Can't find HD on Dell

[BornStar]

My dad's hard drive crashed a few days back. No problem, replace it with a new one and then try to recover the data off of the old one. After installing Windows XP on his new HD and trying to access the old HD a couple of times, the computer refuses to recognize any HDs on POST. I've tried switching the IDE cable for another on and I tried switching the optical drives to the primary channel and the HD to the secondary channel which produced a strange result. Instead of not being able to detect the optical drives any more as I expected, it still can't detect the HD but the optical drives work fine. I've tried everything I can think of on this thing. I've checked the jumpers on the HD, I've made sure that the HD works in another computer. I'm getting nowhere on this so now we've got a dead HD and a motherboard that seems to be worthless. Can anybody give me any help with this?

A few pieces of information about the computer. It's a Dell 8250 with a 2.4GHz P4, Intel 850 mobo, 512MB RDRAM. The HD that died was a DiamondMax Plus 8 30GB and the second HD that we're having problems with is a WD 160GB. Any help would be appreciated.

TIA.

 

[JeffBlair]

You can do 2 things. You should be able to go into system setup and hit ALT+E and ALT+F. That will reset the NVRAM and the BIOS. You will have to reset your date/time. But, it should re-detect the hardware. If that dosn't do it, you can run the 90/90 test on the PC. Hit CTRL+ALT+D on the Dell boot screen.

 

[mechBgon]

I'm not able to wade through all that and tell exactly how you did what when, but here's a handy piece of info for you:

Current Western Digital PATA drives can be jumpered as Master, Slave, Cable Select or Single Drive. If the drive is all by itself on its ATA cable, then use Single Drive, which is when you have no jumper cap on the pins at all.

If the drive is on a cable that it shares with the Dell's drive, and the Dell's drive is jumpered for Cable Select, then jumper the Western Digital for Cable Select also.

Good luck and if you have any problems recovering files that were in the old drive's \Documents and Settings\Dad's username directory, you will want to take Ownership of them. On WinXP Home Edition, I believe you'll have to start your new installation in Safe Mode, right-click the whole directory, choose Properties, and go to the Security tab and do what I'm showing in this image. Put a checkmark in the box for Replace owner on subcontainers and objects and then give Ownership to an account on the new WinXP installation and hit OK.

On WinXP Pro, you'll have to open any My Computer or Windows Explorer window, and go to Tools > Folder Options and disable Simple File Sharing by unchecking the checkbox. If you don't, you can't get at the Security and Ownership stuff except perhaps in Safe Mode.

And one more thing... a fresh WindowsXP installation will be vulnerable to worm attack. Can I suggest you skim this page and make sure you take preventive measures, the main one being a hardware or software firewall in place before allowing a live connection to the modem. Installing Service Pack 2 before connecting is a good move if you can download it in advance... there's a link to the full installer there.

 

[BornStar]

The hard drive is in bad shape, to start out with. I hope to have another drive to steal the controller of in the next few days. The drive spins up fine, I just can't get any data off the darn thing. All of the jumpers were correct, when I had both drives in, the WD was jumpered for master and I switched the bad Maxtor to slave. When the WD was in by itself, I checked and double checked that it was jumpered for master.

I've had several drives (IBM :|) decide to quit booting but I've always been able to access them if I put them in as slave. Also, I didn't bother with any NTFS permissions on his computer. It just wasn't worth the hassle and the computer was just used by the family.

Last but certainly not least, I've got a hardware firewall between the computer and the internet. The first thing I do after dealing with drivers is update to SP2.

Thanks for your help.

 

[mechBgon]

When the WD was in by itself, I checked and double checked that it was jumpered for master.

Use Single Drive when it's by itself on its own cable, not Master.

 

[BornStar]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

When the WD was in by itself, I checked and double checked that it was jumpered for master.

Use Single Drive when it's by itself on its own cable, not Master.

Yeah, that's what I meant. It's late...

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, I am getting too focused on that weird WD trait... *reads the info again*

So the motherboard worked with the new hard drive for a few days and then decided heck with that, no more hard drives recognized at POST. If you go into the BIOS can you tickle it into re-recognizing the new one by having it auto-detect it? Makes me wonder if either

1) the power supply is doing some sags and surges (any weird fan-speed variations audible?) and toasting hard drives, or

2) the motherboard is simply getting old and flaky and is due for a replacement.



You could test #1 by throwing in some old unwanted-but-working 4GB drive as a test case. If it is recognized at first, then perhaps the power supply is getting flaky, in which case you could think about getting a new Dell-compatible one from PC Power & Cooling, who makes Dell-compatible ones and has a selector to help determine which ones need it (the 8250 does).

Or, if you suspect the motherboard, you could grab a nice Antec SLK3700AMB and an Asus P4P800-VM and some DDR and cook up a new foundation for their system. It sounds like you know what you need to know about that option already.

Hope I was some help

 

[BornStar]

At this point, all the tickling in the world won't let me detect any hard drives. I'm going with the motherboard being old and flaky. I'm going to give my dad a call tomorrow (I'm back at school over 300 miles away) to walk him through what JeffBlair recommended. I was hoping there was going to be some way to fix this problem without having to buy any new parts but if that doesn't work, it looks like where we'll stand. I found a case, PSU and motherboard on ebay for $110 shipped. That should take care of all of the suspected components. Luckily he was tired of that system anyway and I've whittled away at his trust in Dell enough that this was the straw that broke the camel's back so I'm ordering a A64 3500+ and all of the trimmings for him. I'd still rather not buy that other Dell stuff if I don't have to, though.

 

[mechBgon]

so I'm ordering a A64 3500+ and all of the trimmings for him.

Nice!

 

[helpmeout]

MechBgon, I don't remember if I posted this to you before, but I built a new system about 6 weeks ago. I had checked out your build help site prior to ordering my components. After seeing the SLK3700AMB photos and reading your comments about that case, I decided to go with it. Glad I did- a great case, thanks for your site.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: helpmeout
MechBgon, I don't remember if I posted this to you before, but I built a new system about 6 weeks ago. I had checked out your build help site prior to ordering my components. After seeing the SLK3700AMB photos and reading your comments about that case, I decided to go with it. Glad I did- a great case, thanks for your site.

That's good to hear, I put a lot of effort into that silly guide of mine