hardrive not reconigesd

J

JohnK

Suspended / Banned
Messages
163
Edit My Images
Yes
hi I was given a toughbook cf-27 yesterday ( I know its old, but all I would like to use it for is to watch training dvds and pdf books on ppwhile I'm on my pc).

started it up and it goes to dos only. went into start up and it states primery master none, secondary cd (its a dvd). I've had a look and there is a hardrive in there and its plugged in.

does anyone have any ideas

thanks
John
 
If it goes to a dos prompt then it must be seeing a drive.
If it's just a flashing cursor it cant see a drive

I would suggest the drive is probably knackered. You'd need to replace it and add an operating system.
 
many thanks Chris
I thought it could be, will have to look out for one
 
hi Neil when I going into start up it cant find a hardrive. I did try and start from the cd drive with a 98 disk in, but it didn't help.
 
if I ask it to boot from cd I get A:\> and if I ask it to boot from hardrive all I get is _ (flashing).
 
sorry Neil if I sound a bit thick during this. there is no floppy disk drive just a dvd drive and starting it using that when asked it goes to The A promt A:\>
 
I have been into the start up and it states primary master NONE and it will not let me change it
 
Theres nothing plugged into any usb ports or card sockets is there?

Just wondering if it's trying to boot from USB....
 
Hi Neil
ASP12DOS SYS 35,330
ASPI4DOS SYS 14,386
ASPI8DOS SYS 37,564
ASPI8U2 SYS 40,792
ASPICD SYS 29,620
AUTOEXEC Bat 462
BTCDROM Sys 21,971
BTOSM sys 30,955
COMMAND COM 93,890
CONFIG SYS 851
EBD CAB 272,206
EXTRACT EXE 93,242
FDISK EXE 63,916
FINDCD EXE 8,009
FLASHPT SYS 64,425
HIMEM SYS 33,191
JO SYS 2,048
MSCDEX EXE 25,473
OAKCDROM sys 41,302
 
That's a DOS boot floppy disc isn't it? lol

You sure this thing hasn't got a floppy drive? how old is it?
 
And if you can remove the hard drive easily, do so and then turn it on and see if you get the A:> prompt. That will prove if it is booting from the hard drive and for some strange reason calling it A:
 
hi Neil yes they are and all plugged in, plus in the metal caddy is a hardrive (its well padded in there)
 
hi Robert, I've taken out the hardrive and started it up, selected boot from cd, and it goes to the A promt and typing in dir I get the same files
 
And there is definitely no CD in the drive?

Long time since I've played with DOS so i've forgotten most of what I knew :)

Anyway lets see if A: is writeable. At the A:> prompt type

copy extract.exe extract2.exe

then DIR again to see if the new file is listed.

(extract.exe was just a file picked at random from your listing above)
 
JohnK said:
sorry Neil if I sound a bit thick during this. there is no floppy disk drive just a dvd drive and starting it using that when asked it goes to The A promt A:\>
Click to expand...

Just re read this..

You are booting from a CD in the drive then?

In which case it has an odd drive letter but the problem is probably just a failed hard drive as suggested earlier lol.
 
Last edited:
hi, Robert, since I've put the hardrive back I can't get the A promt. all I have is operating system not found and a flashing _ . if I put a cd in the drive and re start I get the A promt back
 
hi Robert I an old laptop and will strip out the hardrive and try
 
JohnK said:
hi, Robert, since I've put the hardrive back I can't get the A promt. all I have is operating system not found and a flashing _ . if I put a cd in the drive and re start I get the A promt back
Click to expand...

right so the A prompt sounds like its the cd drive.

the operating system not found sounds more promising, that normally appears when trying to boot from a hard disk.

might be worth running up an OS install disk and see if it goes through.

if not it might be worth popping into the computer shop opposite the firestation in town :)
 
hi just put in a different hardrive with windows 98 on and its started up. mant thanks for your help.
 
I was thinking of going to see Dave and give him a laugh. I had tried an os install disk but no luck. Its just re starting up, still adding new hardware
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top