Help , PLEASE

[KhaledBasha]

i have 2 problems..one with a desktop alienware aurora, i tried to full reinstall windows xp, once i enter the set up screen and press enter to begin installation, i get an error saying windows does not detect a harddrive, though bios detects it, aswell as the p.o.s.t..im assuming its missing drivers am i right? its a sata harddrive and a nforce motherboard , i really have no idea where to get these drivers , if my assumptions are correct,

the second problem is with another alienware system, my laptop, once i boot , and the system conduc the P.o.s.t, after it says " bios not installed"..then operating system not found". can it be the motherboard? the ide cable? or the harddrive, i doubt its the harddrive, i tried 3 different harddrive all preloaded with windows xp..still the same problem, so im down to motherboard or ide cable? or maybe someone else i dont know about , but you do, so if you have any info, any advice on either problem, i would really appreciate it , thank you in advance

[bobbyraw]

i have 2 problems..one with a desktop alienware aurora, i tried to full reinstall windows xp, once i enter the set up screen and press enter to begin installation, i get an error saying windows does not detect a harddrive, though bios detects it, aswell as the p.o.s.t..im assuming its missing drivers am i right? its a sata harddrive and a nforce motherboard , i really have no idea where to get these drivers , if my assumptions are correct,

the second problem is with another alienware system, my laptop, once i boot , and the system conduc the P.o.s.t, after it says " bios not installed"..then operating system not found". can it be the motherboard? the ide cable? or the harddrive, i doubt its the harddrive, i tried 3 different harddrive all preloaded with windows xp..still the same problem, so im down to motherboard or ide cable? or maybe someone else i dont know about , but you do, so if you have any info, any advice on either problem, i would really appreciate it , thank you in advance

on the first issue is this a raid setup? if not you would not need driver for the HDD, use the cd/floppy that came with the HDD and set it up for use with an operating system. if the bios detech it and the operating system does not, chances are the drive head/MBR is damage. the cd that came with the drive have a utility to reset the drive head.

on the second issue if you are getting a bios not found then there is erious issue with the bios, how old is the laptop, maybe chenging the battery with fix it, but you dod say that is report that no operating system found, this means it is not detecting the HDD, yes check the ide cable for the HDD, can you go into the bios, look if the HDD is shown , if not you might want to think about a new HDD, or boot from the windows xp cd and try to repair the MBR from the repair console (fixmbr)

[KhaledBasha]

thank you for replying..as for the laptop , its about 2 years old..area 51 m7700..i used to get a "no devices attached to fastrack" message ..a few restarts later , that disappeared by itself..the problem with going into bios, is that i cant go into bios, at the boot screen i press f2 nonstop, and it does nothing, it continues on to the bios not installed, then operating system not found..its def not the harddrive, since i pulled out that hdd and used it on another system, and it booted just fine..when you say " change the battery" do you mean the battery pack, or the cmos battery

and as for the desktop, it is a raid set up..i have no idea where to get the driver, or how to put it on a floppy ,since the floppy drive is on this very computer that im having trouble with, i dont have any floppy drives on any of my other desktops , and no usb floppys aswell..so what do you think? thanks again

[Darvus]

I think he meant use the floppy (with the driver on it) that came with the drive or system. I'm assuming your computer came with documentation and directions on how to restore the system to factory settings. They all do. If you can find that, it should tell you how to get it back up and running again.

Assuming you can find the discs that came with your system, below is the article you need to restore your system to factory settings. For reference, I'm also posting the link to the Alienware instructions on how to get your RAID setup running again. Fair warning: this REQUIRES a floppy disk to be created with the drivers. You may have to move the drive to another machine temporarily, or get a USB floppy drive from the local electronics store.

System restoration using Alienware Respawn recovery process -> should be automated. No drivers needed!
Set up Windows XP on a RAID array
Windows XP system recovery process (OS only! Drivers not installed!!!)

As for the laptop, you might have to consult with Alienware tech support. It sounds specifically like a hardware problem and not something easily fixed. I hope I'm wrong, but...

I hope this helps.

[Darvus]

KhaledBasha, did you ever get your problem resolved? If so, please let me know what happened and mark the thread as "solved" (there's a link below the last post). If not, please let me know what you tried so I can try again.

[KhaledBasha]

im sorry..actually yes , one of them was resolved..the desktop..it turned out to be the raid drivers, i had to install that first before installing windows ( as you guys mentioned) , but the problem was the floppy drive, it was broken, so i got a usb floppy from circuit city ( on sale for 7 bucks, not bad right?) and everything is fine now.. as for the laptop, i was pretty sure it was the ide cable, since a few of the pins turned out to be bent. but straighten them back into place, and still nothing, i didnt want to buy the piece online, since many laptop part shops over price alienware parts, they take advantage, i mean 70 dollars for a piece thats not even worth 5 dollars..so i took it to a tech, and its not the cable its the motherboard..so i guess its just junk now..but thanks to everyone that helped out..takecare

[Darvus]

I'm sorry to hear the laptop is lost. Unfortunately, motherboard problems are the death of all laptops. They're just not worth replacing.

I'm glad we could help re: the desktop. If there's anything else you need, let us know (in a new thread, if unrelated, of course :p ).

Once again, please mark this thread as "solved" so that others browsing the forums can see and benefit from it. It should be at the bottom of the page near the "reply to post" button.

[KhaledBasha]

its def not worth replacing, especially for what alienware is asking for..600 bucks for the clevo motherboard.289 dollars for the mobo and 311 to ship it. which is weird but i'll just sell it for parts..thanks again for all your help..