[Hidden-tech] hard drive issue

[David Wolff]

If you can not get into the bios it seems the failure occurs before the
hard drive is even accessed.  Do you hear any beeping when you boot?  The
number of beeps may indicate that the hardware is failing the Power On Self
Test (POST)  You can research the Dell web site for support or use a search
engine.  I would not mess with the hard drive until the problem is defined.

Before you start tearing your computer apart you might try to repair the
master boot record (MRB).  You can do this by booting to the installation
CD and going to the repair option.  open the command prompt and use the
command  Fdisk /fixmrb.



On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 10:35 PM, Jan Werner <jwerner at jwdp.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> Your chances of recovery depend entirely on the reason for the failure,
> and there can be any number of reasons, ranging from a bad Master Boot
> Record to physical destruction of the disk surface.  It can even be
> something other than the drive itself, such as a bad cable or connector.
>
> If the drive is actually working but just not bootable, your chances are
> pretty good.  There are plenty of docks and adapters to connect a drive
> to a PC through a USB port – what you need depends on the drive (IDE or
> SATA, 3.5” or 2.5”), but the first thing I would try is booting from a
> recovery CD or USB drive and seeing if the drive is recognized as being
> present.
>
> Jan Werner
> ____________
>
>
> Mark Kurber wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > I have a 6 year old Dell running Windows XP Pro.  I'm not able to get
> > past the start-up screen (Dell logo, press F2 or F12 and nothing
> > happens).  I have stuff on that hard drive I need.  I've built computers
> > in the past so I've played around to a degree inside the guts of various
> > machines.  My question: can I unplug that hard drive and somehow house
> > it in an external box, or the like, then access the files I need through
> > a USB cable connection?  Is there a simple solution I'm missing or, in
> > fact, do I have a more serious dilemma to address?
> >
> > Thanks, in advance.  I'm a quasi-geek at best.
> >
> > Best regards, /*Mark H. Kurber*/
> > c: 413-441-5101
> > e: mkurber22 at gmail.com <mailto:mkurber22 at gmail.com>
> > --------------------------------------------
> >
> >
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-- 
Dave Wolff

*Computer Coach*
*413 944 0030*
*computercoach at gmail.com <computercoach at gmail.com>*
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