[darkstar225]

Alrighty, my sister came over with her 2 year old girl, and long story short, the baby nocked over the laptop and now it doesn't work.

well, i don't hear the hard drive spinning, but after the quick dell load, it beeps twice, and says "Primary hard disk drive 0 not found. No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for set up utility" and when i retry, it just repeats the same message.

it was turned off when it fell. 3 1/2 , maybe 4 feet high, on it's upper right corner. it was closed at the time, but now when i open it, it's really loose, and the screen falls down if it isn't in the perfect spot... i have a wireless internet card that sticks out the left side, and part of it popped open, but it was only the end, and it popped right back into place...

thats as discreptive as i can get.......im really frustrated because i was juss about to get everything working right, and now this....... sorry to give u guys more things to worry about, but i would greatly appreciate any help or advice u can give me.

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As far as the hard drive is concerned, it sounds like it has either been knocked loose or it is completely fried. Hopefully its only come loose.

This is fairly simple to check but to help you I need to know the make & model of you laptop please

[Samm]

As far as the hard drive is concerned, it sounds like it has either been knocked loose or it is completely fried. Hopefully its only come loose.

This is fairly simple to check but to help you I need to know the make & model of you laptop please

[darkstar225]

it's a Dell Latitude CPx, with XP Pro ...... i hope it's not fried, i had a lot of memories saved on it... *sigh* and thank u for helping me

Edited by darkstar225, 21 March 2006 - 01:10 PM.

[Samm]

OK, to remove the hard drive, please follow these instructions exactly :

1. Disconnect power & remove battery (and secondary battery if there is one)

2. When you look at the laptop, the drive is located on the left side, about halfway along. If you look you should see a panel with a screw in it on the left edge of the laptop.

3. Fold the screen shut & flip the laptop over so its upside down. Remove the retaining screw that I mentioned. The drive bay should now slide up & pull out.

You will notice that the drive itself is mounted in this removable casing. Check the connections between the drive & the casing & also between the casing & the laptop when reinserted. Make sure no contacts are bent or damaged. Please be careful as they are fragile!

Reinstall the drive using the reverse procedure & see if that makes any difference

[darkstar225]

well, when i pulled it out, a screw came out with it, it's from the mounting to the removable casing. pluss the drive wan't plugged in, so i unscrewed the 2nd screw, removed the drive, and cleaned out some lint and gunk. then i plugged it back in, screwed the drive back in, re-inserted it, and turned it on. and, guess wat..... IT WORKS!!!!! thank u very much!!!!!

[Samm]

You're very welcome. I'm glad that's all it was & the drive was toast after all

[darkstar225]

me 2! oh, 1 more small thing, the screen is really loose, and it falls if it isn't in the right spot, any ideas?

Edited by darkstar225, 21 March 2006 - 07:21 PM.

[Samm]

me 2! oh, 1 more small thing, the screen is really loose, and it falls if it isn't in the right spot, any ideas?

Yeah, somethings busted!

Seriously though, something is either loose or busted. If you're lucky, it will just be a spring thats come loose. If you're unlucky, then probably a bit of plastic has snapped off inside one or more of the hinges.

This is much more of a risky procedure than the hard drive was, so decide how badly you want it fixed! If you do decide to go ahead, then I believe the instructions below are correct for your laptop....

Disconnect power & batteries
Close screen & flip laptop upside down & remove all the screws marked with the letter 'K'. (7 in total)
Flip laptop backup the right way & open the screen
In the lower right hand corner of the keyboard, you should see a blank key (i.e square space for a key but with no actual key present).
Insert the tip of a flat bladed screwdriver under the edge of this key & carefully prise the keyboard out from under the palm rest.

The keyboard will still be connected by cables so you must flip the keyboard over so its upside down. (Flip it to the left).

Next you need to disconnect the keyboard cabling from the system board. These cables & their connectors are often extremely fragile so please be careful. Remove the keyboard completely.

Close the screen & turn the laptop round so you are facing the back of it.

Remove the 3 screws on the back edge marked 'D'.
Open the screen back up & disconnect the cable that connects the screen to the system board. Next you can lift the screen out.

From there it should be easier to get access to the hinges etc & work out what the problem is.


Please be warned - IF YOU DAMAGE ANY OF THE CABLING OR THEIR CONNECTORS (NOT TO MENTION THE COMPONENTS THEMSELVES) YOU ARE SCREWED!! I would only recommend you attempt this if you are reasonably competent at disassembling laptops. Do not blame me if it never works again afterwards!

[darkstar225]

oooooooo...... then i don't know if i want to risk it....... it sounds scary....

[Samm]

It is a bit risky, especially of you have no experience in taking laptops apart. Unlike desktop systems, everything is much more tightly packed together & the cables & connectors are often much more fragile. And you always end up with either too many screws left over, or not enough. Or worse still, one loose screw inside the laptop which you only notice after reassembling the entire thing!

Although the procedure is potentially risky, it's not difficult for someone who's familiar with that model of laptop. Therefore, if you can a local reliable tech or repair shop, it would be worth getting them to look at it for you.