I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard disk
drive on either chain. My hardware chap says he has seen several similar
problems with Dell computers and claimed that Dell computer cripple their
computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer. (If you
buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive). It seems a
bit far fetched that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer it produces
in this way. Could his claim be correct?

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

"Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eoq476$fkh$(E-Mail Removed)...
|I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard
disk
| drive on either chain. My hardware chap says he has seen several similar
| problems with Dell computers and claimed that Dell computer cripple their
| computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer. (If
you
| buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive). It seems
a
| bit far fetched that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer it
produces
| in this way. Could his claim be correct?
|
| Thanks.
|
| Bill Ridgeway
| Computer Solutions

Ridiculous claim. I have a house full of Dells and have added "off the
shelf" harddrives to all of them.

You don't say at what point it is "not recognized."

If it's not being seen in BIOS have you jumpered it cable select? Dells ship
using cable select rather than master/slave configuration.

If it's not being seen in My Computer/Explorer have you initialized,
partitioned and formatted the drive in Disk Management?

--
Doug

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.

"Doug" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eoq476$fkh$(E-Mail Removed)...
> |I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard
> disk
> | drive on either chain. My hardware chap says he has seen several
> similar
> | problems with Dell computers and claimed that Dell computer cripple
> their
> | computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer. (If
> you
> | buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive). It
> seems
> a
> | bit far fetched that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer it
> produces
> | in this way. Could his claim be correct?
> |
> | Thanks.
> |
> | Bill Ridgeway
> | Computer Solutions
>
> Ridiculous claim. I have a house full of Dells and have added "off the
> shelf" harddrives to all of them.
>
> You don't say at what point it is "not recognized."
>
> If it's not being seen in BIOS have you jumpered it cable select? Dells
> ship
> using cable select rather than master/slave configuration.
>
> If it's not being seen in My Computer/Explorer have you initialized,
> partitioned and formatted the drive in Disk Management?
>
> --
> Doug

Thanks Doug. You ask <<at what point it is "not recognized.">> It is in
trying to get the CMOS to recognise the new hard disk drive. It won't
automatically recognise the new hard disk drive ('Master', Slave' or 'Cable
select') and cannot be set to 'Automatic'. It resolutely says ' Not
instaleed' as though it has been fixed that way. The hard disk drive is
recognised OK when put to the primary master so the hard disk drive is OK.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

In some Dells you have to go into the BIOS settings and change it from "not installed" to "hard
disk" (or whatever the choices are there).
--
Dave Vair
CNE, CNA, MCP, A+, N+

"Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:eoq476$fkh$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard disk drive on either chain.
>My hardware chap says he has seen several similar problems with Dell computers and claimed that
>Dell computer cripple their computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer. (If
>you buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive). It seems a bit far fetched
>that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer it produces in this way. Could his claim be
>correct?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bill Ridgeway
> Computer Solutions
>
>

Bill Ridgeway wrote:
> I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard disk
> drive on either chain. My hardware chap says he has seen several similar
> problems with Dell computers and claimed that Dell computer cripple their
> computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer. (If you
> buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive). It seems a
> bit far fetched that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer it produces
> in this way. Could his claim be correct?
>


I've certainly never encountered any such problem, so I wouldn't give
the claim much credence.

Have you ensured that the jumper switches on the hard drives are
properly positioned for however you're connecting the drives?


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

"Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eoq476$fkh$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Client's Dell computer.which refuses to recognise a slave hard
>disk drive on either chain. My hardware chap says he has seen several
>similar problems with Dell computers and claimed that Dell computer cripple
>their computers in CMOS so that it meets the specification of the buyer.
>(If you buy one hard disk drive you shall only use one hard disk drive).
>It seems a bit far fetched that Dell bothers to 'personalise each computer
>it produces in this way. Could his claim be correct?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bill Ridgeway
> Computer Solutions
>
>
Have you tried a different IDE cable?

Thanks everyone who have contributed to threads "Cable Select", "Dell
problem" and "Hard disk install problem" all of which I have initiated in an
attempt to thrash a problem. A special thanks goes to Philo who came up
with the suggestion that perhaps the BIOS couldn't handle the 300Gb hard
disk. I hadn't thought of that so I put another hard disk on the second
chain and it was accepted which proves that the 300Gb hard disk is too large
(probable) - or is it faulty (possible.


Thanks everyone who have contributed to threads "Cable Select", "Dell
problem" and "Hard disk install problem" all of which I have initiated in an
attempt to thrash a problem. A special thanks goes to Philo who came up
with the suggestion that perhaps the BIOS couldn't handle the 300Gb hard
disk. I hadn't thought of that so I put another hard disk on the second
chain and it was accepted which proves that the 300Gb hard disk is too large
(probable) - or is it faulty (possible).

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions