A computer problem.

[Zadaben]

My computer (The one that has all of my stuff on it) refuses to start up, whenever I try to get it to, it informs me that it cannot locate the hard drive. I have not installed anything new lately, and the only help results I get online are ones for those who have installed a software recently which messed up their hard drives. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[Vipershark]

has the cord come unhooked?

[Zadaben]

it's a laptop, I checked the plug, but it was fine.
Is there any alternative to getting a new harddrive?
Or any way to recover the stuff on it?

[Vipershark]

What's the specific error that it's giving you?

by "checked the plug" do you mean you physically looked at the hard drive, or just the power cord? It's highly unlikely, but it's possible that the drive itself popped out of place.

does the computer you're currently using have the ability to burn CDs? if so, burn a small Linux Live CD
(i suggest xubuntu: http://xubuntu.org/getxubuntu/ )
and boot it up.
If your hard drive pops up on the desktop, you can retrieve your stuff.

[Zadaben]

I took the hard drive out, and then put it back in. It still wouldnt let me start up.
I have no CDs around but I will look into that. Thanks!

[Kosheh]

it's a laptop,

i found your problem


some laptops don't have adequate fans (such as: hp laptops) and as a result with the frequent overheat that comes with gaming, intensive activities, multitasking, you more or less burnt out your harddrive

this has happened to me

twice ):

[Vipershark]

What's the specific error that it's giving you?

Like, word for word, what is it saying?

[Zadaben]

I think that your probably right, Kosheh, as it was getting rather hot before I logged off for the night, and it has gotten hot in the past as well.
Does that mean it needs to be replaced?
__
@Vipershark: The following is what it says;
ERROR
2100: HDD0 (hard disk drive) initialization error (1)

[Vipershark]

Hmm... I'm guessing you're using a Thinkpad? A quick google shows that it's a Thinkpad-specfic problem and replacing the hard drive should fix it. I don't know specifically if the hard drive is dead or not (it looks like hooking it into another computer with a usb converter sometimes will allow you to back your stuff up) but judging from what I read, the drive is bricked.

I don't know how old your computer is or if they'll replace a dead hdd if you're no longer under warranty, but try calling up lenovo with the make and model of your hard drive and see if they'll send a replacement.

[Raz]

I did a little bit of reading and it seems like many people who have this error are still able to use the drive later, it looks like bad sectors appear on the drive (yours appears to have developed in the MBR). The first thing to do is to install a liveCD of a linux distro like Vipershark has already said, if you can see the drive you can grab your stuff before you do anything to try fix your problem.

There seems to be a couple of solutions which worked. The first of which is going in to the BIOS settings and turning off S.M.A.R.T support, it appears (if you have a solid state drive, at least) SMART isn't very good at running tests on these drives and will throw up an error.

You may also need to change the SATA settings to compatibility and reboot.

Failing that there's new firware which might help located: Here

If it does work shoot me a PM and I'll see about helping you restore your MBR to boot in to windows.

[Zadaben]

Thanks guys, Ill do all of the above as soon as I can get my hands on a CD to install the program on, which shouldnt take too long. Also yes it is a THinkpad.

[Raz]

Thanks guys, Ill do all of the above as soon as I can get my hands on a CD to install the program on, which shouldnt take too long. Also yes it is a THinkpad.

You know, you could use a USB Flash drive too. Should have said that before!

[TGE]

Mind that not every USB stick has boot capabilities. So if you're even more unlucky, you need to get another one.

Thanks guys, Ill do all of the above as soon as I can get my hands on a CD to install the program on, which shouldnt take too long. Also yes it is a THinkpad.

You know, you could use a USB Flash drive too. Should have said that before!

[Zadaben]

I tried to start it with a USB, but it wouldnt let me, even when I chose it specifically, it gave me a blank screen with only the little blinking ( _ ) at the top.
Also, how do I get to BIOS settings? I went under the options thing, and I didnt see any thing labled as "SMART" or "BIOS settings" anywhere.

[Vipershark]

Depends on your computer, but hitting F12 on bootup normally does it for me.
What model Thinkpad is it?

(also see if you can find a CD-R somewhere to burn linux to, it's much easier from a CD)