I have an Inspiron 8100 (yes an old laptop). I have replaced the hard drive 5 years ago. I am currently getting a message that says the hard drive is not found or something like that. If I try to restart about 15 times it finally runs and starts window XP. If the laptop stays on there is no problems. The problem only occurs on a cold boot up. I am afraid to turn the computer off as it may never turn on again....not good with a laptop for portable needs! I believe either my hard drive is trying to die or my motherboard may be faulty. Not sure which it is. A repair is out of the question due to costs and being an outdated laptop. Just bought 2 new batteries a few months ago for it also that are working fine. Any suggestions would be helpful. I did run a CHKDSK and no bad sectors were found on the harddrive.
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