boot to cd not an option in cmos

[janee]

hello everyone. brief background is i have a P4 1.6 w/ 256 ram. was running good until i received a virus. i pulled out the hard drive and gave it to a friend of a friend who cleaned it for me and gave it back. It still has my data on it apparently. When i jack the harddrive in it encounters a boot errror. I attempted to mix the jumper pins, but no luck. I tried changing the cmos settings to boot to cd, so I could boot to my winxp cd, but that isn't an option. I dont know if I have to reinstall the os again or what. I am considering buying a new drive to start from scratch and hopefully be able to use this drive as a secondary data drive. Any suggestions would be great.

Is there something I can do or should i attempt to beat on this pc savagely?

Since my computer is pooched, I am using a friends to post this msg. So I wont be able to reply for a while, but I will.

Thanks in advance.
Janee

 

[spherrod]

You should be able to choose CD as a boot device - what options are there in the BIOS Setup for Boot devices?

 

[janee]

i have changed my boot device settings before, but this time cd does not come up as an option. I believe it just had the IDE (removable). I wish i had the computer beside me so I could walk through everything. I may have to borrow a computer and set it up at my house to be sure that what i say is 100% accurate.

 

[spherrod]

have you tried updating the BIOS? Otherwise, post a list of bootable devices...

 

[mechBgon]

What info can you give us about the computer? Is it a pre-built computer from ______ (Gateway/eMachines/Dell/etc) or is it a "built" computer? If it's a custom-built one, do you know the brand & model of the motherboard, or can you open up the case and get that info for us.

 

[janee]

i dont know anything about doing that. but willing to try.

 

[janee]

It's a Dell dimension 4400. As far as the particulars, im quite ignorant im afraid.

 

[janee]

FYI - No further warranty from Dell.

 

[mechBgon]

Set the drive's jumper to the Cable Select position and see if that's what it was wanting.

 

[janee]

I did try that. It didn't do anything though.

 

[mechBgon]

After setting it to Cable Select, go into the Dell's BIOS and try to get it to auto-detect the drive again. I don't have any Dementias around here to give you more specific advice, but unless the drive is dead or not getting power, it should be detectable. You did plug in its power cable again, right?

Welcome to the Forums, by the way.

 

[spherrod]

4400 should definitely support booting from CD - do you get the option to press F12 at the bootup screen? If so, this should display a boot menu and allow you to choose booting from the CD-ROM drive

 

[janee]

im really sorry, but my ride is leaving so i have to run. when i get home i will set up my computer next to a working one with an internet connection to makes things easier. I should be able to check back in an hour or two.
Thanks so much.

 

[janee]

im at home now and set up. the power cable is plugged in upon boot up it says boot failure: system halted.

When i hit F12 at startup it displays: Please select boot device. the only device available is Removable Dev.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: janee
im at home now and set up. the power cable is plugged in upon boot up it says boot failure: system halted.

When i hit F12 at startup it displays: Please select boot device. the only device available is Removable Dev.

Go into the BIOS itself and see if you can get it to re-detect the hard drive.

 

[janee]

i would like to make sure im doing this right. so i'll tell you exactly what im doing.
im in the bios. under the advanced tab i've highlighted the IDE Configuration and it lists:

IDE Controller (Both)
PCI IDE Bus Master (Enabled)

- Primary IDE Master (Not Installed)
- Primary IDE Slave (Not Installed)
- Secondary IDE Master (Not Installed)
- Secondary IDE Slave (Not Installed)

Am i in the right area? If so, what do I do at this point?

 

[janee]

help.......

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: janee
i would like to make sure im doing this right. so i'll tell you exactly what im doing.
im in the bios. under the advanced tab i've highlighted the IDE Configuration and it lists:

IDE Controller (Both)
PCI IDE Bus Master (Enabled)

- Primary IDE Master (Not Installed)
- Primary IDE Slave (Not Installed)
- Secondary IDE Master (Not Installed)
- Secondary IDE Slave (Not Installed)

Am i in the right area? If so, what do I do at this point?

Now move the focus to one of the IDE ones, such as Primary IDE Master, and use whatever keys alter the current setting (might be PageUp and PageDown or something, the screen will say somewhere). Try to find an AUTO setting. Any luck?

 

[janee]

It says:

Primary IDE Master

Drive Installed (Not Installed)
Type (Auto)


Saved settings but still boots up to the boot disk failure: system haulted

 

[mechBgon]

If you have Dell documentation that shows how, try resetting your system's CMOS. Also, when you put your ear up to the hard drive, do you hear its motor running? Should be putting out a slight hum, at least.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, reality check here: you have one of these cables and one of the larger of these cables plugged into the drive, correct?

 

[janee]

the harddrive does hum. sounds like its working. i will try to find info on resetting my cmos. thanks.

 

[janee]

yes, both cables are inserted.

 

[spherrod]

You may also want to download and install the latest BIOS from Dell