Help

[bill44041]

i replaced a hard drive in a dell inspiron 6000 laptop. i need to install fdisk and a new windows vista os in it. i cannot get it to boot, what am i doing wrong. do i need to install the fdisk first? if so how would i do it? it telling me that there is no bootable divice. thanks for any help.

 

[slhpss]

you don't need fdisk... put the vista CD and press the button to select boot method or set it in bios (the button is probably f8 f10 or f12 I recommend just mashing all of them....)

 

[Paperdoc]

As slhpss suggests, boot from the optical drive with your Vista Install disk in it. Let the Vista Install process do all the work for you - it will find the empty new drive and ask whether you want Vista installed there. When you say yes, it will do all the Partitioning and Formatting work necessary before copying its files to the drive. You do not need fdisk.

 

[bill44041]

As slhpss suggests, boot from the optical drive with your Vista Install disk in it. Let the Vista Install process do all the work for you - it will find the empty new drive and ask whether you want Vista installed there. When you say yes, it will do all the Partitioning and Formatting work necessary before copying its files to the drive. You do not need fdisk.

its not working, however, i think i know what may be wrong. i got a product key number from someone, however, i had no windows cd, so he copyed it from his laptop. it may not have the drives i need to get it to work. when i put the disk in it boots to the windows install, i hit install and it goes to enter key number, when to a window that asks me what drive it wants me to install in, it gives me no chose i hit scan and show no drive found. i think i will go buy and new full install windows vista at walmart and see if thats the problem. if not i may be the hard drive i put in the pc. the motherboard is also new, so its not that. thanks for you help.

bill

 

[skytanker2003]

It sounds like your system isn't recognizing the HDD. Is this correct? When you go to your BIOS, does it show any bootable device? This may be in another place in your BIOS besides the "Select Device to Boot From" screen. For example, my BIOS has a screen that shows all IDE/SATA devices connected and whether they're a MASTER or SLAVE (although mine's a desktop).

My understanding is that if your BIOS isn't recognizing the device, Windows (registered or not) will not recognize it. After Windows recognizes it, Windows should have an option to format it so that you can install your OS on it.

 

[bill44041]

It sounds like your system isn't recognizing the HDD. Is this correct? When you go to your BIOS, does it show any bootable device? This may be in another place in your BIOS besides the "Select Device to Boot From" screen. For example, my BIOS has a screen that shows all IDE/SATA devices connected and whether they're a MASTER or SLAVE (although mine's a desktop).

My understanding is that if your BIOS isn't recognizing the device, Windows (registered or not) will not recognize it. After Windows recognizes it, Windows should have an option to format it so that you can install your OS on it.[/quote


thanks for the come back. your right is is not recognizing the hdd. i boot up and get message no bootable devices found. i go info bios and in device info it shows no hard drive. i dont know how to get it to find the hard drive.

thanks for any help, bill

 

[skytanker2003]

We're nearing the end of my experience in this, but I figure I'll try to get more info out of you so someone with more knowledge can come through and help. Is this a brand new drive? You did not mention. Also, is the motherboard "BRAND-new"? By that, I mean, has it operated with an OS on it prior to this HDD issue?

1. Quick check: ensure SATA & power cables are securely connected to the drive.
2. Turn on the computer and see if the drive even spins (if it's not recognized, it may not)
3. Try a different SATA port (if available), different SATA cable, or try connecting to a desktop SATA (to rule out the laptop SATA port/mobo as the issue) (check the drive for spinning there too)

Sorry I'm not providing much in the way of answers for you...

 

[bill44041]

We're nearing the end of my experience in this, but I figure I'll try to get more info out of you so someone with more knowledge can come through and help. Is this a brand new drive? You did not mention. Also, is the motherboard "BRAND-new"? By that, I mean, has it operated with an OS on it prior to this HDD issue?

1. Quick check: ensure SATA & power cables are securely connected to the drive.
2. Turn on the computer and see if the drive even spins (if it's not recognized, it may not)
3. Try a different SATA port (if available), different SATA cable, or try connecting to a desktop SATA (to rule out the laptop SATA port/mobo as the issue) (check the drive for spinning there too)

Sorry I'm not providing much in the way of answers for you...

i have found the problem. the hdd pins were wrong, however, its telling me there is a password needed for the hard drive, which i dont have. do you know of any way to by pass this?

 

[skytanker2003]

http://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/how-to-clear-hard-drive-password/48527.html

The link's from 2007, but this sounds like your new problem. Sounds like a security feature of the laptop hard drive to prevent theft. If it's a new drive, I would assume there are instructions with it to remedy this. Otherwise, if you can prove purchase, you could try contacting the manufacturer of the drive to get the password. Beyond that, I'm no use to ya! Sorry!

 

[juliadsouza]

thank for ur post.

 

[bill44041]

Best answer selected by bill44041.