HELP my computer crashed computer skills required?

Question

before I hire a computer expert which is hard to book and very expensive. I wanted to know if anyone here could help me.

Its a dell xp software. When you turn it on it says this

Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A01

Copyright 1985-1988 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

Copyright 1990-2002 Dell Computer Corporation

All Rights Reserved

Dell System Dimension 8250 Series

www.dell.com

Primary hard disk drive 0 not found

Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run th setup utility

-

Its all on a black screen. Is there anyway for me to save documents on the computer like songs/pictures/reports

Thank you very much for helping me out

Answer 1

i am affraid there is no easy answer to this one.  You bios is initializing which is a good thing, however it isn't seeing your hard drive.  The fact that the bios reports the hard drive missing is in fact proof that the boot sequence is setup to see the drive, therefor we can be confident that the bios is correctly setup to seek the drive upon boot.

  If the info on the drive were corrupt then you would receive such a message.  You have two optiions here.  

  We are left with four options:

1. check the hard drives power cable,4 pin with white connector, make sure its pressed in tight.

2. check the data cable to ensure it hasn't come loose press it into the board and the drive tightly.

3. replace the drive data cable

4.  if none of the above works then you will need to pull the drive and replace it.

  Often times a bad drive will contain good information, so if you need to have that information recovered then your local pc shop should have a diagnostics setup which can do so.

Answer 2

your hard drive crashed..you will need a new one..

Answer 3

There is something wrong with the hard drive in your computer. Possibly problems include a mis-connection as well as the possibility of the hard drive being fried. However there are also tons of other possibilities. I know that booking a professional is hard but if you don't know how to fix it then that is what needs to be done. I also fix, build, program and do various other things with computers. I would be happy to take a look at your computer for you! I would be able to fix it and, if possible, I would be able to recover your data! Email me if you have any further questions or are interested in having me look at it at [e-mail]!

Answer 4

It does sound like the system can't find the hard drive. If your brave enough, open the case and check the connections to the hard drive. Make sure there's no loose connections. Power on the PC and see if the hard drive comes on. If not, then you will need a new hard drive.

Good luck.

Answer 5

You have lost the MBR master Boot Record of your hard drive

Download " Hirens Boot cd " burn to cd and boot from it

it has utilities on it to restore MBR

Plus a lot of other useful programs

Answer 6

***Cautionary Note: opening your computer's case WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY if you have one! If your computer is still under warranty, DO NOT open the case! Send it back to the manufacturer to be repaired!!!***

That said,

If your computer is a desktop(i think dell dimensions are), and IS NOT under warranty, try opening the case and verifying that your hard drive is connected to power (the clear or black plastic plug with 4 multicolored wires) and the data cable, which is probably a wide ribbon-like cable with a rectangular plastic connector on it. If it's not a wide grey ribbon, it's probably a narrow black ribbon-like cable.

If both of those cables are securely connected, but you still get that error, you may try connecting the drive to another computer to recover data, which may or may not be possible. You can just install the drive as an internal drive on the other computer(make sure to change the jumper setting to make the drive a secondary, or slave drive, as shown here:http://www.pcguide.com/byop/byop_Setting... or you can use a cable like this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...  to connect it via USB like an external hard drive.

If the drive won't function, power it on and listen to see if you hear the platters spinning, and feel the drive vibrate very slightly. If not, it's probably really dead. If it makes odd sounds, it's probably dead.  If you shake the drive (while it's not connected to the computer), does it rattle? A healthy one shouldn't.

If your drive does turn out to be dead, data CAN still be recovered, but it will require a professional and will probably be very expensive (several hundred dollars, if not more). It may still be worth taking the computer to your local computer repair shop to see if they can work with you to test the drive. Most places will only charge a diagnostic fee of some sort, probably less than $50, to test it for you and give you a professional diagnosis.

By the way, and I'm just curious, what happens if you strike the F1 key to continue?

Good luck!

Answer 7

It looks like your hard drive might be fried. I would try unscrewing the computer and taking the hard drive out then putting it back in. If that doesn't work, then it may still just be a little messed up but enough to make it not work right in the computer. So if that doesn't work, I would try getting/borrowing and external hard drive. Take it apart and take the connection part with the USB plug in off and put it on your hard drive. It's not very hard to figure out how it goes in and stuff once you get that part off and it goes on easily. Then try connecting it to another computer and you may be able to copy everything to the other computer or whatever. If that doesn't work either, you probably need a totally new hard drive and I don't think there is any way to save your files if that's the case.

Answer 8

d**n Gina...Thats cold..

Sounds like the hard drive has failed. Could be the controller on the mobo though.

There are many data recovery tools out there but MOST require that the hard drive be operational mechanically.. Can you boot from a CD ? I use Super WIn PE and I've goten lucky at times. Let me know..

Answer 9

get new hard drive.. thats it ! but hey, hiring someone? good way to get money! ill make it my part-time job!!

Answer 10

It sounds like your hard drive has failed.  Some independent techs are pretty good at recovering data, even from a broken disk.

You might try getting a new disk, installing it, reinstalling your xp from the dell recovery set.  Then either put your old drive in an external enclosure or hook it up internally and see if you can read anything on it.

If you're not up to doing this yourself, I recommend taking it in to be fixed rather than having someone come to you.  Much cheaper.