"primary HDD not found, strike F1 to continue..."

[Dell Christopher]

Dell Dimension 8250 desktop

WinXP Home SP2

512 mb RAM

Maxtor 30 gb HD (97% FULL)



When I start the computer, I get the following message:



"primary hard disk drive not found, strike F1 to continue, F2 to run setup
utility"



Pressing F1 takes me right to the Desktop, however I have to repeat this
sequence every time I start the computer. If I press F2 instead, it just
hangs on an empty black screen, then I hit ESC to get to the desktop. I
have tried every conceivable way to get to the set-up menu but I can't get
there. I have also checked inside and it appears the hard drive is
connected properly.



Here are the other troubleshooting steps I've taken:



Ad-aware/Spybot S&D: spyware identified and removed

virus scan: nothing found

Moved 10 gb of data onto external drive

defragmented HD

Windows updates all current

disk clean-up (temp files and previous System Restore points)



I also tried a thorough error-checking scan (the kind where you have to
re-boot first). I stepped away from the computer for about 20 minutes
since, as I recall, this process takes a long time. When I came back, it
was already back on that original "F1/F2" message. I don't believe it went
through the entire 5 stage scan.



I have researched the problem and most of the posts seem to point to a bad
hard drive. However, the hard drive appears to be working fine despite its
near full capacity, and removing 1/3 of the data hasn't fixed the problem.
At this point, the only other option I can think of is reinstalling the OS.
Although I'm not convinced this will solve the problem, I am willing to do
if it makes sense. Does it?



If anyone has some additional input or suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Dell Dimension 8250 desktop

WinXP Home SP2

512 mb RAM

Maxtor 30 gb HD (97% FULL)

This drive will be very old and near end of life. Replace it.

When I start the computer, I get the following message:

"primary hard disk drive not found, strike F1 to continue, F2 to run setup
utility"

Pressing F1 takes me right to the Desktop, however I have to repeat this
sequence every time I start the computer. If I press F2 instead, it just
hangs on an empty black screen, then I hit ESC to get to the desktop. I
have tried every conceivable way to get to the set-up menu but I can't get
there. I have also checked inside and it appears the hard drive is
connected properly.

You have to get into the BIOS setup. See below.

Here are the other troubleshooting steps I've taken:

Sorry, but none of these would have any bearing on the problem. The
problem has nothing to do with user-loaded software. It's much lower level
and much earlier.

Ad-aware/Spybot S&D: spyware identified and removed

virus scan: nothing found

Moved 10 gb of data onto external drive

defragmented HD

Windows updates all current

disk clean-up (temp files and previous System Restore points)

None of these things are related to the problem you're seeing, which is
occurring before the system even looks at the drive contents.

I also tried a thorough error-checking scan (the kind where you have to
re-boot first). I stepped away from the computer for about 20 minutes
since, as I recall, this process takes a long time. When I came back, it
was already back on that original "F1/F2" message. I don't believe it
went through the entire 5 stage scan.

I have researched the problem and most of the posts seem to point to a bad
hard drive.

Or invalid settings, but the hang at BIOS Setup would tend to indicate
hardware issues.

However, the hard drive appears to be working fine despite its near full
capacity, and removing 1/3 of the data hasn't fixed the problem. At this
point, the only other option I can think of is reinstalling the OS.

This probably won't help in any way.

Although I'm not convinced this will solve the problem, I am willing to do
if it makes sense. Does it?

None at all. As the saying goes, you're digging in the wrong place.

The problem occurs before the system is aware that there is an OS at all, so
clearly the OS and the drive contents have no bearing on it.

You say the system hangs rather than go into Setup, which is a clear
indication of problems with hardware or BIOS settings.

If anyone has some additional input or suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate it. Thanks!

Always take seriously messages that indicate drive failure. Drives are
cheap now; I buy 80 gig drives for under CDN$60. And if your system has a
40-conductor drive cable, when you get the new drive also get an
80-conductor cable.

Open the case and disconnect the drive, both power and data.

While you have the case open, remove the CMOS battery (looks like a
calculator battery, about the size of a nickel or quarter) and locate the
BIOS CLEAR jumper, move the jumper and clear the BIOS. The jumper may be
marked PSWD, but check the documentation for your system. You can find it
at Dell using the service tag on the back of your system.

Put the jumper back, put the battery back, and re-run Setup. This is
normally all that's required to fix this kind of problem.

If you can't, with the drive disconnected, get into Setup, power down and
disconnect all other drives and external devices. If you still can't get
in, the system has real problems. Consider replacing it, or contact Dell
Support for further steps.

If you *can* get into Setup with the drive disconnected, locate the Reset
Bios option and use it to set the BIOS to defaults.

Power down, re-connect the drive, restart and try to get into Setup again.
If you can't get in, attach a new drive and check the results. Be sure
that the jumper settings are correct (for Dell it's normally Cable Select
but you may want to try other settings if it doesn't work).

One thing you can do to save a considerable amount of time if you have
access to another system that can also accept both your old drive and new
drive (perhaps attached to USB drive cases), is to download and install the
trial version of Acronis TrueImage Home. Use this to clone the old drive
to the new one. Use Manual mode, rather than Automatic, as this will give
you the option to expand the partition size to use the full size of the new
drive. You'll be done in a short time and the system will just work as
was previously set up.

But, you need to fix the problem real poblem with the BIOS Setup program
hanging, first.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Dell Dimension 8250 desktop

WinXP Home SP2

512 mb RAM

Maxtor 30 gb HD (97% FULL)



When I start the computer, I get the following message:



"primary hard disk drive not found, strike F1 to continue, F2 to run setup
utility"



Pressing F1 takes me right to the Desktop, however I have to repeat this
sequence every time I start the computer. If I press F2 instead, it just
hangs on an empty black screen, then I hit ESC to get to the desktop. I
have tried every conceivable way to get to the set-up menu but I can't get
there. I have also checked inside and it appears the hard drive is
connected properly.



Here are the other troubleshooting steps I've taken:



Ad-aware/Spybot S&D: spyware identified and removed

virus scan: nothing found

Moved 10 gb of data onto external drive

defragmented HD

Windows updates all current

disk clean-up (temp files and previous System Restore points)



I also tried a thorough error-checking scan (the kind where you have to
re-boot first). I stepped away from the computer for about 20 minutes
since, as I recall, this process takes a long time. When I came back, it
was already back on that original "F1/F2" message. I don't believe it
went through the entire 5 stage scan.



I have researched the problem and most of the posts seem to point to a bad
hard drive. However, the hard drive appears to be working fine despite
its near full capacity, and removing 1/3 of the data hasn't fixed the
problem. At this point, the only other option I can think of is
reinstalling the OS. Although I'm not convinced this will solve the
problem, I am willing to do if it makes sense. Does it?



If anyone has some additional input or suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate it. Thanks!

One other thing - on your system the BIOS CLEAR jumper may also be labelled
"CLR CM". Check the detailed documentation for what applies to your
system.

HTH
-pk

 

[db]

hello dell,

well it seems that you should
check out your cmos/bios settings
and see if the primary harddrive is
registered by the motherboard.

f2 is usually the key to press to
access the cmos setup utility.

you pc manual or the website for
the model of your computer will
explain how to access the cmos/bios
setup utility....

- db

Dell Dimension 8250 desktop

WinXP Home SP2

512 mb RAM

Maxtor 30 gb HD (97% FULL)



When I start the computer, I get the following message:



"primary hard disk drive not found, strike F1 to continue, F2 to run setup
utility"



Pressing F1 takes me right to the Desktop, however I have to repeat this
sequence every time I start the computer. If I press F2 instead, it just
hangs on an empty black screen, then I hit ESC to get to the desktop. I
have tried every conceivable way to get to the set-up menu but I can't get
there. I have also checked inside and it appears the hard drive is
connected properly.



Here are the other troubleshooting steps I've taken:



Ad-aware/Spybot S&D: spyware identified and removed

virus scan: nothing found

Moved 10 gb of data onto external drive

defragmented HD

Windows updates all current

disk clean-up (temp files and previous System Restore points)



I also tried a thorough error-checking scan (the kind where you have to
re-boot first). I stepped away from the computer for about 20 minutes
since, as I recall, this process takes a long time. When I came back, it
was already back on that original "F1/F2" message. I don't believe it went
through the entire 5 stage scan.



I have researched the problem and most of the posts seem to point to a bad
hard drive. However, the hard drive appears to be working fine despite its
near full capacity, and removing 1/3 of the data hasn't fixed the problem.
At this point, the only other option I can think of is reinstalling the OS.
Although I'm not convinced this will solve the problem, I am willing to do
if it makes sense. Does it?



If anyone has some additional input or suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Dell Christopher]

Thanks for the replies. As it turns out, there was an "unknown device" in
the System Setup that was on AUTO, instead of OFF. That change solved the
problem.