Dead Dell, any ideas?

[hafaphoto]

Howdy! My friend has a Dell Dimension 8200 that will not boot. It Posts, I can get into the BIOS, then it goes to the Dell screen, then gives a screen about a partition errot(I should have written it down), then it goes to the F1 to retry, f2 for setup. The farthest I have gotten, is to the safe mode, safe mode with command line... screen. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! (if I fix it, I get free beer!)

It is a Dell 1.7gig intel, with 1g rdram, 60 g Deskstar HDD. He has a lot of files on the drive he wants to keep, so I can't just format and start over. Oh yeah, it is running, well was running XP Pro.

Thanks!

E

[undergroundtech]

He has a lot of files on the drive he wants to keep, so I can't just format and start over.

Try moving or copying the files from the command line, if that don't work...I know of only 2 options.

[1] Buy some data recovery software (its expensive).

[2] reformat and start over.

Its a lot easier backing-up your data BEFORE problems start.

[Alfonse]

Plug the hard drive into another computer, but not as the boot drive, then see if you can grab anything off it.
If you still can't get anything off it, then I'm sure you could download some sort of recovery program somewhere.

[hafaphoto]

I put a formated 30 gig drive in this Dell computer, but cannot get the OS to load! I have tried with a XP boot disk, and a win98 boot disk. I know I am missing something simple!

I am using a spare 30g drive, to get this computer running, then my friend can try to salvage data, whatever, and I will get my spare drive back later. I have his xp disk, but i am missing something simple. If anyone can help, please do.

E

[undergroundtech]

Have you checked to see if the jumper on the HDD is set correctly and is it being detected in the bios.

Also, does the formatted HDD already have XP loaded on it when trying install it in the Dell?
XP will not work with just swapping out a HDD from another PC, it must be formated with a clean install from the PC its going in.

[hafaphoto]

Hey Underground, the disk is blank, I can put in mine as a slave, and access it. The Dell does not recognize that there is a drive hooked up to it. I have tried the CS, Master, and no jumper options, still no luck.

I still think I am missing something simple! I have a drive with nothing on it, so I want to format it, and get Win XP on it. This computer does not see the drive, so I can't format, and do a clean install.

I know this is a simple problem that I am not seeing! I just want to save my friend the $75 to $200 the local shop charges!

Thanks for your time and all the replies!

E

[Roadracer_4ever]

Try using the drive mfgr's tool to format the drive from DOS. If you can open the case, and find the manufacturer's name, go to it's website, and d/l the tool, put it on a floppy and boot from it. It will include diagnostics as well, and may be the easiest way to fix your problem.

[hafaphoto]

After thinking about it, I had this problem when I built my PC. I do not know how to put a new drive into a computer and install XP on it. All of my computer parts came in a week before my new hard drive, so I just got it running using win 98. If I am remembering correctly, I had to put win 98 on my new drive, then upgrade to XP. I gave away my win 98 cd, so I can not that now. So here is what I have: a formated drive, a XP pro disk, and a dead computer. Oh yeah, and one idiot trying to fix it! Any ideas?

thanks
E

[undergroundtech]

You can try Roadracers suggestion if your more comfortable with a configuration utility, but personally in cases of the bios not auto detecting the HDD. I've gone to the mfgr's website to get the full specs on the drive and configure the HDD in the bios manually.
The end result of both methods should be the same.

Only once have I had an issues of XP not installing, when win 98 would install.
I've actually had an XP installation disk deteriorate (glue separated between layers of film on the CD itself) causing most of the data on the disk to be unreadable and had to have the disk replaced.
If any part of the CD looks hazy or milky, try borrowing an XP installation disk from a friend and see if that helps.

[hafaphoto]

I talked to my friend today, and told him I was trying to get his computer running on my disk, then he could buy a new HD, transfer the files he wants to keep. Turns out, he is one lazy so#! Even if I got the computer running, he is going to take it to a computer store, spend probably $100 on a new hard drive, and have them transfer the data, if possible.

I thought the guy wanted to save some cash, sorry to have wasted your time. I did learn a little though, and for that I thank you! I currently have his hard drive duct tapped to my speaker magnet. Just joking, I put it back in his computer and will drop it off at his house and let him take care of the problem.

Have a great one! And again, thanks for the replies.

E

I guess the real joke is on him, I looked at his video card, and it is a GForce2!!!