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    Problem w/Inspiron 8200 XP Pro

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by odiedude, Jul 28, 2008.

  1. odiedude

    odiedude Newbie

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    I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop with XP Pro on it. I accidentally left the computer running for 4 days straight and I'm thinking that might have affected it. I finally shut it off, but today when I tried to turn it on, I got this message:

    Primary hard disk drive not found
    Fixed optical drive not found

    It said to press F1 or F2 to try again or to get into the bios. But I have no idea how to re-configure any of that stuff and don't plan on trying without detailed instructions on what to do.

    I got the machine in 2002 and it has really held up for almost 6 years. Obviously something was bound to go wrong with it at some point. Is there anything I can do to fix this that can be explained in simple terms? My main concern is recovering my data from the hard drive. I waited WAY too long to back it up, and I'm afraid I'm going to pay the price for that.
     
    odiedude, Jul 28, 2008
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  2. delltechie

    delltechie Newbie

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    load BIOS defaults and still nogo then remove ur optical drive and check
    run a diagnostics in the F12 menu
     
    delltechie, Jul 28, 2008
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  3. odiedude

    odiedude Newbie

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    Thanks for the tip delltechie. I forget to also mention that the computer is making a clicking sound whenever I turn it on. I hope that's not a sign of something worse!
     
    odiedude, Jul 28, 2008
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