Cant detect HDD on the bios.

[Hiptalamus]

I'm unable to boot to windows windows 7, it always freezes at Windows Starting up but never leaves the screen until I restart it. I've tried booting into safe mode and all that jazz but freezes while loading up all the drivers. My Bios doesn't detect the HDD, all I can boot too is:

DVD/Cdrom (tried booting from installation disc, doesn't work)
Network 0 for IPv4
Network 0 for IPv6

I have booted tails from a USB so I think the RAM is working, I don't know if it's the HDD failing or corrupted Windows, or maybe even the motherboard? The real problem is that I have no other computer to use to fix my laptop, I go to college but all the schools computers/laptops won't let me download anything. What are my best options? I just don't want to buy a HDD and it not be the problem, especially because I'm a broke college student. If you have any questions I will happily answer very quickly! Thanks!

 

[Multipack]

First try running a Windows repair from a recovery partition or USB/flash. Failing that, if you have your data backed up, try resetting or flashing the BIOS. Seeing as it's Windows 7 I am guessing it's quite old which could well explain a hdd failure, which it sounds like. Doesnt sound like the mobo.

 

[Hiptalamus]

First try running a Windows repair from a recovery partition or USB/flash. Failing that, if you have your data backed up, try resetting or flashing the BIOS. Seeing as it's Windows 7 I am guessing it's quite old which could well explain a hdd failure, which it sounds like. Doesnt sound like the mobo.

OK, thanks for the reply, I don't know where I can download the windows repair because the schools laptops don't let me download anything, but that sounds like a personal problem

 

[Multipack]

Your laptop probably has a built in repair partition, but it sounds like you may have tried that. Without being able to boot, or at least get into the BIOS, it's hard to diagnose the problem accurately

 

[Hiptalamus]

Your laptop probably has a built in repair partition, but it sounds like you may have tried that. Without being able to boot, or at least get into the BIOS, it's hard to diagnose the problem accurately

I can get into BIOS I just don't know what to do from there!

 

[slowhands95128]

Since BIOS does not see the hard drive, best guess is the drive is bad. Get a similar new drive and install it. If BIOS sees the drive, then your old drive was bad. Now you just have to install Windows and get back to work. If you are very unlucky, your motherboard is bad. If the CD drive does not work either, most likely the SATA controller is not working and the motherboard might be bad. That's unlikely, but you said you can't boot from DVD, so I mention it. The more likely failure is hard drive.

Hard drives do fail. It could have been caused by wearout, impact, or overheating. If the laptop is old, and you used it a lot, it might be worn out. If you dropped the laptop hard , that usually breaks or cracks something like a display, or display bezel, so you'll see evidence. If your laptop cracked, the hard drive could be damaged too. The last problem, overheating, is common and can be due to hard drive bearing wearout, or clogged cooling fan. You can't economically repair a disk drive, so replace it if that is the cause.

After a couple of years, dust, lint and hair find their way into the cooling fan area and block the flow. This is really more of a problem for the graphics unit and the CPU. The machine has a heat sensor and will reduce clock speed to reduce heating. That's the clue, the machine slowing down for no apparent reason after you turn it on for a few minutes.

The cooling fan takes a little effort to clean, but you can do it. The best instructions for that are posted on Youtube. Find a video about cleaning a laptop fan on a laptop similar to yours. There are many models posted, but each brand (Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, etc.) usually has common enough physical layout that you can work out how to do your model. And good luck!