No hard drive installed. Check power and data cables. How???

[Nightowl4]

How do I check the data cable? Also, turning the laptop over toread the product id something got pressed and diagnostics is now in Spanish. Help!

[iomare · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Most likely it is a problem with the hard drive which will need to be replaced.

In any case I would replace the Hard Drive with a 2.5" SATA3 SSD as it will give a great boost in the everyday performance of the PC,

Example:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NAND-SATA-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=s...

On page 43 of service manual you can see the steps to replace the Hard Drive

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05122688.pdf

You can create a bootable USB drive with Windows 10 on it on a different PC and use it to reinstall the OS on the new SSD

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Hope it helps,

David

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[Nightowl4]

Thank you for the very clear directions and helpful links. This issue  occurred after a drop. Is there a chance taking it apart and putting it back together in case something jarred loose, or is that really not an option. Just wondering if this was worth trying prior to ordering the part you recommended. Also, if the new part is needed I'm assuming all stored data is lost? Just wondering if that is the case I may be better off investing in a better laptop instead. I woulp prefer to retrieve data if possible though.

[iomare]

Yes, a drop would cause a Hard Drive to fail.

You could check the drive and remove and place it back again and see if the problem persists. Usually this will not be the problem, but worth a try. On page 43-44 of service manual you can see the steps to get to the drive.

It is definitely worth repairing the PC as it is quite a powerful notebook (more powerful than my HP). With a new SSD and a clean install of the OS it will feel like a new notebook. The SSD will give a great boost to the everyday performance of the PC. You can get a 240GB SSD for less than 40$

It is also a quite straightforward fix. You replace the Drive with a 2.5" SATA 3 SSD- You create the Pendrive with the OS on it as explained in the link above (on a different PC)

Insert the Pendrive you created in the PC and turn it on. It should automatically boot from the USB drive and you can continue the procedure of installation.

Once installed go into settings and completely update the machine. Windows will find the necessary drivers. You can find any missing ones here if necessary

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-17-x100-notebook-pc/12499468/model/14121265/product-info?sku...

Once you have removed the old drive you can get a USB to SATA cable

Example

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-USB-Cable-USB3S2SAT3CB/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&ke...

You can then see if the drive is reconized and transfer files from it. When you open the User folder it can take a while (even a few minutes) as all the security settings on each file will be changed. If the drive is not recognized and the data is important you could send to professional recovery service which can be very expensive.

Take care,

David