All of a sudden my laptop will not boot up.  It tries, then gives me an error message stating that the primary drive can not be found! Can anyone please help me!?! I have lots of data stored, and I need to retrieve it.
216206
your hard drive or master boot record may be corrupt or failed.  try resolving the bios boot.  when your Dell starts up go to the start up menu. it's either F2 or F12 it will show the option when you start the laptop.  once you are at the startup menu, do the following: turn on caps lock, scroll lock, and number lock. hold down the Alt key press the f key, then the e key, then the b key.  this will force your Dell to perform an automatic IDE configuration search.  It's a little secret I learned from the Dell enterprise support team.  I work with Dell computers in the business world.  If this doesn't find the hard drive, you will need to call Dell support.
431073
You need to BOOT from your cd - not just use it in windows.  Put it in the drive - then cancel anything that pops up - shutdown your machine leaving the CD in and then restart - watch the screen for the command to press any key to boot from CD - follow the instructions and do a windows REPAIR/REINSTALL - this will replace the missing files.  If you don't get the prompt to boot from CD then you need to go to the bios and enable the CD drive as your primary boot device.
59479
just try cloning the hdd by having them both in the same box and running ghost. then it's a 1 step deal and less foulable. should make a direct copy thats usable. be sure the proper jumper is selected on the new drive when you install it to be the primary boot device (a common oversight)
664245
Sounds like your hard drive is toast. Usually this kind of thing means there are bad sectors. I have heard there are some programs that can pull the undamaged data from the drive. Try searching Yahoo or Google. I am sure there are many sights in cyberworld with downloadable programs to recover lost data.
356845
Do a complete uninstall in the Hardware window and re-install. If that still doesn't work, it is possible that either the drive has died and must be replaced. That would be more likely than that the port on the motherboard has died, but that is possible as well as the not-likely ribbon cable failure.\n\nOne thing you might look at before replacing it is an IRQ conflict if you've added any hardware lately.
348461
just reformat everything.  the windows o/s you have should boot automatically from your CD-ROM.  there are free utilities from majorgeeks.com to retrieve your lost data, even if you've reformatted the drive(s).  good luck, you're NOT an idiot.  everyone has had their computer woes.  how'd your Vista go?
81213
You might want to think about reformatting your hard drive and doing a fresh install of the operating system. This is usually a last resort after all other troubleshooting is done. If the install does not work then you might be looking at a hardware problem.
337137
need more info than that to diagnose.  make sure your cables are plugged in tightly?  is the jumpers on the hard drive on the correct pins?  can you hear it booting up. when does it stop?\ntoo many variables
101964
Give CD Check a try.  It will detect any errors and try to recover any corrupt files. It has saved my rear on an ocassion or 2.\n\nhttp://www.elpros.si/CDCheck/
448600
check the cables and power. those are the most likely culprits, especialy if the computer has been moved or jarred.  failing that go into bios and see if the computer recognizes the hard drive as there and can read it.  if you need files from it, attach it as a slave and see if you can access it....if not its probably a screwed pooch from a virus and needs to be replaced.
55450
The hard drive may have failed. Go in to the BIOS and see if the drive is found.
309841
either your harddrive is crashed, of it is bad. It need major work, if you were here where I lived you could bring it to me, but you should take it to a shop where they can find out the problem
661659
use "DiskInternals Undelete" to recover the lost data to another proper drive, then you can reformat the c: drive and the it should work fine.. install windows then copy the recovered data back to the formatted drive
22793
Check the Device Manager and make sure you have the proper drivers installed. If your PC recognizes it, (or it doesn't) and it doesn't read a known good disk, the drive is bad. Replace! You can also go to 'My Computer' and make sure Windows recognizes it there.
342631
It always helps to give as much information about your pc/laptop here and its specifications.  \n\nThe drive sounds fine.  The implication is that it is a graphics or memory problem.
431598
I think people use system restore too often. This is supposed to be a last resort. Everyone so qiock to jump to system restore. Tell me who makes your computer and I will give you there tech support number.
142283
can you tell us what you have tried so far to try and access it ? Also right click on my computer --> Manage and then go to disk management and tell us if you see it there.\n\nIf you need further help or w/e email me :)