Internal Hard Disk Drive Not Found?

teenage_Drama

ok just switched my dell inspiron 2200 laptop on and came up with this msg

internal hard disk drive not found


NO BOOTABLE DEVICES--strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility.


it was working perfectly fine just 10 mins ago...i switched it off and went into safe mode and theres no internet connection there so safe mode does me no good...

still keep gettin this msg


HELP?

T4i

If you got into safe-mode the HDD error report is a lie.

Sounds like a loose connection to me, does the HDD offer S.M.A.R.T technology?

Go into BIOS and make sure BIOS is picking up auto-detect HDD's. The S.M.A.R.T feature can also be enabled/disabled in BIOS.

S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) will predict if the HDD is about to fail. Its about 70% successful.

teenage_Drama

how do i get into bios?

T4i

sorry, reboot the p.c and keep pressing del button on keyboard until it stops on a blue screen with lots of options.

If you look in the 1st two options you should see the HDD/SMART (if you have it) options.

Good luck, take your time in BIOS, read all the txt carefuly, and if u make a mistake press ESC and choose NOT to save then exit.

teenage_Drama

hmm thanks
but
there is no HDD/SMART option there : \

Chippy_Minton

See these threads on the Dell forums for the same problem.

If you are able to get into Safe Mode then it's probably an intermittent problem with either the motherboard or the hard drive. Safe Mode with Networking gives you normal internet access. If possible, backup to USB pen drive or CD-R all your important documents while you can, although this might not be possible because safe mode doesn't load up the drivers required by these devices.

Also, report the problem to Dell using the online support.