Computer Novice Please Help!!!!!!!

Larayne · 05-14-2007, 11:25 AM

My sons laptop which i bought as a re-con off ebay has suddenly packed up. All i get when i boot up is the message 'Primary Hard Drive Failure' I was advised that the H/D had probably died, so i purchased another one. When i boot the new one up the msg says 'No boot sector on hard drive' what does this mean??? Can it be rectified?? Explain in simple terms please. Hope someone can help!!!

**TheMatt** · 05-14-2007, 01:15 PM

Hi, and welcome to TSF!

There is nothing wrong with the new hard disk, you simply need to install an operating system like Windows XP on it. This is what allows you to run programs such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word.

Do you have a retail Windows XP/2000 CD? If so, you can use that. If not, you can get a copy for pretty inexpensive. Or, you can install a free Linux distribution on the laptop, which may take a bit to get used to, but it will be just as functional. You can even have both on there at the same time.

You can get a cheap copy of XP here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056

You should take this short test to see what linux distribution is right for you. Different distributions have different cores, but what you actually interact with is called the desktop environment. You should probably go with a desktop environment called GNOME. It is very simple to use.
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php

05-14-2007, 11:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
Larayne Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 8 OS: Win xp	Computer Novice Please Help!!!!!!! My sons laptop which i bought as a re-con off ebay has suddenly packed up. All i get when i boot up is the message 'Primary Hard Drive Failure' I was advised that the H/D had probably died, so i purchased another one. When i boot the new one up the msg says 'No boot sector on hard drive' what does this mean??? Can it be rectified?? Explain in simple terms please. Hope someone can help!!!

05-14-2007, 01:15 PM	#2 (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	Re: Computer Novice Please Help!!!!!!! Hi, and welcome to TSF! There is nothing wrong with the new hard disk, you simply need to install an operating system like Windows XP on it. This is what allows you to run programs such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word. Do you have a retail Windows XP/2000 CD? If so, you can use that. If not, you can get a copy for pretty inexpensive. Or, you can install a free Linux distribution on the laptop, which may take a bit to get used to, but it will be just as functional. You can even have both on there at the same time. You can get a cheap copy of XP here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056 You should take this short test to see what linux distribution is right for you. Different distributions have different cores, but what you actually interact with is called the desktop environment. You should probably go with a desktop environment called GNOME. It is very simple to use. http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php __________________ - 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