[SOLVED] Fail message

[Cadeau]

Windows 98 Duron 450
when the computer starts it displays the page that says Duron 450 64meg ram etc. On the same page it says found cd rom then it says found cdrw, then it pauses for about 20 secs and then displays the message "primary master hard disk fail". The computer displayed this message about a week ago and was restarted about 10 times and it displayed the same message each time. Tonight I booted up the computer and it went into windows ok. I restarted the compter several times and it restarted ok. I shut it down several times and it started back up ok. I am now getting this master hard disk fail again. Could it be the cmos battery ? Or is the hard drive junk? I was able to run scan disc ( no bad sectors or errors) and defrag when it did start.
thanks

 

[pvc9]

How old is the harddisk? Is it a new one? Check for a setting in the BIOS which is similar to Quick Power-On Self Test, disable that option. See if that helps. Also check the cable connections.

 

[Cadeau]

How old is the hard drive ? Hmmmmm I'm not sure . It's a 2 gig. Probally about 4 years old is my guess.

 

[pvc9]

OK, look for that setting in the BIOS and if you find it, disable it. Disabling the Quick POST setting would delay the bootup process by few seconds and in the meantime your HDD will startup and should be detected.

 

[Cadeau]

Ok Ill try this but it is kinda wierd because this system has been working good with no error messages for over a year now . Do you think the hard drive is developing a problem ??

 

[pvc9]

It could be a problem with the HDD. I'm not sure but infact the same has happened to me as well. I've 2 HDDs a 40 GB one and another 2 GB. I had the same problem with the 2 GB HDD, it wouldnt be detected when I start the system, I had to restart few times but later I solved the problem by disabling the Quick POST setting in the BIOS.

 

[Cadeau]

Ok Thanks for the help PVC 9

 

[pvc9]

Np Cadeau

So is the problem solved?

 

[Cadeau]

PVC9. It was gettin late last night so I never got aound to making the change to see if it would work or no. I'll try tonight after work and post how it went .

 

[Cadeau]

PVC9 . Yes that seems to have cured the problem . Thanks again for the help !

 

[pvc9]

[tsg=yourewelcome][/tsg]

 

[Cadeau]

Well PVC9, It's doing it again. Primary hard disc fail. The cables are all connected good and I did go into cmos and disabled the post test. It sems to have run fine for about 2 weeks but the message is back. Do you think this sounds like the end of the hard drive? I know before when I was gettin this message and I run scan disc it showed no errors or bad sectors. Suggestions

 

[pvc9]

Hmm...I'm not sure if its the harddisk. But just for a trial...connect another harddisk...temporarily and see if you get the same error message again, that way we'll know if its the HDD or some of the connections or settings in the BIOS...try it and post back.