internal hard disk drive not found

gallygirl

Computer fan was making loud noise (only for a few seconds). I know it won't stop without a reboot so tried to switch off, froze. Gave a bit of a hard tap underneath but no joy so switched off then on again. Immediately it made a buzz/beep warning sound and then said internal hard disk drive not found. I'm guessing/hoping it physically can't find it? Is there an easy solution apart from getting techie son to look at it tomorrow?

Thanks.

jamespir

if you have another pc and usb disc downlaod ubcd for dos (ultimate bootcd) follow the instructions to put it on the usb

then on you pc turn it on press delete or whatever button enters yur bios (when the black screen comes up when you turn it on) change the boot settings so the usb is first ( is sometimes on the first blue page could be on the second) then pop your usb in and exit bios it should find ubcd on there and there will be a little menu select hdd and find the Hdd thats yours and do the check thats on there

dispossessed

Very many moons ago, when I learned the art of PC repair, we were taught the troubleshooting algorithm :-

Hardware / BIOS / Operating System / Application

In other words - always start with the hardware as the most likely cause for malfunction........

.........Fans making excessive noise are almost always due to dust covering the blades (and heatsink). All of which causes excessive heat......

.......Excessive heat is the No1 enemy of effecient PC hardware operation and, as a result, can cause a plethora of software issues and related error messages.

A thorough clean of the fan / heatsink with a can of compressed air (£3 at my local ASDA) will usually resolve this issue.

I your PC is a laptop / notebook / netbook then just use the tube that comes with the air via the air entry / exit holes to blow the dust clear.

Warning - be careful of your eyes when using compressed air (eye protection is a very good idea).

Hope this helps.

macman

'Rebooting' does not mean giving it a 'hard tap' !You might just have displaced the HDD connectors (power or data), or you may have trashed your hard drive-they are delicate devices, and not intended to be 'tapped'.
As above, fan noise indicates a problem, usually overheating caused by dust build up-so clean it.

Notmyrealname

gallygirl wrote: »

Computer fan was making loud noise (only for a few seconds). I know it won't stop without a reboot so tried to switch off, froze. Gave a bit of a hard tap underneath but no joy so switched off then on again. Immediately it made a buzz/beep warning sound and then said internal hard disk drive not found. I'm guessing/hoping it physically can't find it? Is there an easy solution apart from getting techie son to look at it tomorrow?

Thanks.

The hard tap probably shafted the hard drive. They don't like shocks. They are basically like a record player with a coil instead of a needle that is less than a hairs width above a disc. When you shock it the coil smashes into the disc.

The other train of thought is that the laptop has been overheating for some time and it has either cooked the southbridge chip or caused a dry joint.

dispossessed

As Notmyrealname said:-

"The other train of thought is that the laptop has been overheating for some time and it has either cooked the southbridge chip or caused a dry joint."

This is a good point.

If this is the case then at least the data should be easily salvageable from the hard drive.

It may even be fairly cheap to repair the original PC given how inexpensive budget motherboards are these days (although I wouldn't bank on longevity !).

gallygirl

Thanks all. Techie son has had a look and hard drive appears knackered (I think that's the technical term ). Now in local PC repair shop to get data recovered and stuck onto external hard drive.

I then need to make the decision - do I keep it & replace hard drive or get a new one? It's 3 years old which I know is fairly ancient in PC terms but still a reasonable spec (can't remember specifics but DS says so ). However, it is a lot slower to start up then previously and is crashing more often. The biggest issue I have (well, apart from the lack of a hard drive.......) is when watching Sky on the go....... e.g. Ryder Cup was unwatchable, kept buffering and jumping. Switched to son's laptop using same Sky broadband connection, in same location, and perfect. I have it set on low resolution. Son suggested possibly graphics card? I don't have a lot of 'crap' on computer - never download films etc, whereas son does so can't see why it would be so poor?

Thanks.

NiftyDigits

Make and full model number?

closed

If the drive was really knackered, a local repair shop won't be getting your data back. A factory reinstall would probably have cured the speed issue. Films don't make machines go slow, software does.

3 years old isn't ancient.

Was this a branded machine, or one from a "local shop"?

NiftyDigits

gallygirl wrote: »

Thanks all. Techie son has had a look and hard drive appears knackered (I think that's the technical term ). Now in local PC repair shop to get data recovered and stuck onto external hard drive.

I then need to make the decision - do I keep it & replace hard drive or get a new one? It's 3 years old which I know is fairly ancient in PC terms but still a reasonable spec (can't remember specifics but DS says so ). However, it is a lot slower to start up then previously and is crashing more often. The biggest issue I have (well, apart from the lack of a hard drive.......) is when watching Sky on the go....... e.g. Ryder Cup was unwatchable, kept buffering and jumping. Switched to son's laptop using same Sky broadband connection, in same location, and perfect. I have it set on low resolution. Son suggested possibly graphics card? I don't have a lot of 'crap' on computer - never download films etc, whereas son does so can't see why it would be so poor?

Thanks.

Ridiculous. Could have done this yourself for £4 if the 'repair shop' can do it.

gallygirl

ND it's not ridiculous if I don't know how to do it, which I don't. DS is is my eyes fairly competent but he didn't know how. It's a Dell Inspiron 1750, bought from Dell, but can't remember spec (not at home so don't have paperwork).

Closed - am hoping you are wrong . I bought it straight from Dell and it's been great and I do know it's not ancient really - I did buy a good spec at the time.

The place I have taken it to were very good when we've had problems before (4 of us all with 13 years worth of various PC's and laptops). However, they've now moved to new premises with proper booking in processes so it will probably cost me more than the 4 cans of lager & tin of biscuits from the shop across the road, which is what they charged last time :rotfl:.

Thanks for input all.