Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter??? [ Edited ]

[Shinghan]

Hi, could someone help me with my problem? I recently (few weeks ago) bought an HP Pavilion Special Edition a6745f desktop and two days after, I noticed that the computer was really slow with major lag spikes every 10 seconds. The computer would also freeze very often, which I assumed was bad, so I tried to back up as much as I can but the computer froze and I had to shut off the power. I turn it back on and I get this error. I can't get into the hp recovery console and it won't boot into the os. It's a Vista Home Premium x64 bit. I can get into the RAID option utilty and settings, but I don't really know what to do. Is my hard disk corrupted? I tried to do a fresh install with a friend's Vista cd, but there were no disk drives detected. I found that I can see a boot folder or partition of some sort when I look for the disk drive to install to, but that is all I can do. I did a diagnostic of the desktop and found that the hard drive is not working, but everything else is fully functional.

Quick Edit: The hard drive I found that I have is a SeaGate one ST3320813AS (6SZ176YZ). I hope this also helps with anything. From the diagnostic tools, there is an error code too: BIOHD-1.

I'm trying to remember what I installed before all that happened. I do remember transferring a lot of files, but I doubt that would cause this problem.

So here is what I'm wondering:

1) Is there a way to recover from this and restore my hard drive back?

2) Is there a way to get into the hp recovery option?

3) If it is a corrupted hard disk, then does the limited warranty cover for this? Because my uncle did not purchase any warranty for financial reasons.

4) If it is corrupted, then would it be possible to buy a new internal hard drive and install a fresh copy of vista on to it?

5) Is it possible to even reformat a corrupted hard drive?

Right now, I am using a laptop to do this. I really think the hard drive is corrupted, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Message Edited by Shinghan on 03-16-2009 10:04 PM

[1badGuard]

If you get errors try the Firmware update everyone is using to repair their hard drives.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-68339-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&...

Message Edited by dmhoo29 on 03-17-2009 12:34 AM

[Shinghan]

What if I can't get into my computer? I can't even get to the login screen. How would I install the firmware anyway?

[1badGuard]

Change the raid to ide or AHCI or the sort.

[ktetch]

dmhoo - if he can't run the firmware update to burn the needed CD, there's no point putting the SATA controller in IDE mode. Common sense please.

If you have another vista computer, you can use that to burn the CD. If you have another PC (that may not be vista) download the knoppix CD or DVD (its a version of linux that runs from the dvd drive, you don't need a hard drive at all) and you can use that to recover data. Once that's done, you can use it to format the hard drive, by redoing the partition, and then your rescue DVDs will work. You can then use the firmware patch to burn a CD (because of the stupid way the patch is done, you can't run the firmware upgrade via the linux windows emulator, or use it on another system ebcause they don't provide a disc image. Really, it seems like HP decides to do things the most back-asswards way possible to make it difficult for people.

[RoyalSerpent]

To supplement the above post, the hard drive is probably okay.  Seagate's 320GB drive should be immune from the firmware mix-up.  I like to use the free Copywipe utility to zero-fill the hard drive.  Create a DOS boot CD so you can wipe the hard drive.

The PC is only a few weeks old.  If the HDD is defective, then it should be covered under warranty.

[Shinghan]

Thanks, I will try those methods and hope for the best. I will have periodic updates shortly.

EDIT: I burned up the firmware but when I try it, it says model matched but firmware isn't so it didn't update the firmware. Now I am trying the knoppix CD that was suggested. Hope to have an update later.

Message Edited by Shinghan on 03-17-2009 08:45 AM

[SidSam]

I have no idea what your masters degree is in lol.  Sure hope it's nothing to do with computers, if it is I'd try to get my money back from the school where you got

it. So many posts, so many errors it's quite funny.

[tgomz]

I got this same problem las week my pc is a Pavilon elite m9400f with a seagate hard drive of 750gigs, so when this happened i check this thread and thought  "i should have backed up my pc" but i didn't so i ordered the recovery discs from hp and i just got them today. When i inserted the disc it read it and now a message pops out that says "No hard disk found, system restore cannot be continue! Please enter another key to continue." So now my guess is that the hard drive is faulty, and i also checked the cables and they seem fine.

so how did you fix this problem dude? Am i going to have to buy a new hard drive? At least i didn't loose much data.

Why cant hp include a system disc?

[c0rnel]

You may have a bad hard drive or BIOS settings need to be reset.

Try these steps.

1) Reboot the pc and go into F10 for setup (for vista) or F1 (for xp pcs).

 Check under the MAIN tab to make sure your hard drive is recognized.

It should something like WDC, SAMSUNG, ST...etc

a) If it's not under the list then check the IDE/SATA cable and power cables inside your computer to make sure it's plugged in both ends properly and reseat.

b) If it's listed then go on to step 2.

2) Press F5 then yes then enter, then F10 then yes, then enter to restore BIOS defaults.

3) After reboot go back to the BIOS menu and go to right on the BOOT tab, and choose BOOT DEVICE PRIORITY and set the 1st boot device to HDD group then save changes and exit the BIOS.

You can also turn on the pc and press ESC to boot from the hard drive or hdd group.

If the hard drive recognized still even after reasetting the cables inside your computer, than the hard drive might be defective.

So check the hard drives cables both SATA(red) and power cables and take them out and put them back in. Reseat them and then try to boot up the computer.

How many hard drives do you have? What does the BIOS say?