Tim,

When these type of things happen, you can use logic to try and narrow down 
the cause. Your OS probably did not crash, but you cannot boot because the 
disk is not being seen.

If we assume that both the disk and CD were working prior to the computer 
crashing, then you start to look for a common cause, something that would 
cause both to fail at the same time.

When it comes to hard disks and CD drives, the two common components are 
the power supply and the IDE interface. Lets take these one at a time..

IDE interface:
The IDE interface is usually built on to the CPU motherboard, and connect 
to the drives via an IDE cable. If the CD drive is chained (slaved) off the 
hard disk, then either the IDE interface on the motherboard died, or the 
IDE cable came loose or is bad. It is easy to check for a loose cable after 
opening up the case. Also inspect it to make sure it isn't broken. Check 
the power cables to the drives also.

If that looks OK, then the IDE interface on the motherboard could have 
died. It is unlikely for no apparent reason, but possible. This would 
require replacement, but unless you are familiar with building PC's or feel 
comfortable with this level of task, you would probably do better to buy a 
new PC. Especially if it is more than a couple years old.

A bad power supply could cause this. Disk drives (and CD drives) need both 
5V and 12V. If the 12V failed, the CPU and so on would still work, but the 
drive platters won't spin up (12V drives the motor), and typically read as 
a dead drive. The one thing that would tend to make it seem like this is 
not so is the fact that the floppy works, and they usually need 12V also.

Hopefully these tips will give you some more things to look at. If you 
still have problems, feel free to post again.

Russ Poffenberger
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At 11:49 AM 8/2/2006, Tim Seaton wrote:
>My PC has completely crashed and is no longer recognizing the operating
>system (Windows XP Home).  I am unable to reinstall, as it does not
>recognizing the CD Drives either.  When I initially boot up the computer,
>I receive the following message:
>
>        Strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility
>
>If F1 is struck, nothing seems to happen.  Upon striking F2, I am
>taken to the Setup Utility as described.  Everything looks normal except
>under the boot sequence, which reads as follows:
>
>        1. Hard Disk Drive (not installed)
>        2. CD-Rom Device (not installed)
>        3. Diskette Drive
>
>Since the A: drive was available; I attempted to use a boot disk to
>start the computer.  In doing so, I did manage to get to an A:\> prompt,
>but was unable to get any further.  I cannot get the computer to
>recognize the CD for reinstallation of the OS.  I receive an error message
>telling me I cannot install from DOS.
>
>Can anyone please help me fix this situation, as I need the computer
>for both work and school.  Thank you in advance!
>
>Tim Seaton

Russ Poffenberger
[log in to unmask] 

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