Cannot Enter BIOS with Hard Drive Attached

hnadeir

Honorable
Nov 19, 2013
8
0
10,510
My two year old laptop this week stopped working. While I was using it, I received an error message on the screen telling me that there was a problem with my hard drive. I did not take down that error though. When I shut off my laptop and tried to turn it back on, it would not boot. I could not even enter the BIOS. But when I opened up the laptop and removed the hard drive, I can enter the bios just fine. I just want to be sure that the issue is only with the hard drive and not anything else. That way, I know what parts to buy. What does it look like to you?
 
Solution
It depends upon the specific nature of the hardware failure.

Regardless of the component that failed (HDD or RAM, for your question) the system must first pass the Power On Self Test (POST) in order to proceed to the next step (BIOS entry, or OS loader).

In this case, you have indicated that you cannot get as far as the BIOS (in other words, the POST failed); however, upon removal of the HDD, you can (POST is successful). This indicates that the HDD is the culprit. If you wish to test it, leave the HDD in and pull the memory modules.

Once you do enter the BIOS, you will be able to see what components are present, and working (at least as far as the BIOS is concerned). It should accurately report the volume of RAM present, and...

hnadeir

Honorable
Nov 19, 2013
8
0
10,510
I thought that I could enter the BIOS even if the HDD had failed. For example, Dell PC's have a diagnostic tool in the bios to help you locate any problems. So how could a HDD prevent someone from entering the BIOS which is unrelated? Right? I thought it had to be a RAM problem.
 

2x4b

Honorable
Oct 28, 2013
775
1
11,360
It depends upon the specific nature of the hardware failure.

Regardless of the component that failed (HDD or RAM, for your question) the system must first pass the Power On Self Test (POST) in order to proceed to the next step (BIOS entry, or OS loader).

In this case, you have indicated that you cannot get as far as the BIOS (in other words, the POST failed); however, upon removal of the HDD, you can (POST is successful). This indicates that the HDD is the culprit. If you wish to test it, leave the HDD in and pull the memory modules.

Once you do enter the BIOS, you will be able to see what components are present, and working (at least as far as the BIOS is concerned). It should accurately report the volume of RAM present, and again indicate that the Memory modules are functioning. If the HDD is functioning, the BIOS would recognize the drive, model number, and its capacity.

There is no way for me to speculate how, in this instance, the drive malfunction is preventing the POST from completing normally, but it is.
 
Solution