No Hard Drive Detected

Rcvd a 'invalid partition table' error when I turned my laptop on this morning... tried to repair using the XP install disc, but I get a screen saying no hard drives are detected?

What are my options?

 

1. Replace the ribbon cable in case that's the problem.
2. If you have extra power connectors, replace that in case the one you are using went bad.
3. Remove the hd from the computer, attach it by the USB port to another computer to see if you can see data. If you can, save what you haven't backed up.
4. If the drive is good (you can see data), put it back in the computer and try to repair the mbr.

Here are the steps
http://askbobrankin.com/fix_mbr.html
scroll down to the section titled Repairing a Damaged MBR.

 

Hey plodr, The OP is talking about a LAPTOP.

 

In that case, ignore steps one and two as not appropriate.

 

Many laptops have a BIOS setting for SATA hard drives where they can be set to 'Native' mode either Enabled or Disabled. I have found that XP does not recognize SATA drives if Native Mode is Enabled. This is mainly on HP/Compaq laptops. You might also check to see if there's an AHCI vs. ATA mode setting for the SATA drive; if so, set it to ATA. If you don't have a SATA drive, or if none of these settings apply to your situation, follow plodr's advice above and connect the HD to a healthy PC, or run a diagnostic to see if the drive is healthy. But if the drive is not recognized in the BIOS (regardless of whether it's SATA or not), then the drive has probably died.