Member Avatar for bathtubjen

First of all, I'm not a super computer techie, so if you can help me, please keep the acronyms and jargon to a minimum...treat me like your grandmother who is using emial for the first time! (I'm not that bad, but still!)

I have a older Dell Latitude that won't recognize the hard drive. When I run diagnostics, I get the following:
Start DST Short Test
Test Results: Fail
Error Code: 1000-0141
Message: No Drive Detected

I googled this error and it basically sounds like I'm FUBAR. But, I thought I'd give this a shot. I have tried to run the diagnostics driver, but nothing. I keep getting a blue screen message, but it flashes so quickly I can't write anything down... something about Kernal Data and dumping memory.

I decided to forget it, just lose everything on it, delete the partition and start all over (I've had to do this once before, and until now, it worked like a charm.) Well, it won't let me delete the partition, but it won't tell me why. I tried re-installing XP again, and it won't let me do that either, again it won't tell me why.

So now, when I turn it on, I either get a black screen that tells me there is no recognizeable hard drive or and to press F1 to reboot or F12 for set-up, XP looks like it's about to start up, then a blue screen flashes and it starts to boot again, XP starts up, blue screen flashes, and so on...Why does my laptop hate me so much?! Please help if you can! Thanks!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by DellOutreach

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and likely cause: the Dell DST failure (1000-0141) together with chkdsk stopping at ~40% and intermittent blue screens usually points to a failing hard drive or a flaky drive connection, not a Windows configuration problem. correctly suggested chkdsk but the test result indicates physical media problems; ’s enclosure idea is the right next step for data rescue; ’s advice that it could be either the drive or motherboard is accurate but the balance of evidence favors the drive.

Recommended, ordered actions (preserve data first)

  1. Stop trying to reinstall or write to the disk. Writes can make recovery harder.
  2. Verify whether the BIOS sees a drive (Dells commonly use F2 for setup or F12 for boot menu). If the drive is not listed in BIOS, hardware-level failure or connector problem is likely.
  3. Power down, remove AC and battery, remove the drive from the caddy and inspect/clean the connector. Try reseating it and check BIOS again.
  4. If still not seen, put the drive into a USB 2.5" external enclosure or use a USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter and attach to another PC. If the drive appears, copy important files immediately (do not run repair tools first if the goal is file recovery).
  5. If the drive is visible but needs repair, running chkdsk from the Windows Recovery Console is an option (example):
chkdsk /r C:

Run that only after critical data has been backed up or when willing to accept possible further data loss.

When to replace or seek service

  • If the drive is never detected on another machine, replacement is very likely. Replace with the correct 2.5" type (IDE/PATA or SATA depending on that Latitude model).
  • If a new known-good drive also is not detected, the motherboard or its drive connector is the probable fault; warranty/Dell service (mention the service tag if available) is the right path.
  • For irreplaceable data, professional recovery services can help but are costly.

Practical note: inexpensive enclosures/adapters are the fastest, cheapest way to confirm and recover data before buying parts or sending for repair.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for ShawnCplus

You won't believe it but I got this problem yesterday at work while cloning a Dell Latitude. I reluctantly called Dell and they said exactly what you seemed to have learned as well, fubar

Member Avatar for bathtubjen

Noooooo!!!

Member Avatar for bathtubjen

I am now starting the Bathtubjen Relief Foundation...our mission is to raise money to relieve me of my misery caused by my evil laptop! If you would like to donate, please let me know!

Member Avatar for bathtubjen

Thanks, but it didn't work. It runs for 40% then tells me that 1 or more volumes have an error which it cannot recover from! I'm back at square one.

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

Well, atleast that wasn't completly useless. You may have something wrong with your hard drive, thats why you have bad sectors in your hard drive. You could try a format and reinstall, but it probably wont work because of the bad parts of the drive. YOu may have to get a new hard drive for your your computer.

Member Avatar for arneson

If this comp was in fact in the Bathtub that could explain a lot.
I will tell you what I would do for what its worth.
First I would go buy an inexpensive remote drive enclosure.
Next, and not to difficult,Granny, I would remove drive thats called fubar and put it in enclosure.
Hook up to any XP computer and see if my stuff is there.
Recover anything I can, pictures, music, letters etc.
Then, if the above works, find a new bigger hard drive to put in your comp. and use old drive for unimportant stuff.
Finally, take long hot bath.

Member Avatar for DellOutreach

I have a older Dell Latitude that won't recognize the hard drive. When I run diagnostics, I get the following:
Start DST Short Test
Test Results: Fail
Error Code: 1000-0141
Message: No Drive Detected

My name is John, and I am a customer advocate at Dell headquarters. The error quoted above indicates that either your hard drive needs to be replaced or your motherboard does. I would be happy to help you determine which is the problem. The results of the chkdsk you ran would strongly suggest the drive and not the motherboard.

Please contact me at and include your service tag. I would be happy to look into our support options and assist you in any way that I can.

John
Dell Customer Advocate

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