Primary HD not found, Secondary HD not found, press F1?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Rocktot, Jul 6, 2011.

  1. Rocktot

    Rocktot Private First Class

    Ok, I never figured out how to get over this issue, could it be a 'jumper' issue causing this>? The computer will start, but you have to wait for it to load, then press F1, then 2 beeps. Its a Older Dell desktop.
     
  2. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    After you press F1, what happens? Do you get sent to the BIOS? If so, select "load defaults" and exit.
     
  3. Rocktot

    Rocktot Private First Class

    No it just goes into windows xp. I just need to always press f1
     
  4. baklogic

    baklogic The Tinkerer

    I have seen this on older Dell's and I have found that sometimes its a low cmos battery, in which case the date and time is usually incorrect. Thes are a coin shape in most desktops, and are around £3 to replace.
    Or, the Dell is looking for hard drive 1 intead of hard drive O
    I suggest that on starting up, you hold down the 'delete' button to go into the bios , and see if the hard drive is showing correctly- if not look for the IDE configuration to see where it lists hard drives/dvd rom/floppy drives.
    Turn off, or, disable anything no longer on the Dell (if no floppy, disable it here) If no second hard drive, switch off autodetect on that.
    You should be able to see the time and date in the Bios, but Dell's can be fiddly to find some things that are easy to locate on other pc's/laptops.
    Which model are you using? it makes it easier to check out for us.
     
  5. Rocktot

    Rocktot Private First Class

    Its a 4300 desktop.

    Ok, clock is fine
    Primary Drive0......Hard Drive
    Primary Drive1......Unknown Device
    Secondary Drive0....CD Rom Reader
    Secondary Drive 1....Unknown Device

    1.Boot Sequence 1 Hard Disk Drive C (Check)
    2.IDE CD Rom Device (Check)
     
  6. baklogic

    baklogic The Tinkerer

    Try disabling unknown device- if that cures it- then it might whatever periphial device was causing it. Although Dell show different beep codes, 2 beeps often points to ram issues- it might be worth checking that the ram is making good contact- turning off and disconnecting from power plug- then press start button and it will usually spin up for a few seconds,getting rid of any power inside the pc. I have otherwise found that it is some hardware glitch, that throws up the F1 prompt
    You can also look in event viewer to see if a warning shows there (Right click Computer, click manage click event viewer.
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds