We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Computer unable to detect IDE drives

Options
I had just turned off my computer for the holidays, when my wife suddenly decided she needed one piece of information before we went out the door. At the worst possible time, the computer decided it would not boot, sticking on the "Detecting IDE drives..." command. I assume it was unable to detect them, because the start up effectively stopped. What are the IDE drives and why do you think they could not be detected? Is this a hardware failure? Anybody answering this would ease my mind considerably, since I am now away from my office for a week. When I get back, I need some information that is trapped on the computer. PS. The computer is question, now three years old, was due to be decommissioned when I got back from holiday!!!
«1

Comments

  • gaming_guy
    gaming_guy Posts: 6,128 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ide drives are hard drives or cd/dvd drives
  • espresso
    espresso Posts: 16,448 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Could be the motherboard battery need replacing, as this retains the data in CMOS memory relating to the IDE devices.
    :doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:
  • fatnbald
    fatnbald Posts: 302 Forumite
    It is possible the Hard drive has failed, any strange clicking noises when it is trying to boot up?
    Signature No Longer acceptable -
    Please key in PIN ****
  • johnmc
    johnmc Posts: 1,265 Forumite
    Go into the BIOS and set the hardrive to auto-detect.

    If it says you haven't got a C: drive or similar message then come back here.
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,601 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    or just try removing the cmos battery from the motherboard for a minute (it's the round battery ) around the size of a 10p coin

    when you turn it back on it will take a minute or so to re-detect all the drives
    Ex forum ambassador

    Long term forum member
  • Unfortunately not at the same house now where my computer is located. The odd thing is that the boot process simply ceases with the screen going no further than "Detecting IDE devices..." If it gets no further, does that mean the battery could be down or could it be a complete failure of the hard disk or hard disk fan? If there is a hardware failure, wouldn't the computer simply fail to turn on at all and there would be no attempt at booting? In the past, I have had fans go on both the graphics card and hard disk, which result in a totally dead screen.
  • LittleJo
    LittleJo Posts: 482 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    Hi,
    Mine does that now and again, works perfectly when rebooted.
    Jo
  • I am back from holiday now. Turned the computer back on, but still cannot get it to detect IDE drives. Used a vacuum cleaner to clear out the dust in the back and actually took out the hard drive and had a look at it, hoping that by putting it back in it might work. Nada!
    Saw the battery that was mentioned, but how do I get it out? There didn't appear to be any way of removing it. Am I just being thick?
    I don't know how to get into the bios to check on drives. How do you do this?
    Also, I have another PC, would it be possible to transfer the hard drive across to that one and see whether the hard drive is OK? I need some information that is trapped on the drive in a hurry!!
    If not, it means trudging down to the local PC store and then having to wait for days.
    Any further help really appreciated!
  • culpepper
    culpepper Posts: 4,076 Forumite
    open it up and push the ide cables into the ide sockets on the motherboard and at the back of the drives. Mine does this exact same thing every once in a while and all I can think is the ide cable is a bit bendy and pulls itself out a tiny bit. Then just reboot.
  • culpepper, you may well have cracked it.
    Opened up the back and the IDE cable from the hard disk was hanging in mid-air!!
    There is not obvious place to plug it in on the motherboard, but there is a slot vacant on one of the cards that goes into the lower back area of the computer (sound? graphics?). I shall try this tomorrow. Does it sound like the correct place to plug it back in?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.8K Life & Family
  • 256.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.