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Oct 1st, 2004
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"primary drive 0 not found"

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the other day i was checking my email and running a musicjukebox when all of a sudden my computer froze. i thought this was normal so i just ctrl alt del but the computer wouldn't restart. so i powered down my computer. when i tried to boot it up again, i received a message "primary drive 0 not found"
i was prompted to either F1 or F12 i believe (maybe it was F2). i hit F1 and when i viewed the drive description it said it was "unknown"

i opened up my tower and tried to reseat the harrddrive...disconnected and reconnected the cables. nothing worked...

any suggestions?

oh i also noticed that when i try to boot it up, i hear a clicking noise coming from the harddrive "cl-click...cl-click..cl-click"

i have a Dell Dimension 8300 i think...only about 1.5 years old

are my files somewhat recoverable?
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stranoblaze is offline Offline
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since Oct 2004
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Oct 2nd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

It sounds to me like your drive is dying. You could try to put it in a system as a slave drive and see if you have access to your data. If that doesn't work, you could try this utility:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
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Posting Maven
dlh6213 is offline Offline
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Oct 2nd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

Quote originally posted by dlh6213 ...
It sounds to me like your drive is dying. You could try to put it in a system as a slave drive and see if you have access to your data. If that doesn't work, you could try this utility:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

but if my computer won't even boot up, how can i DL this utility?

thanks
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stranoblaze is offline Offline
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Oct 2nd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

Buy a new hard drive. It sounds like the one you have is DEAD, not simply dying!
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Grandad
Catweazle is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

is there any possible way to recover SOME of the files at least?
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stranoblaze is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

Quote originally posted by stranoblaze ...
is there any possible way to recover SOME of the files at least?
After you get another hard drive, install this old one as a slave and see if you can access the files. If not, try the restoration utility suggested earlier. But if the drive stops running entirely, it won't work. If the drive does stop working completely, do a search here for 'freezer' for a possible solution.
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Posting Maven
dlh6213 is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

ok, i'll see what i can do. the freezer trick sounds sketchy but if it has been successful i guess it's worth a shot, right?!
thanks!
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stranoblaze is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

If you use that 'freezer trick' ensure you seal the drive in a plastic bag to protect it from moisture, and connect the thing and fire it up as quickly as possible after removing it from the freezer.

If the trick works, you want to maximise your 'window of opportunity' to lift those files off of it
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Grandad
Catweazle is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

Quote originally posted by Catweazle ...
If you use that 'freezer trick' ensure you seal the drive in a plastic bag to protect it from moisture, and connect the thing and fire it up as quickly as possible after removing it from the freezer.

If the trick works, you want to maximise your 'window of opportunity' to lift those files off of it

has this freezer trick worked even with HDs that had the clicking noise?
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stranoblaze is offline Offline
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Oct 3rd, 2004
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Re: "primary drive 0 not found"

Dunno, but it definitely HAS worked with drives which BIOS could no longer identify.
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Grandad
Catweazle is offline Offline
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This thread is more than three months old

No one has posted to this discussion for at least three months. Please let old threads die and do not reply to them unless you feel you have something new and valuable to contribute that absolutely must be added to make the discussion complete. Otherwise, please start a new thread in this forum instead.
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