laptop boot problems

[blackjack]

My freind brought her laptop round to see if i could get it working but i have no idea whats wrong.
PROBLEM when you turn it on you get a beep and a small blue box appears saying boot device with 3 options 1 hard disc c , 2 cd-rom/dvd, 3 floppy.
If i select 1 or 2 ,3 i get NO BOOTABLE CDIN ATAPI CD- ROM
i try putting in the recovery disc an get

SYSTEM RECOVERY

NO HARD DISC FOUND
SYSTEM RECOVERY CANNOT BE CONTINUED

PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE

alas nothing happends, can someone help shed some light on this problem please

 

[Raffaz]

Possibly a lose connection on the HDD

 

[dude_se]

sounds like the hard drive isnt plugged in properly for some reason. or maybe its not being picked up. go into the bios and usually theres a menu to scan for hdds or something like that. every bios is different but i have a menu on my old pc that scans for ide devices that are connected to the pc, i have to run that whenever i change the hdd

 

[ace777]

Check IDE cables, maybe try and replace them?

 

[blackjack]

Possibly a lose connection on the HDD

How do i get into the hdd raffaz im a bit reluctant to go meddling with the insides of my freinds laptop

 

[Raffaz]

Sometimes its just an opening on the bottom of the case, other times its not. If you goto the manufacturers website, they might have a diagram there for replacing the HDD so just refer to that. Before all that tho, you might wanna run a HDD diagnostic on the drive just to make sure its not just dead.

 

[ace777]

take it to get it repaired by someone professional? Its just like a desktop only everything is REALLY cramped together.If you can get it opened I think the HDD is right there when you open it.But all laptops are diffrent.

 

[dude_se]

be careful as it may void her warranty if you open it up. best to check that with her.

 

[blackjack]

Sometimes its just an opening on the bottom of the case, other times its not. If you goto the manufacturers website, they might have a diagram there for replacing the HDD so just refer to that. Before all that tho, you might wanna run a HDD diagnostic on the drive just to make sure its not just dead.

How do i run a diagnostic of the hdd raffaz?

 

[Raffaz]

How do i run a diagnostic of the hdd raffaz?

Goto the HDD manufacturers website and download their diagnostic tool, then burn to CD and boot up from it. Does the HDD show up in the BIOS?