landoralpha

Sorry if this post becomes lengthy.I am not sure if this is the right forum.If not please move it where it should be.I have had my Dell Inspiron 8200 for a few years now and have ran into problems now and again but now I am really stumped.This all started a while ago.First I started getting the error message "Fixed Optical Drive Not Found" after that the computer would go on the Window Vista loading screen and everything would be alright from there on.Even the CD drive would still work and read CDs(even though for a while I would constantly have to open and close the drive for the cd to be read.)Eventually it went to the point that I would have to completely take the CD drive out in order to boot.

Later on I end up ruinied my AC adapter due to mistreatment and I got a replacement adapter.I had put my computer on sleep for nearly two weeks so my work would be saved until I received the adapter.I finally got the adapter and powered the laptop up w/out the CD drive.Everything was fine until I put the CD Drive back in while logged into Vista.The computer froze and then a blue screen appeared and said it was performing a physical memory dump.After that the laptop restarted and I have never been able to boot completely into vista ever since.

With the CD drive out (and for some reason I have to disable the HDD in the boot sequence for this) I am able to start the process of booting into Windows,but I stay on the loading screen and never advance further.With the CD drive in I only get

Primary hard disk drive not found
Fixed optical drive not found
No bootable devices detected--Press F1 to retry boot--Press F2 to enter system setup


I don't know what else to do.Please HELP!!!

landoralpha

Also The HDD has been tested and is good.

I cannot boot from the CD Drive and it is not recognized with or without the HDD in the system in the bios.

The HDD is not recognized in the bios when the cd drive is present,but is when the cd drive isn't.

wiseleo

CD drive failed, IDE controller failed, cable failed.

Test each one, starting with the cable. :)

Wait, there is no cable! What's dead is either the CD or the controller, probably the CD. Get an external CD-Rom or get a replacement Dell part. They are not that expensive on eBay and they are a user-replaceable module.

What's likely happening is the CD drive has a short circuit.

landoralpha

thanks for the advice but I am still not sure if the CD drive(or anything to do with the CD drive) is the problem.Also I cannot boot from the floppy disk drive.

wiseleo

The system works without CD-Rom.
The system fails with CD-Rom.

Floppy is irrelevant. You can't boot a modern operating system from it anyway. Your old boot floppy simply might not like that particular floppy drive. The only purpose remaining for a floppy is to load SATA or SCSI drivers on pre-Vista and pre-Windows 2008 systems. For that, I carry a USB floppy drive.

Hence, get rid of the CD-Rom. Either replace it with a working part or substitute an external unit.

landoralpha

I have and external DVD drive to use but that does not help during the bot process.I am not able to acess the Vista DVD I have through it.I am running out of options.Any other suggestions wiseleo?Also Without the cd drive the system freezes on the windows vista loading screen.

wiseleo

Hmm... Let's try a complete system powerdown.

Take out the battery, take out the AC adapter. Remove the CD. Disconnect all USB peripherials.

Connect the AC adapter only.

Turn on the system
Press F8 several times until you get to Vista boot options screen
Choose safe mode

Let's see if that completes.

landoralpha

no go.took everything out,but the hdd and it freezes on the file load screen for safe mode.anything else?

TriggerFinger

Hi,

Apparently it seems you have a problem with your hard drive or your Windows Vista. As per the thread, you have tested your hard drive and it tested good. So most probably you have a problem with your Vista.

As per the thread your other problem is that your laptop CD/DVD drive is not working. You can see this during POST if BIOS recognizes your drive. If not then may be you have a defective CD/DVD drive.

Additionally it seems to me your laptop cannot boot from a USB connected optical drive. This is true for some laptops regardless if it is a USB connected FDD, CD/DVD or USB flash drive.

Here's my two cents...

If you have an external USB connected DVD/CD drive, may be you can pullout your laptop's CD/DVD drive and swap it with your external DVD drive. If you can put your laptop CD/DVD drive into the USB enclosure, you can test it on another computer. Additionally you can also try the CD/DVD drive from the external enclosure and use it on your laptop. Either way you will know definitely which one is working and which one is not.

Run Memtest86+ to test your RAM modules. Test the modules individually, removing one while you test the other. Run for like 2 passes on each module. This could help rule out a defective RAM.

__________________

DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Everest


Mark the THREAD as SOLVED

landoralpha

Thanks for your help guys.I bought a usb 2.0 to ide adapter and installed Ubuntu on the HDD.Now I am am planning on reinstalling Vista on it again.Everything should work out now.Again thanks for your help.