Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
From: John Callison
1. Run diagnostic, check post, check for error messages. These could indicate controller failure,
etc.
2. Try hard drive as slave in another computer.
3. If the above does not get me access to the data, contact manufacturer and overnight drive
to them. They may be able to fix the drive enough to get the data off of it or repair it without
erasing the data.
4. Sell them a new hard drive and a tape back up or jaz drive, etc. It is best to max out the
sales to them at this point as expensive lessons are usually the best learned.
5. If they call again with the same problem, no backups etc., give them the number of your
competition.
From: Jim Burns
Check or swap the power supply to see if it's putting out the proper voltage. This can give a
disk failure message during bootup.
From: Bailey, Vince
I would try fdisk /mbr to try and restore the master boot record to the drive.
From: William Perry
I would remove the hard drive, set it as a slave and install it in another computer as a slave.
Copy data to another location. Run scan disk and defrag if drive will run at all. Reinstall in
original computer and try it. If still fails, go to step 2.
2. I would remove the hard drive, set it as a slave, and install it in another computer as a
slave. Copy data to another location. Reformat the drive, install a copy of startup files, then all
other files if they do not contain errors (try opening them on the host computer).
3. If the above fails, install a new hard drive and salvage as much data and files as possible.
From: Robert Hird
Try the hard drive as a secondary IDE in another computer, (e.g.: your own, seeing as you are
so nice). After booting, burn the info on CD, and run the disk utilities from your computer.
From: Bill E. Garity
I would try to use Fdisk /MBR—perhaps the master boot record is corrupted.
From: Sprynet
• If the drive 0 cannot be accessed at all, not even by the Setup program, it could be that the
cables inside the machine are not properly connected, or cracked suddenly (heat always dries
the plastic wire cover and sometimes it breaks).
• If I don't hear the hard disk noise when I turn on the machine, it can also be that the hard
disk is not receiving any power. In this case I would also check the power cable and the
connections.
