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disconnected and removed hard drive then when I replaced it computer will not boot. Get compaq logo for about five minutes then "non-system disk disk error replace and strike any key" message. Cannot access hard drive to do any kind of repair...tried the compaq quick restore disks and recovery disk but will not run...get error message that says to contact compaq tech support. Tried booting with Norton system works cd but does not work either. Any idea what happened??? Is my hard drive shot???
Loose connection. Knocked something loose.
Did you change the jumper setting on the HDD? Make sure it is set to "Master"Reseat RAM,PCI cards, AGP card. Doublecheck all power connections.All data cable connections (IDE Cables). Clear the CMOS settings.
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all cables are ok.nothing is loose. does same thing when connected as secondary (slave). All other hdd work ok when connected...only this one cannot be accessed. How do I know if hdd is corrupted or physically damaged???Also...Dave02 says to clear CMOS settings but how when OS cannot be accessed???
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http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=759264
details a current Compaq/HP approach for this situation...
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thanks for replying. I checked the link you posted but have a question about it...If I clear the CMOS settings will that affect my using my other hard drive that has OS on it??? Don't want to mess anything up. I'm not very knowledgeable about the computer tech stuff so all this is pretty foriegn to me. I e-mailed compaq/hp tech support describing this problem but the answer I got was to do a restore (after telling them I tried a restore but it doesn't work!) and if the computer doesn't restore then to purchase a new restore disk!!! I'm not so sure they understand english too well so I'm not too big on their support. Their answer always seems to be ....BUY more from us! Another thing....is there a way to tell if the hard drive is even still good??? Should I be able to feel it spinning or something????
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What cmos settings refer to/store is the actual drive parameters for each drive installed. There is no actual writing to the drives themselves, nor is there any change in the condition of the drives. The information in the cmos chip is stored in that chip. However as this is a Compaq there is also a little info on the drive as I recall (in a hidden partition). I'm not that up on Compaq drives - other than to know generalities - so hopefully others can advise inmore depth on that "hidden info". As long as you do NOT actually address/change anything on the drive - and presuming it is OK - then that hidden info. should remain intact. I tend to suspect that there is something not correct in how you re-installed the drive, rather than that the drive has died...
What's on the drive(s) remains intact.
If you were to boot with a '98 bootdisk and run the Fdisk routine you should at least be able to see a reference the drive(s) - even though actual partitions may not be accessible (as they're probably ntfs format?).
Going back the begining... Why did you remove the drive initially, and did you do anything to it whilst it was "out". Also when you re-installed it, did it go back into the same postion etc. on the ribbon cable (and all jumpers remained as they were originally)?
Again verify you do have ribbon cable (more correctly the plug at each end) the correct way round. Some of these plugs/connectors are polarised (there is "bulge" on on side that mates with the socket): on others there is no "bulge" so it's easy to put one or other end the wrong way round. Check both ends again carefully. Pin-1 on the ribbon cable is adjacent to a red edge to the ribbon cable: and naturally pin-1 goes to pin-1 at each end (on the drive and Motherboard).
I'm guessing that Compaq/HP have disk (diagnostic) tools you can access/download. It may be useful to do so, and run them?
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thanks for the info. I might add that it is a Western Digital HD. I initially removed it because I have another HD with OS on it and some software programs that I wanted to use so I removed 1st drive and replaced it with 2nd drive. (have did this several times before with no problem) My cables are the kind that can only be attached one way so that is not the problem. I'm not sure but I may have changed the jumper setting when I replaced it. When I attached cables and turned on computer a "X file is missing" appeared for a couple of seconds then nothing. It happened so fast I was unable to see what file name it said was missing or not found ... not sure how it was worded it only appeared for a second or two. I can attach any of the other HD's I have and I have no problem with them. Also when I feel the side of the "problem HD" I can feel no vibration whereas with the others I can. So this leads me to think either it is not recieving any power or it is broke. I have not tried resetting the CMOS yet as I wanted to give you this info first. Do you recommend I try it???...thanx
I cannot use the WD diagnostic tools as my floppy drive is not working...ordered new one. Also since my computer came with XP pre-installed I have no boot disks of any kind...only the 3 compaq quick restore cds which I tried but it doesn't work.(nothing wrong with the cds)
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If other drives are OK when installed (as Master?) does seem to point the "problem Drive" being at fault itself, or possibly OS installation - especially in light of the "missing file " mesage?
Resetting cmsos settings shouldn't really necessary and I'd tend to forego that - based on the fact that other drives do run OK.
You might (out of academic interset) enter the cmos/bios screen area (frequently described as "setup" on the initial boot-screen) and see what is shown there for the drive in question: similarly with one or more of the working drives? Perhaps start with a working drive and just go thru' the assorted screens to get an idea of what they look like and what's there. Don't make any changes at this stage. When you come to leave teh cmos/bios settings there will be an option to exit without saving any changes (you may have made intentionally or otherwise...), logically use that - so as to preserve things as they are overall. That way the other drives will continue to run OK.
Typically modern bios systems have an auto-detect option and this does just that: it detects the drive(s) installed and sets parameters accordingly. If other drives are showing up/running OK then I doubt there is problem in the bios area.
Again, the "missing file" message does tend to suggest a problem with the installed OS itself, as it does suggest the drive is attemtpting to read necessary boot-files and boot up - but fails? It may be the boot-record on the drive is damaged, it may be a little further into the boot-sequence for that OS?
I did a trawl (google/teoma etc.) using the string:
non-system disk disk error replace and strike any key
(Do not use any quotes ( " " ) at each end of the string - otherwise you may get few, if any, hits.) I didn't specify it as XP - as that may well have restricted the possible hits/returns, and there are "XP specific" returns regardless.
I came up with a host of hits.
One site (possibly "the" site for just about anything to do with hardware (and OS) problems is):
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/booterr-i.htm
Where he lists a range of possible troubles...
The specific error message is listed with a link to it - viz:
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/booterrGBER44-c.html
Rather than duplicate his excellent info here (and rather poorly at that - he is way ahead of me in many/all areas) I suggest you go thru' it all yourself. He may well help you to, either resolve the problem and recover a working OS or, at least determine if the drive itself has suffered serious (irrecoverable) damage to the boot-sector (not unknown on drives of any age/make!).
Similarly a trawl of your own using the error message (as above) will bring up those many other possible resources/aids too?
One other early in the host I gathered:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_21193155.html
He managed to resolve it by setting the (Primary) partiton "active" (again???), though he didn't indicate how it came to need resetting in the first place?
But again a trawl of your own may help you find the how/why etc.?
If - when - you resolve it this (whatever the outcome) perhaps you can/will post back? That way we all learn something useful for future similar situations?
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