Member Avatar for teen08

hi, i hav a problem.. last friday, i cleaned my processors fan n graphic card fan...and after putin everythin back again, i tried startin back n it couldnt detect my hardisk!! it was sayin NTLDR is missng press ctrl+alt+del... and i checked my bios and it was sayin my master HD was "not installed" my slave was ok...what do i do?? can my HD can repaired?? how bout my data?? can i recover it back?? i really want my data back... but to recover from a recovery company it bloody damn expensive..im still a student dun relly hav tat kinda of cash..do help guys...

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Building on 's reseat tip and 's follow‑up that the other drive on the same IDE cable is seen, this narrows the fault to the suspect drive, its jumper/power, or its electronics. The safest approach is a short, ordered checklist that isolates the cause and preserves data.

  1. Power down and unplug. Swap the suspect drive's Molex with the working drive's Molex to rule out a faulty power lead.
  2. Disconnect the other drive and attach the suspect drive alone at the cable end (master position). Confirm the jumper is set to Master or Cable Select before powering up.
  3. Try a known‑good IDE cable or another IDE port if available.
  4. Reset BIOS to defaults or clear CMOS and set IDE detection to Auto; check whether the drive is now listed.
  5. Listen at power‑on: quiet spin is good; repeated clicking or total silence suggests mechanical/electronic failure — stop powering the drive to avoid further damage.
  6. If BIOS detects the disk, boot from a Linux live USB or recovery environment and image or copy critical files immediately (use read‑only tools or imaging utilities if possible).
  7. If the drive remains invisible on another PC or with a USB‑IDE adapter, it is likely a hardware failure and may require professional recovery.

Do not open the hard drive platters. If the data is important and signs point to hardware failure, avoid prolonged power cycles and consider a recovery lab.

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Member Avatar for Laser

chances are you just dislodged a cable when you were cleaning. try reseating the power connector on the hdd and data cable at both the hdd and mainboard.

Member Avatar for teen08

but my slave on da same IDE cable can be detected...

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