Hard Drive Booting error...

When my computer was running slowly, I shut it down, and tried to reboot, but got this message:

Primary hard drive not found

No boot device available -

No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility

Tech support wanted me to simply take out the hard drive and memory and put it back in again. Problem was, I couldnt get the damn flap on the bottom to take out the memory to try what they suggested.

Oh.. and shortly before this happened, my computer was making a "Ch-lunk... cha-lunk.." kind of noise.

What is going on and how can I fix it? Tell me the hard drive isn't screwed...

It is a Dell Inspiron 8100, 3 years old. 4 damn months after its warranty, this happens.

 

That "Ch-lunk... cha-lunk.." kind of noise is a drive head bouncing off a disk platter. Sounds like your hard drive is gone. Check the connections to the drive, but I'm pretty sure your Hard Drive is 'No More'.

 

Could something possibly be knocked out..? And could simply be fixed by placing it back into it's position? Or more than likely.. it's screwed?

If I were to buy a whole new hard drive, is there difficulty in fixing it? Is there more than just simply putting it in?

 

It's no good, it probably can be repaired but the cost is way too much. You need a new Hard Drive.