Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

New Hard Drive but need major help in setup please


  • Please log in to reply

#1
rickyp20

rickyp20

    New Member

  • Member
  • Pip
  • 4 posts
Can Someone Please Help Me With My Laptop.

I bought a new hardrive because the my old one broke on my Dell Inspiron 3700 laptop, but when I placed the set up disk in the cd-rom drive and started up the laptop I keep getting brought to the black screen with the following error message:

Primary hard disk drive 0 not found
No bootable device(s) selected
  strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility


I have hit F1 several times and figitted around with the BIOS, but I can get anything to work.

Is there anyone that might be able to give me some advice towards a solution. Thank you for your time.


Ricky

Edited by rickyp20, 20 July 2005 - 10:54 PM.

  • 0

Advertisements


#2
samiko

samiko

    Retired Staff

  • Retired Staff
  • 424 posts
well your new hard drive doesn't have an OS installed on it, you need to insert the XP cd or a bootable media into your CD-ROM to boot form and install a new copy of your OS. It should be able to boot frm an XP CD.
  • 0

#3
rickyp20

rickyp20

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 4 posts
Thanks for the advice Samico,

I have tried to insert an xp cd and boot up from there but the laptop does not read the xp cd. I have set up the bios to run the cd rom first and still nothing. Also i tried using setup diskettes but the Bios states that there diskette drive is none however i have the drive connected to the laptop. Any advice samico???
  • 0

#4
Tyger

Tyger

    Member 2k

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,896 posts
Do your boot flopppies have cd-rom drivers? Older systems may not have cd-rom drivers in BIOS so they may need to be loaded on to a diskette and loaded into memory.

You can go to www.allbootdisks.com and get boot disks that have cd-rom drivers. Note the drive letter is R:, something which threw me the first time I used one.
  • 0

#5
Murray S.

Murray S.

    Trusted Tech

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,513 posts
  • MVP
Howdy:

The first "setup disk" you said you used.. was it the Dell Recovery cd or something else??

Are you sure the boot setup in BIOS is set to boot from the cd-rom first??

When you installed the hdd, are you sure you hooked the cables up correctly??

If you are NOT using the Dell Recovery cd, is the XP cd you are trying to use an original or a copy you or someone else made (different setup and install procedure) ??

Murray
  • 0

#6
rickyp20

rickyp20

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 4 posts
To answer the first question from Tyger the boot floppies i have are from microsoft, but i am not sure if they have cd-rom drivers. I put the first diskette in but the laptop does not read it. What do you mean that i have to note that the drive letter is R:? I should point out that the Bios states next to diskette drive that there is none, I have do not know how to change that even though there is one connected and you cannot scroll over it in the Bios to change it. ;)

To answer the second question from Murray S., when i set up the Bios i have set it up to run from the cd-rom first and i have also set it to run from the diskette drive as well. I have done every combination in the set up and still no response, i continue to get the same error message. ;)

Also to answer Murray S., no i am not using a Dell Recovery cd, i do not have one. I am using an XP cd, but it is not the original one. However I have used the XP cd before and it worked successfully on a desktop.

Any suggestions from all would be greatly appreciated at this point. Thank you to all who have shared the knowledge to get my laptop working.

Ricky :tazz:
  • 0

#7
Murray S.

Murray S.

    Trusted Tech

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,513 posts
  • MVP

Also to answer Murray S., no i am not using a Dell Recovery cd, i do not have one.  I am using an  XP cd, but it is not the original one.  However I have used the XP cd before and it worked successfully on a desktop.

Any suggestions from all would be greatly appreciated at this point.  Thank you to all who have shared the knowledge to get my laptop working. 

Ricky :tazz:

View Post


Is it a burnt cd then?? Where is the original??

Murray
  • 0

#8
rickyp20

rickyp20

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 4 posts
hey guys,


To answer Murray S's question it is a burnt copy that i got from a friend but i have used it before on my desktop and it worked...

Update:

I decided to check the hard drive connections again and repeated placing the cd in and seeing if the same problem reoccurs or if I get to set up windows. Well upon reestablishing that everything was connected properly, i turned back on the laptop and placed the cd in the cd rom drive and waited for something to happen.

This time the error message read "Primary hard disk drive 0 not found," however that was the only message that appeared and then it proceeded to the windows setup blue screen.

Here i wait a few minutes for the cd to be uploaded and then a screen comes up asking me to click enter to set up windows. However when i click enter i recieve a message stating that setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in the computer. Then it asks me to press F3 to quit setup.

I feel like I'm getting somewhere but i hit another wall everytime something right happens. Anyone have any ideas as to how to get the laptop to detect that the hard drive is connected. I connected a jump drive to the usb and tried windows setup again and the laptop prompted to whether i wanted to partition the jump drive because it thought that was the only memory storage device connected. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Ricky :tazz:
  • 0

#9
Murray S.

Murray S.

    Trusted Tech

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 4,513 posts
  • MVP

hey guys,
To answer Murray S's question it is a burnt copy that i got from a friend but i have used it before on my desktop and it worked...

Ricky :tazz:

View Post


Sorry, but you are using a pirated version of XP and because of that your support at this site end's now !!!

Get a legitimate license from Microsoft or purchase your own legitimate XP cd and we can start up again..

Until then, you are on your own!!

Murray
  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP