My Dell 8300 showed blue screen "UNMOUNTABLE_DRIVE" so I CD booted into recovery and ran "chkdsk", booted back up from hard drive ok. After a couple of hours, PC froze up. Now, when I turn on power, the CD drive lights are flashing and I'm hearing a clicking noise back and forth between the two of them, but nothing happening beyond that. I can't get the drive door to open to try the CD again. Any ides would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!
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Locked up...can't boot
- Thread starter dkr1
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firewolfrl
Technical User
unplug the IDE cable from the CD drive then power up the computer with just the powerplug in the CD drive try opening the drive
that trick works ok
next unplug the CD drive (IDE and Power) boot the computer....if you hear a rhythmic clicking from your harddrive....you should try one of these suggestions:
a) Call customer support for DEll
b) if you have critical data on the drive you will have to send it to a recovery lab.
c) if you can live without what is on the drive (permanantly lost) RMA the computer to Dell and have them put in a new drive
d) buy a new drive and restart from scratch
this works to.
unplug the harddrive and boot...the CD bay should open
your harddrive sounds like a dead drive
that trick works ok
next unplug the CD drive (IDE and Power) boot the computer....if you hear a rhythmic clicking from your harddrive....you should try one of these suggestions:
a) Call customer support for DEll
b) if you have critical data on the drive you will have to send it to a recovery lab.
c) if you can live without what is on the drive (permanantly lost) RMA the computer to Dell and have them put in a new drive
d) buy a new drive and restart from scratch
this works to.
unplug the harddrive and boot...the CD bay should open
your harddrive sounds like a dead drive
Remove any CD from the CD-ROM drive anyway you can, you may have only a damaged CD loaded that Windows cannot read. There is nothing that will more quickly kill Windows than a damaged unreadable CD. Isn't there a trick with a paper clip and a little hole in the front of the CD Drawer?
Sometimes just holding the Eject button down for a few minutes will dislodge the CD.
These are accurate reproductions of the sound of common hard drive failures:
Slow Spindle Motor
Head Stuck To Platter
Head Damage 1
Head Damage 2
Head Damage 3
Head Damage 4
Any of these sounds from a hard drive mean it is time to find a new disk.
Your hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic bootable software to thoroughly check the condition of the hard drive.
Sometimes just holding the Eject button down for a few minutes will dislodge the CD.
These are accurate reproductions of the sound of common hard drive failures:
Slow Spindle Motor
Head Stuck To Platter
Head Damage 1
Head Damage 2
Head Damage 3
Head Damage 4
Any of these sounds from a hard drive mean it is time to find a new disk.
Your hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic bootable software to thoroughly check the condition of the hard drive.
firewolfrl
Technical User
linney,
those links are fantastic
you should post this as a FAQ
lol
I have heard a few of those and it sucks when they are not the customer's drive but it is from your own drive....lol
those links are fantastic
you should post this as a FAQ
lol
I have heard a few of those and it sucks when they are not the customer's drive but it is from your own drive....lol
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