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Question

No hard drive found

Mar 13, 2012 11:46AM PDT

Help! The power went off several times recently and this is the only thing I can attribute this problem with. I turned my desktop emachines back on and it would not boot up. After trying everything possible, I decided to try to re-install Vista OS w/ the disc that came with the computer (didn't want to restore factory fresh due to loosing everything) but it wouldn't let me. Couldn't find any drivers and msg said "no hard drive found? What would cause this and is there anything I can do to gain access to my computer and files again?! I'm desperate, a lot of near and dear to my heart files on that computer... I spent over 3 long aspirating hours working on this issue. Can someone shed some light? Please?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
It's entirely possible
Mar 13, 2012 10:34PM PDT

It's entirely possible the drive was damaged when the power went out. So hopefully you have backups of anything important, otherwise you're looking at probably a couple grand to send it off to a recovery service. Might not be a bad idea to take it somewhere and get an opinion from someone who can actually look at the system though.

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No hard drive found
Mar 14, 2012 12:39AM PDT

A couple grand?! Why won't it let me reload the OS? Restore, fix, nothing?

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Re: why won't it let me reload the OS.
Mar 14, 2012 12:55AM PDT

Jimmy calls it "damaged". Maybe it's more clear if I call it "dead". With a dead drive you can do nothing except using it as a weight. Not restore, not fix, nothing.

That couple of grand (might be less) is for reviving it enough to get your data off.

Kees