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View Full Version : I think I borked a hard drive

CancelMyService
11-14-2007, 02:50 AM
So I have my wife's old PC (she's since graduated to an iBook), and I wanted to futz around with it and maybe use it as a Linux box so I could play around with the OS. Well this computer dates back to the time before my wife knew of such things as anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. So it took roughly 2 1/2 years to boot to XP where everything ran slow as crap.

Well I downloaded Ubuntu and after I tried to install by booting to CD, the computer now gives me a message that there's no boot media present. It doesn't recognize either HD as even attached, but it will still boot from floppy. I have no pretense of even trying to save the data (it's not important anyway) but what's the best way to get the drives recognized so I can format them?
sld72382
11-14-2007, 04:01 AM
The PC is probably set to boot from CD in the BIOS and/or hard drive booting has become disabled, make sure you go into the BIOS and set boot order to 1 - CD-ROM, 2 - hard drive and 3 - floppy.

Also, make sure the hard drive is still recognized in the BIOS.
CancelMyService
11-14-2007, 04:32 AM
The PC is probably set to boot from CD in the BIOS and/or hard drive booting has become disabled, make sure you go into the BIOS and set boot order to 1 - CD-ROM, 2 - hard drive and 3 - floppy.

Also, make sure the hard drive is still recognized in the BIOS.



Did all of that, set it to boot on HD only, CD only, no dice.
sld72382
11-14-2007, 04:42 AM
Is this a laptop? If so...

http://www.breakitdownblog.com/ubuntu-power-saver-settings-could-damage-hard-drive/
CancelMyService
11-14-2007, 04:59 AM
No it's a desktop. It's a Gateway from when my friend worked in one of their short lived retail stores (should tell you how old it is) with some tweaks.
Seshat
11-14-2007, 06:00 AM
When you watch the BIOS booting, there should be a bit of screen text where it shows you which drives it's seeing. Is the drive showing in that?

If not, check your hardware. Try a new IDE cable. Try it in the other IDE socket. Check the master/slave settings on any drives connected to the same cable (CD as well as hard disk). Test the motherboard with a known-good cable and a known-good drive. Test the hard drive with a known-good cable and a known-good motherboard.

That should tell you which bit of hardware, if any, is having issues. ;)