UNSOLVED
Cant boot up to windows
i tried to start my machine and after the Dell bios screen I got the
following error "strike F1 to retry boot F2 for setup utility". I
repeatedly tried both options but couldnt get it to boot to windows.
I then tried to boot using my ResourceCD and it appeared to load some
files onto the c drive. When I got to a c:\ there were only 14 files on
the root drive and I couldnt find any other sub directories. What was
also very strange was that it said 450k bytes used (or something like
that) and 14Mgb free. But the hard drive is a 40G drive...so I am not
sure why it cant recognize the rest of the hard drive.
Dont know if this means the hard drive is fried but if so is there
any way to rescue any of the data?
following error "strike F1 to retry boot F2 for setup utility". I
repeatedly tried both options but couldnt get it to boot to windows.
I then tried to boot using my ResourceCD and it appeared to load some
files onto the c drive. When I got to a c:\ there were only 14 files on
the root drive and I couldnt find any other sub directories. What was
also very strange was that it said 450k bytes used (or something like
that) and 14Mgb free. But the hard drive is a 40G drive...so I am not
sure why it cant recognize the rest of the hard drive.
Dont know if this means the hard drive is fried but if so is there
any way to rescue any of the data?
please help!!!!!
Here's what I tried. I have an external HD case. I put the HD in the case and connect via USB to my laptop. My laptop recognizes that a hard drive is attached and I see it in device manager, but I dont see it as a drive in My Computer.
I also went into computer management and it doesnt show up as a drive there. So what I dont know is whether the drive just cant be accessed or whether I need to somehow tell my laptop what it is.
any help or am i just howling at the wind here? I guess I just want to try some things on my own before spending big $$ on data recovery service.
Dr.Knowitall
101 Posts
119
0
Posted March 1st, 2005 06:00
More than likely the HDD is crashed. At the Dell logo press Ctrl+Alt+D (not delete) and that will run the dell hdd diagnostics and it'll tell you if its fried or not. If it is, you'll have to take it to a data recovery service to get the data back.
Also go into the BIOS and make sure your drive is even detected. (F2 at dell logo)