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| Thread ID: 85404 | 2007-12-09 08:22:00 | Computer Dying | GorCh (13021) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 619451 | 2007-12-09 08:22:00 | Hi all, I have a Dell Inspiron 8600, 3 years old, running XP Pro. It is set up permanently at home, and I generally leave it running continuously- until recently. Over the last three weeks I will occasionally come to sit down to the computer and find the computer had died/ rebooted, and the following message displayed; Primary hard disc drive 0 not found NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart The first few times I could power off for half an hour, then it will start fine. It has been happening more frequently, and yesterday it happened again and now it won't start at all. Sometimes it will get to the windows loading screen and then scroll for about 5 minutes, then reboot and go to the above message again. Not really sure where to go from here. Is there much I can do? Or should I start looking into new computers? All help is much appreciated. Cheers in advance, Chris. PS; a kubuntu live cd will start but will hang in a similar way to the xp load, and makes a weird clicking noise. |
GorCh (13021) | ||
| 619452 | 2007-12-09 08:26:00 | Sounds like the hard Drive is either starting to fail - or the Motherboard connections are failing- Back up any data NOW - if the drive fails you may lose the lot. You may consider seriously replacing the drive ASAP. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 619453 | 2007-12-09 09:00:00 | Just to add to my reply above - since the PC won't load windows,(I didn't read that correctly the first time - sorry) it sounds like the drive may have now failed at the start of the drive. If you are lucky, by replacing the Drive and reloading windows then attach your old drive as a second, you may be able to copy some data across or install the failing drive onto another PC as a second and recover it that way. Either way it looks like the drive has died. If it was only "NTLDR is missing" thats a common software fault, but the "Primary hard disc drive 0 not found" means detection, Put the two together = Failed drive usually. The NTLDR is part of the first boot procedure in the beginning of the drive. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 619454 | 2007-12-09 09:12:00 | Do you have more than 1 hard disk drive in your pc? | EviLClouD (12981) | ||
| 619455 | 2007-12-09 10:08:00 | better be considerate of rescuing your critical data from yr HD ASAP! or you can try re-install your XP n see if the same issue occurs again. |
lovemedo (13082) | ||
| 619456 | 2007-12-09 17:10:00 | The battery on the motherboard may need replacing. If the BIOS does not detect the hard drive then Windows will not either. |
Sweep (90) | ||
| 619457 | 2007-12-09 18:33:00 | The battery on the motherboard may need replacing. If the BIOS does not detect the hard drive then Windows will not either. The battery wont give the message - NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 619458 | 2007-12-09 19:11:00 | Thanks for all your help all. I managed to get it to boot in safe mode, and am currently doing all the backing up. Is this ability to boot mean anything, or just chance as before? What is highest priority to backup? | GorCh (13021) | ||
| 619459 | 2007-12-09 19:36:00 | It could be luck it booted in safe mode, then again it could be something else. If you get the cant boot NTLDR missing, you can use this here, FixNTLDR (tinyempire.com)its an ISO image in a Zip File, burn it to a CD using an image burner ( one in my Sig Imgburn) and it will try to boot the PC. What could be happening is the sectors on the drive may be failing, and thats why its not correctly locating the drive / boot sectors - Other reasons could be a faulty board in the HD, not allowing detection, or power related problems - Eg; PSU failing, Mother Board failing, IDE cable failing - many different things can cause these errors. What is highest priority to backup? Anything you cant afford to lose. Items like family photos, documents, emails, address book, Bookmarks - anything - only you can decide whats important and in what order. From your first post PS; a kubuntu live cd will start but will hang in a similar way to the xp load, and makes a weird clicking noise. That could be either a power related problem as the drive not getting enough power, or a failing Hard Drive. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 619460 | 2007-12-09 20:40:00 | Thanks wainuitech Weird. I have done the backups to my external hard drive. My Docs etc. Then rebooted and it worked fine.. for now I guess. I was looking to buy a new computer earlier in the year, and may have to look again now. Given the uncertainty in what precisely is wrong, I am reluctant to spend the time and money getting it 'repaired' just top find something else was the problem. What sort of cost would you estimate for the various things that are wrong. How would you balance these against getting a new computer altogether? |
GorCh (13021) | ||
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