Computer won't recognize Primary Master HDD, help!

[bbulus]

The computer froze, I had to turn it off and back on, now it won'
recognize the primary master hard drive which is the only one in th
computer. This computer has many problems but I use it just for jus
for a extra on the network. What could make that happen all of
sudden when nothing changed? No A drive in it, sporadic CD drive
Win98 SE.
I use it mainly for printing.
thanks, bar

 

[Mike T.]

The computer froze, I had to turn it off and back on, now it won't
recognize the primary master hard drive which is the only one in the
computer. This computer has many problems but I use it just for just
for a extra on the network. What could make that happen all of a
sudden when nothing changed? No A drive in it, sporadic CD drive.
Win98 SE.
I use it mainly for printing.
thanks, barb

It sounds like you are dealing with more than one problem. Most likely
problem, given your symptoms, is a failing power supply or bad mainboard.
But I believe you also might have a dead CMOS battery.

You could have two bad drives (hard drive, CD drive), but more likely there
is something in common with both drives that is bad. Most likely suspect
would be the power supply, especially as your computer "froze".

But if you got the computer to turn on to the point where it told you that
it can't find the hard drive, that would seem to suggest that it also lost
CMOS settings. That would point to a dead CMOS battery, which is quite a
common problem in older systems.

I'd suggest you buy a new CMOS battery (usually CR2032 button shaped, which
you can buy cheap at wal-mart or radio shack), install the CMOS battery on
the mainboard, then enter the BIOS setup screen and load default settings
(NOT optimized default settings). If your BIOS has the option, have it
auto-detect the hard drive, also. Then save settings and exit.

If it still can't find the hard drive, or it is still freezing, I'd suggest
you try a new power supply. Only, don't buy a CHEAP power supply. Get
something like an Enermax Liberty that is dual-core capable (assuming that
your current system is ATX format). The reason is, if the power supply
doesn't help, you are then at the point where an entire re-build would be a
darn good idea. So buy a power supply that would be appropriate for a new
system, if you have to start over from scratch.

If you replace the CMOS battery and power supply and you still have
problems, then so far you are out the cost of a cheap battery and a nice
power supply, and you can use the nice power supply to build a new system.
Whereas, if you bought a cheap power supply just to try to get the current
system running, the cheap power supply might not work for building a new
system. -Dave

 

[Clint]

If it can't recognize the HD, the simplest test is to take the HD out, and
put it into another computer. See if it's toast. If it works in another
system, then you may want to junk the old computer that's causing you all
the grief, as it could be any number of issues, as someone else mentioned.

BTW, make sure you set the jumpers properly on the other computer you plug
the drive into. Master/Slave and all that.

Clint

 

[Chris Hill]

The computer froze, I had to turn it off and back on, now it won't
recognize the primary master hard drive which is the only one in the
computer. This computer has many problems but I use it just for just
for a extra on the network. What could make that happen all of a
sudden when nothing changed? No A drive in it, sporadic CD drive.
Win98 SE.
I use it mainly for printing.

Could be something simple, like the older hard drive in it decided it
was a good day to die.

 

[Rod Speed]

The computer froze, I had to turn it off and back
on, now it won't recognize the primary master
hard drive which is the only one in the computer.

Thats not unusual with a hard drive failure.

This computer has many problems

What sort of problems ?

but I use it just for just for a extra on the network. What could
make that happen all of a sudden when nothing changed?

Any electronic device can just die.

Depending on the other problems, its possible its got a
flakey power supply and thats now killed the hard drive.

No A drive in it, sporadic CD drive.

Sporadic in what sense ? It has problems reading some CDs etc ?
May just be a separate problem, CD drive that isnt that great.

Win98 SE. I use it mainly for printing.

Why do you need a separate machine for printing ?