Posts: 60 OS: windows xp	I don't know if it is or not. How do you tell if it is? This is in a laptop.

12-01-2006, 09:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	All laptop SATA hard drives are SATA150 drives. If you have a restore disk, you should be using that instead of a retail XP disk. If you don't have a restore disk, you can use the restore partition. To access its function, press CTRL + F11 (I think that was the key combination, I will have to double check), and you will be brought to the symantec restore utility. You can restore the laptop to the factory state. It will format and partition the drive, and from there, you can use XP. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

12-02-2006, 01:38 AM	#8 (permalink)
sst1226 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pa Posts: 60 OS: windows xp	I no longer have the old one. I had to send it back so as not to get billed for it.

12-02-2006, 01:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
laboye TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 1,246 OS: Windows xp Pro/Vista Beta 2/Ubuntu 6.06 LTS My System	Are you performing the F6 command properly? You'll have to get the SATA drivers from Dell's site and put them on a floppy (which isn't a viable option for a laptop). Did this computer not come with recovery media? If not, give Dell a call and request one. Without a floppy and SATA drivers or recovery media, this will be much harder to fix. -Eddie __________________ Repair Windows XP Guide --- Resolutions Crazy Computer that I'm saving up for::Antec P180 Case;PC Pwr&Cooling 1kW Quad SLI PSU;Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe;Intel Core2 XE X6800;Corsair TWIN2XP2048 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM;2xAsus GeForce 7950 GX2;BFG PhysX Accel.;IBM DVD-RAM/Plextor DVD±RW;Seagate 750GB HD 7200RPM;WDX 150GB 10000RPM;Vigor Monsoon TEC Cooler