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Sal needs help...

by MissTerraK
38 replies
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When she turns on her computer, it says Primary Driver Not Found.

What does his mean and does anyone know what she can do?

Thanks!


Terra
  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Is it possible it says Primary Drive Not Found?


    If so, try starting here:

    Primary drive 1 not found [Solved] - Dell - Computer Brands




    This provides more detail:
    http://forums.cnet.com/7723-10149_10...ive-not-found/
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      That is I think serious, I'm afraid, and from what Sal has said in the past, she has an old computer if still running Windows XP, Most likely the Hard Drive has curled up and died due to it's age, they don't last forever, happened recently to a friend of mine and she spent hundreds of dollars getting the data extracted from the old hard disk, it would not start up (spinning) and cannot be repaired.

      That the worst case scenario of course and I could be wrong. I hope she backed up all her important data and wrote down her passwords.

      Sounds like a new computer to me, not worth perusing any of the old kit, due to it's age.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      Is it possible it says Primary Drive Not Found?


      If so, try starting here:

      Primary drive 1 not found [Solved] - Dell - Computer Brands




      This provides more detail:
      3/10/06 Primary drive not found! - CNET Community Newsletter: Q&A Forums

      Probably does, haha!

      Thanks Dan!

      Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Lan Ian, Mark is probably right in that the hard drive is probably taking a dirt nap. Couldn't hurt giving it a poke to see if it kicks one last time if not just to get any important data off of it.




    (BTW, what kind of name is "Mark" for an Englishman? I thought you were all named Nigel, Ian, or Worthington.)
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      Lan Ian, Mark is probably right in that the hard drive is probably taking a dirt nap. Couldn't hurt giving is a poke to sick if it kicks one last time if not just to get any important data off of it.




      (BTW, what kind of name is "Mark" for an Englishman? I thought you were all named Nigel, Ian, or Worthington.)
      My parents had a dog with a hair lip.
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      Lan Ian, Mark is probably right in that the hard drive is probably taking a dirt nap. Couldn't hurt giving it a poke to see if it kicks one last time if not just to get any important data off of it.




      (BTW, what kind of name is "Mark" for an Englishman? I thought you were all named Nigel, Ian, or Worthington.)
      Lan Ian ? Who the hell is Lan Ian ? I thought it was just Ian ?

      You mean to tell me all these years...
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
        Originally Posted by discrat View Post

        Lan Ian ? Who the hell is Lan Ian ? I thought it was just Ian ?

        You mean to tell me all these years...
        Apparently Lanfear's name isn't Ian, but Mark. Who knew...
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    If she is running XP, have her put the XP install CD in the CD drive, boot off of it to dos, and try fdisk/mbr to see if that clears up the problem. If it does, sectors are starting to go bad, and it's time to get a trial version of Acronis Migrate Easy and copy the hard drive to a new one asap.


    If that doesn't work, try Riffle's suggestion to give the hard drive a rap with a screwdriver..if that works, the head is sticking and the hard drive is not long for this world...time to get a trial version of Acronis Migrate Easy, and do the same as above.


    Let me know if this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    I hate to say it, but the others are likely right. MY average for disk drives has been about 10 years or even more, but some will die before 3 years. She got a lot of use out of it. I HOPE she has a current FULL backup, etc... If not, I would suggest:

    1. Treat it like a BRICK! Pretend it is worthless, and a BRICK!
    2. Get a nice NEW disk drive that is compatible with some drive standard she has. It should be AT LEAST as big as her current drive. I hate to say it, but this part might be near impossible. If she can do it, GREAT! BTW if she doesn't have a friend to help her, and knows NOTHING about the drive, even a good picture of the slot or pins on the connectors will help a LOT. I would suggest NOT physically removing the old drive, but it may have a readable label, etc...
    3. Switch the old drive connections to the new drive. So the old drive is TOTALLY electrically isolated and WON'T even SPIN!
    4. Use whatever compatible distribution she has to get the new drive up and running. If it is too large, simply partition it. If she has extra dead space, FORGET IT! THAT can be used LATER if she upgrades again. Older systems have limits that today seem very low. But there are two basic types of limits here. One is the logical size of the drive, and one is the physical size of the drive.
    5. When all looks fine, and you are up to basic functionality, get the second drive hooked up.
    6. The SECOND the computer reboots, copy all you can from the old drive to the new. Even with a TOTAL failure, you have a decent chance of success.

    It will take a while, but the total cost of the parts, if she goes state of the art, with an external enclosure for the old drive, it could cost less than $200. Finding a drive might be a chore though, because the standards may have changed like 3 times since she started using that system. If she goes to a NEW system, and tries the same thing, and has an old MFM, RLL, or IDE drive, she COULD try looking for an adapter. They have some neat ones you can plug the drive into like it was a card. If she can't do something like that, maybe best buy or some such place could. Otherwise, it IS just a brick!

    BTW hitting a drive is tricky. I wouldn't recommend it. You COULD cause a head crash. If you do, it could destroy everything on your disk, so this should be viewed as a LAST RESORT. fdisk/mbr IS worth a try. Newer systems have at least 2 copies of the mbr and the fdisk/mbr could make sure it is accessible, and get it off of a bad area.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Thanks, guys.

      Sal works 3rd shift and went to sleep shortly after we talked.

      I called her back and left a voice mail for her. She'll call me back either when she gets up before she goes to work, or tomorrow when she gets off work.

      I'll let her know everything you have all said then.

      If it helps at all, it worked fine when she last used it yesterday. Today she thought it might need cleaning and blew it out. I'm not sure with what. Then she got the message after that.

      Hopefully, I got that right.


      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        Thanks, guys.

        Sal works 3rd shift and went to sleep shortly after we talked.

        I called her back and left a voice mail for her. She'll call me back either when she gets up before she goes to work, or tomorrow when she gets off work.

        I'll let her know everything you have all said then.

        If it helps at all, it worked fine when she last used it yesterday. Today she thought it might need cleaning and blew it out. I'm not sure with what. Then she got the message after that.

        Hopefully, I got that right.


        Terra
        With an error like that, I doubt cleaning would do it. ALSO, you have to be careful, ESPECIALLY around winter. Some things, like vacuums, can cause static electricity and hurt things, especially when humidity is low. Some things, like compressed air, can cause a big drop in temperature, that can hurt if the change is too great. One trick electronic powershooters try is to warm up a problematic component, and spray parts with compressed air, freon, etc.... If the problem changes, they know it is a bad part or joint in the area they last hit.

        Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        Thanks, guys.

        Sal works 3rd shift and went to sleep shortly after we talked.

        I called her back and left a voice mail for her. She'll call me back either when she gets up before she goes to work, or tomorrow when she gets off work.

        I'll let her know everything you have all said then.

        If it helps at all, it worked fine when she last used it yesterday. Today she thought it might need cleaning and blew it out. I'm not sure with what. Then she got the message after that.

        Hopefully, I got that right.


        Terra
        Missed the last bit, slight possibility that by opening the casing she may have just accidently, partially pulled the connectors out of either the hard disk drive socket or where it connects to the motherboard. Best to check they are all pushed in firmly. The hard disk drive (the big rectagular silver lump ) has two, a fat ribbon cable ( most likely an IDE connector on a machine of this age) and a mains one.

        So before she rushes out and buys a new machine, best power down, take the lid off and check all connectors are pushed in firmly.

        You never know, she could be lucky that it's just that.

        Tell her not to use the garden blower next time..
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        • Profile picture of the author Kurt
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

          Missed the last bit, slight possibility that by opening the casing she may have just accidently, partially pulled the connectors out of either the hard disk drive socket or where it connects to the motherboard. Best to check they are all pushed in firmly. The hard disk drive (the big rectagular silver lump ) has two, a fat ribbon cable ( most likely an IDE connector on a machine of this age) and a mains one.

          So before she rushes out and buys a new machine, best power down, take the lid off and check all connectors are pushed in firmly.

          You never know, she could be lucky that it's just that.

          Tell her not to use the garden blower next time..
          Yep. When trouble shooting you should start with the easiest and cheapest things first, as well as considering any changes made since it was working.


          And in this case, I'd check the connections, especially to and from the hard drive first since she said it worked before she "blew it out". Have her gently push every "plug" to make sure there's a snug connection.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

          Missed the last bit, slight possibility that by opening the casing she may have just accidently, partially pulled the connectors out of either the hard disk drive socket or where it connects to the motherboard. Best to check they are all pushed in firmly. The hard disk drive (the big rectagular silver lump ) has two, a fat ribbon cable ( most likely an IDE connector on a machine of this age) and a mains one.

          So before she rushes out and buys a new machine, best power down, take the lid off and check all connectors are pushed in firmly.

          You never know, she could be lucky that it's just that.

          Tell her not to use the garden blower next time..
          GOOD IDEA! It is probably not that likely, especially on an old machine she uses all the time, but it CAN happen. As I recall, there is a large ribbon cable connector roughly in the center of the rear of the drive. Do the following with power OFF. There should be plenty of slack in the cable, and the best thing to do is hold a metal part of the frame(to make sure you don't hurt the computer with ESD, put a finger on either side of the cable connector behind the cable, away from the drive, and GENTLY push. If the piece between your fingers, and the cable, moves(independent of the connector), THAT could be the problem! If there was a problem, it could do ANYTHING. There is also a connector with some colored wires, try pushing that in. If THAT isn't seated, the motor may not even run.

          BTW if the cable IS a problem, MAYBE you can find someone with the right tools, and connector to fix it. It is a highly specialized tool, but if you are careful, it is quick and easy.

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Yeah ... sounds like the big hard drive crash.
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      As for a new computer, Sal could pick one up quite cheaply, she already has an lcd monitor so can keep that.

      Tiger Direct online is one of the cheapest places as they do new and re-conditioned either tower or flat base units. You can pick em up for not far over 200 bucks. Wal-Mart even, they do cheap towers on their own

      Best go for one that has Windows 7 which is not too dissimilar to XP in usage but much more stable. Windows 8.1 is what I have and will look daunting by comparison, however I go straight to the desktop and have made it pretty much what Windows 7 looks like by installing the Free Windows Shell program, (google it.)

      All the stuff above is mostly for really savvy people who might try and get stuff of their old hard drive using various methods. If you cant do that or don't have a computer person to do that for you... I can assure you, This is the quickest way to be back online. Get a new one.

      Depends if important data is not backed up or not as to how far you would be prepared to go with salvaging it. If you do your email via online sites like Gmail or Yahoo for example and do not use Outlook or Outlook Express to download it down to your computer then at least you have all your contacts safe.

      A few thoughts to relate back.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        As for a new computer, Sal could pick one up quite cheaply, she already has an lcd monitor so can keep that.

        Tiger Direct online is one of the cheapest places as they do new and re-conditioned either tower or flat base units. You can pick em up for not far over 200 bucks. Wal-Mart even, they do cheap towers on their own

        Best go for one that has Windows 7 which is not too dissimilar to XP in usage but much more stable. Windows 8.1 is what I have and will look daunting by comparison, however I go straight to the desktop and have made it pretty much what Windows 7 looks like by installing the Free Windows Shell program, (google it.)

        All the stuff above is mostly for really savvy people who might try and get stuff of their old hard drive using various methods. If you cant do that or don't have a computer person to do that for you... I can assure you, This is the quickest way to be back online. Get a new one.

        Depends if important data is not backed up or not as to how far you would be prepared to go with salvaging it. If you do your email via online sites like Gmail or Yahoo for example and do not use Outlook or Outlook Express to download it down to your computer then at least you have all your contacts safe.

        A few thoughts to relate back.
        My suggestions wereto try to keep compatibility and restore data. If you have a compatible backup, or don't care about those things, and accept some peripherals won't work, you're right. New everything is better.

        Stuff that may have, or WILL have, changed?
        1. The old printer may not work.
        2. old disk drives likely won't work.
        3. serial and parallel won't work.
        4. Any IR communication needed won't work.
        5. Expansion cards and capability will be gone for what she has.
        6. If you don't watch it, the monitor might not work.
        7. Some software won't work.

        But upgrading WILL mean the basic computer is likely to work longer and it will be more compatible with what is out THIS month. For example, you will likely have USB, HDMI, and SANDISK capability.

        BTW if you DO get win 7 or later, I recommend the classic shell from sf.net! And if you get a new computer, try to get an intel i3, i5, or i7 CPU, with plenty of USB ports, and expandable to 16GB or more, with a 64bit OS. It should still be inexpensive and you may appreciate it later.

        Classic Shell | SourceForge.net

        Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
          Hmmm, sorry to hear about that!

          Golden rule is to have an external drive, or an extra PC to put it on, especially as everyone here has said an old computer has a risk.



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          • Profile picture of the author seasoned
            Originally Posted by tagiscom View Post

            Hmmm, sorry to hear about that!

            Golden rule is to have an external drive, or an extra PC to put it on, especially as everyone here has said an old computer has a risk.
            MAN, YOU'VE BEEN SPOILED! On the OLDER systems, with what was commonly reasonably available back then, SCSI was the best bet for such a thing, and IT wasn't that available. Well, they DID have CD!

            Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    PS...Make sure she touches something metal to make sure she eliminates any static electricity from her body before touching anything in the PC. She may want to stand on something like a rubber welcome mat to be extra sure.


    Just a small shock from static electricity in the wrong place can do a lot of damage.
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  • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
    No matter what have her keep the old drive. I've had luck putting a failing drive into an external sub case and finding and extracting data, not so good for reinstalling programs though.


    As for others, a good backup program is required, since it's not if a drive dies, it's when! If your strapped for cash check out :
    Redo Backup Bare Metal Restore Solution GUI Backup Open Source GPL Recovery

    Best of luck to basal!

    Jack
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by jacktackett View Post

      No matter what have her keep the old drive. I've had luck putting a failing drive into an external sub case and finding and extracting data, not so good for reinstalling programs though.


      As for others, a good backup program is required, since it's not if a drive dies, it's when! If your strapped for cash check out :
      Redo Backup Bare Metal Restore Solution GUI Backup Open Source GPL Recovery

      Best of luck to basal!

      Jack
      YEAH, I have one of those adapters, mine is for IDE to USB, I mentioned about earlier. As I recall, I got it from tiger plus. As for reinstalling, Microsoft has made it WELL known that they WILL NOT HELP in such endeavors! MOST programs require a registry, or are in some way configured through the setup and, of course, they may have system area dlls. Such programs must be moved in an all as replacement, or nothing fashion. So if you plan to get stuff from the old drive, and don't do something like copy all stuff to the new drive, it probably won't work with the programs. You will likely have to reinstall the programs as you did originally.

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
        hope Sal can fix it just by making sure her hard drive is connected properly. It sounds like that's all it is if everything was working fine until she blew it out -
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

          hope Sal can fix it just by making sure her hard drive is connected properly. It sounds like that's all it is if everything was working fine until she blew it out -
          OK, I thought she blew it out AFTER! If she blew it out BEFORE, ******ALL BETS ARE OFF******! This could be ANYTHING!

          1. ESD -> SYSTEM COULD BE TOAST!
          2. DAMAGED DISK DRIVE ->SYSTEM COULD BE TOAST!
          3. CRACKED CIRCUITRY->SYSTEM COULD BE TOAST!
          4. BROKEN CABLE or CONNECTOR -> The RIGHT person or part can fix it. DON'T try simply putting the cable back on, as it could cause worse problems.
          5. CABLES KNOCKED LOOSE -> I described how to fix it on the DRIVE! It is easier to fix on the board, but may be harder to get to. GROUND YOURSELF FIRST!
          6. OTHER CABLES KNOCKED LOOSE -> could be harder to fix.

          YEAH, computers are affected by more things than low power current. HUMANS are also, but we are affected SO often, that we just shrug it off. With computers, it can be a DEATH SENTENCE! I bet over 50% of a computer repair shops electronic repair business is due to ESD and extremes of temperature. Over 50% of the remainder is likely due to drive crashes. Over 50% of the remainder is likely memory problems of some sort. The rest is either dumb luck, or likely due to the above.

          Steve
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            Okay, I just got off of the phone with Sal.

            But let me backtrack for a minute. I spoke to a friend of my son's who just got out of the military. He was a computer specialist there.

            He said to ask Sal if she could get into safe Mode. If she couldn't, then her hard drive was toast.

            She could not get into Safe Mode, but on a wing and a prayer, we went through the steps listed in the links from Dan.

            Nothing. Her Hard Drive is toast.

            But she has a plan as she was suspecting that especially since her computer is so old.

            That being said, she hopes to be back up and running and online come Saturday.

            Thanks again to everyone who responded trying to help.


            Terra
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            • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
              Terra, you really should ask her to check the connections inside first.. If she opened it to clean it, she may have just accidentally unplugged or partially unplugged a cable. Read the above stuff about this. It may be all it is.

              Other than that, her hard drive is Toast.

              New computer.
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              • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

                Terra, you really should ask her to check the connections inside first.. If she opened it to clean it, she may have just accidentally unplugged or partially unplugged a cable. Read the above stuff about this. It may be all it is.

                Other than that, her hard drive is Toast.

                New computer.
                She did that first, before she even called me the first time.


                Terra
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                • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                  Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                  She did that first, before she even called me the first time.


                  Terra
                  Of course, if she did get the data off, and even say a mirror image of the old hard disk, what would she put it back on too? If she's just after just the data to import into modern programs that will read it then ok, but that means a new computer.

                  If she got a mirror image of the hard disk that could be put on a working IDE hard disk that would work on her old PC then fine, but where do you get a new IDE hard drive from these days, they are all Sata (different connector) So she would probably have to source an old IDE one that would work on her machine, but then, it's pushing old tec which will ultimately break down in the same or another way in the future.

                  I think if it were me, I would just go for the data files and a new machine. All costs money which ever way you go, my friend got 80 percent of her data back and forked out 300 bucks (perhaps more) for a company to do it. None of these kits, leads worked, we bought a few too.

                  Just thinking out loud.
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            • Profile picture of the author discrat
              Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

              Okay, I just got off of the phone with Sal.

              But let me backtrack for a minute. I spoke to a friend of my son's who just got out of the military. He was a computer specialist there.

              He said to ask Sal if she could get into safe Mode. If she couldn't, then her hard drive was toast.

              She could not get into Safe Mode, but on a wing and a prayer, we went through the steps listed in the links from Dan.

              Nothing. Her Hard Drive is toast.

              But she has a plan as she was suspecting that especially since her computer is so old.

              That being said, she hopes to be back up and running and online come Saturday.

              Thanks again to everyone who responded trying to help.


              Terra
              Maybe this is taboo but here is a thought...
              Why don't we have a Drive ( no pun intended) to get Sal a new Computer ?

              I pledge $10 right here and now.

              I think her contribution over the years warrants it !

              Anyone else want to set up a Thread for it ? Or is it disallowed here ?
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              • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
                Originally Posted by discrat View Post

                Maybe this is taboo but here is a thought...
                Why don't we have a Drive ( no pun intended) to get Sal a new Computer ?

                I pledge $10 right here and now.

                I think her contribution over the years warrants it !

                Anyone else want to set up a Thread for it ? Or is it disallowed here ?
                I'm in. If we're serious, I'll match donations up to a total of $150. That would be $300 and would be well on the way to a basic new computer.

                Richard, you should considering starting a gofundme account and put it your sig. That is, if Sal would accept. She's a tough, independant bird.
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                • Profile picture of the author discrat
                  Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

                  I'm in. If we're serious, I'll match donations up to a total of $150. That would be $300 and would be well on the way to a basic new computer.

                  Richard, you should considering starting a gofundme account and put it your sig. That is, if Sal would accept. She's a tough, independant bird.
                  Never have done a gofundme. Not sure about doing that.

                  But I do enjoy helping out people. And NOT saying that Sal needs it.

                  I just think it is cool just to help people( whether its her or many others in here) if you can.

                  Spread the good vibes I say
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                  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
                    Originally Posted by discrat View Post

                    Never have done a gofundme. Not sure about doing that.

                    But I do enjoy helping out people. And NOT saying that Sal needs it.

                    I just think it is cool just to help people( whether its her or many others in here) if you can.

                    Spread the good vibes I say

                    Let's have Terra run the idea by her. I just stumbled on an HP Elite for $180. It'd get her back in the game.

                    Terra, you have your marching orders.
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              • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                Originally Posted by discrat View Post

                Maybe this is taboo but here is a thought...
                Why don't we have a Drive ( no pun intended) to get Sal a new Computer ?

                I pledge $10 right here and now.

                I think her contribution over the years warrants it !

                Anyone else want to set up a Thread for it ? Or is it disallowed here ?
                we would have to create a paid thread - as in a classified then it would be allowed, I believe
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    As Jack recommended, have her keep the drive as she may be able to pull data from it with the proper cable/enclosure bought from Amazon.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      As Jack recommended, have her keep the drive as she may be able to pull data from it with the proper cable/enclosure bought from Amazon.
      She intends to. Actually she has someone who's going to do that for her. It's part of her plan.


      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        She intends to. Actually she has someone who's going to do that for her. It's part of her plan.


        Terra
        I went though all that malarky when it happened to my friends. Nothing worked.

        Hope she has more luck.
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        • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

          I went though all that malarky when it happened to my friends. Nothing worked.

          Hope she has more luck.

          Me too!


          Terra
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

          I went though all that malarky when it happened to my friends. Nothing worked.

          Hope she has more luck.
          It depends on the circumstance, and timing. Like I said, if you get it up, THAT SECOND, try recovering as much as possible! A LOT of things can cause a drive failure. In an old drive that was treated right, the two most likely errors are a soft and a hard error. With a hard error, you may be able to recover most of the other stuff. With a soft error, if you are lucky and persistent, you may be able to recover EVERYTHING! A soft error CAN become a hard error, and a hard error can cause a head crash. Of course, there ARE other things, like a controller failure. Such a failure NOW could hurt her chances of EVER getting the data back at a reasonable price.

          Steve
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