Dell Dimension 4300 bootup issue

[Pc Fixed Right]

I received a dell dimension 4300 desktop the other day. When the computer boots up it says primary hard drive not found hit F1 to continue or F2 to setup. If I hit F1 the computer boots right into windows xp. So the primary hard drive is found than? How can I stop this message from popping up everytime the computer starts?

thank you

 

[14049752]

Check the bios settings. Dell systems will often give that error because it's set to autodetect for a drive that's not there. Set the drives correctly in the bios and your error will go away.

 

[JayTech]

Yeah, just enter the bios and set to boot from the detected hard drive (master) This should get rid of that problem straight away.
JayTech

 

[Pc Fixed Right]

My bios options are limitted to Auto or Off. Ofcourse if I switch to off than the computer cannot find the hard drive and I cant boot =(

 

[Blues]

I think I have seen the BIOS you are using and each drive/device needs to be set to auto if it exsist and off if it doesn't or it will cuase a problem. The BIOS should have 4 drive options Primary Drive 0, Primary Drive 1, Secondary Drive 0, and Secondary Drive 1. Your hard drive should be Primary Drive 0 and your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM should be Secondary Drive 0. You need to set the other two options in BIOS to off instead of auto. You may want to also check the boot order to see what it is booting to first.

 

[pncgreen]

4300 bootup fix

try resetting the NV ram, boot to the
bios (F-2 Setup when restarting) and make sure cap lock scroll lock and num lock are all on and then
press in this order alt + E alt + F and finally Alt and B this will then
reboot the machine and it will re configure its self..

 

[Pc Fixed Right]

thanks guys your suggestions have the machine issue free. =)

 

[thecoldone06]

What did you do to fix the issue?

 

[Pc Fixed Right]

I replaced the cmos battery than got a low voltage warning. So than I took the battery out of the machine and let it sit without the battery for a few days. I than popped the battery back in and viola everything reset itself the way it should be.

 

[pncgreen]

NV ram is cmos

So basically you reset cmos or NV ram.. Non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) is the general name used to describe any type of random access memory which does not lose its information when power is turned off. So i guess what i posted is Dell's way of clearing cmos

try resetting the NV ram, boot to the bios (F-2 Setup when restarting) and make sure cap lock scroll lock and num lock are all on and then
press in this order alt + E alt + F and finally Alt and B this will then
reboot the machine and it will re configure its self

I tryed using these commands on a couple different Dell computers and it worked.. so next time you have that problem try the commands i posted and i think it will solve the problem for you..

 

[Pc Fixed Right]

excellent you are a genius sir =) you are credited for the win