- My Dell Vostro V13 is not able to recognize hard drive on the start up

[YajasK]

I have been using a Vostro V13 and it has been working well by now but the problem that I have started facing is that the on the startup it is not able to recognize the hard disk and it says that the operating system is not found and media test failure and something like that. I don’t have much knowledge about all this and I am under warranty as well but I just wanted to know if I can get it work on myself or things that I can try before going to the service center. Any suggestion regarding the same will be appreciated.

[Samaria]

I have been using a Vostro V13 and it has been working well by now but the problem that I have started facing is that the on the startup it is not able to recognize the hard disk and it says that the operating system is not found and media test failure and something like that. I don’t have much knowledge about all this and I am under warranty as well but I just wanted to know if I can get it work on myself or things that I can try before going to the service center. Any suggestion regarding the same will be appreciated.

I will suggest you to remove the hard disk and then insert it again but then be careful while doing this if you if you have not don’t that previously just check it out and see if it is making any difference but if not then I think that your hard disk might have gone corrupted and you will have to get it replaced. IF you are under warranty then I think that there will not be much problem but then it also depends on the company of the hard disk. I mean on their replacement strategy and all it can take time up to 15 days or 1 month as well. I will also like to share that there are a no of data recovery software’s as well so if there is some important data then you can try out the free version of them on some other machine to get your data from your corrupted hard disk. Just check it out and then let me know whether just removing and then inserting it back again is solving the problem or not. Best of luck.

[Anjan1990]

I have been using a Vostro V13 and it has been working well by now but the problem that I have started facing is that the on the startup it is not able to recognize the hard disk and it says that the operating system is not found and media test failure and something like that. I don’t have much knowledge about all this and I am under warranty as well but I just wanted to know if I can get it work on myself or things that I can try before going to the service center. Any suggestion regarding the same will be appreciated.

I think that your hard drive is not corrupted and all because I have came across the lines that you have specified regarding the error and I will like to inform you that the cause of this error is just that your laptop trying to boot from a network server/drive rather than trying to boot from the hardisk.What all you have to do for now is just enter your BIOS and after that just check the first boot device and if I am right then it will be showing as LAN and if it is so then just uncheck the first boot device and then just check the hard dist in the second boot option and then reboot it and then your problem will be solved without any problem. Just try to perform the above solution and then let me know if it is solving your problem or not. If yes then well and good and if not then I will try to help you out with other solution.

[Samaria]

I think that your hard drive is not corrupted and all because I have came across the lines that you have specified regarding the error and I will like to inform you that the cause of this error is just that your laptop trying to boot from a network server/drive rather than trying to boot from the hardisk.What all you have to do for now is just enter your BIOS and after that just check the first boot device and if I am right then it will be showing as LAN and if it is so then just uncheck the first boot device and then just check the hard dist in the second boot option and then reboot it and then your problem will be solved without any problem. Just try to perform the above solution and then let me know if it is solving your problem or not. If yes then well and good and if not then I will try to help you out with other solution.

I think that you are completely wrong in this case and I will like inform you that if the hard drive is just disappearing form the boot list then there is definitely something wrong with the hard disk itself and if the method like resetting it does not work then it is for sure dead or corrupted. I will also like to inform you that it normally gets switched to lan when it is not able to recognize the hard disk and no one is stupid to set it to lan manually so better read the problem first carefully and then try to answer it.

[Anjan1990]

I think that you are completely wrong in this case and I will like inform you that if the hard drive is just disappearing form the boot list then there is definitely something wrong with the hard disk itself and if the method like resetting it does not work then it is for sure dead or corrupted. I will also like to inform you that it normally gets switched to lan when it is not able to recognize the hard disk and no one is stupid to set it to lan manually so better read the problem first carefully and then try to answer it.

I know that I am right because I had worked in a dell company and I will also like to inform you that this is one of the most common error and I used to deal with it every day and that is why I am quite sure about it and the very common solution for this common problem is just setting the BIOPS to default again. So I think that you should better understand the problem and then answer it rather than suggesting any other solution which is not at all related to the problem or else just wait and let him try out my solution and then you will come to know who was right and who was wrong. Till then just wait till your fingers crossed.

[Samaria]

I know that I am right because I had worked in a dell company and I will also like to inform you that this is one of the most common error and I used to deal with it every day and that is why I am quite sure about it and the very common solution for this common problem is just setting the BIOPS to default again. So I think that you should better understand the problem and then answer it rather than suggesting any other solution which is not at all related to the problem or else just wait and let him try out my solution and then you will come to know who was right and who was wrong. Till then just wait till your fingers crossed.

I don’t think that it is a common problem because even I have been visiting a no of forum and I have been using dell laptops since long years and I have found that this type of case is quite rare. I can say that it can be one in hundreds where the cause for the booting problem is the corrupted disk or where the os in not found by the computer and on the other hand I will again like to inform you that the default on the BIOS is to auto-sense the hard drive because of which if even the CMOS battery fails and if the hard disk fine then it will be shown in the boot list. So I really doubt that you have worked in a dell company when you are not aware of these.

[Mahalingam]

I don’t think that it is a common problem because even I have been visiting a no of forum and I have been using dell laptops since long years and I have found that this type of case is quite rare. I can say that it can be one in hundreds where the cause for the booting problem is the corrupted disk or where the os in not found by the computer and on the other hand I will again like to inform you that the default on the BIOS is to auto-sense the hard drive because of which if even the CMOS battery fails and if the hard disk fine then it will be shown in the boot list. So I really doubt that you have worked in a dell company when you are not aware of these.

Yes I agree to you even I have heard that the hard disk problems are very rare in booting case and the cause for it is corrupt hard disk for most of the time other than that it only occurs when someone messes with the BIOS setting and change it without knowing or being aware of it and the booting device does not gets changed to the LAN unless it finds or recognize the battery without any problem.

[YajasK]

Hey thanks to you all guys I was able to solve the problem by just resetting the hard disk I don’t know what the exact problem was but then I just removed the battery and then inserted it again and after that it was able to boot properly without any problem.I was trying to reboot it a no of times but it was not working. I had also tried to remove the battery and then insert it again but I wish I had done that previously with the HDD as well. Any ways once again thanks for the help.

[Samaria]

I know that I am right because I had worked in a dell company and I will also like to inform you that this is one of the most common error and I used to deal with it every day and that is why I am quite sure about it and the very common solution for this common problem is just setting the BIOPS to default again. So I think that you should better understand the problem and then answer it rather than suggesting any other solution which is not at all related to the problem or else just wait and let him try out my solution and then you will come to know who was right and who was wrong. Till then just wait till your fingers crossed.

So it think that you got your answer so form next times just read the problem first and then answer it and if you really don’t know about it then better don’t try to help because then you will create another problem with your solutions.

[Kaesav]

Even I am having the same problem with the same laptop and even it is not able to recognize the hard disk. In the start I was thinking that the hard disk was corrupted but then when I connected it to my desktop then I was working fine but I don’t know why it is not getting recognized by the laptop. I had connected the hard disk to the computer using the SATA to USB converter but then later when I connected the hard disk to the lap top using the SATA to USB converter then it was able to recognize it without any problem but then after sometimes It started giving me a blue screen and then the system rebooted automatically but then I tried to go through the safe mode as I needed the important data from my laptop but now I am not able to access the encrypted files for which I had used the bitlocker software. I don’t know what to do know to get the data back.

[Samaria]

Even I am having the same problem with the same laptop and even it is not able to recognize the hard disk. In the start I was thinking that the hard disk was corrupted but then when I connected it to my desktop then I was working fine but I don’t know why it is not getting recognized by the laptop. I had connected the hard disk to the computer using the SATA to USB converter but then later when I connected the hard disk to the lap top using the SATA to USB converter then it was able to recognize it without any problem but then after sometimes It started giving me a blue screen and then the system rebooted automatically but then I tried to go through the safe mode as I needed the important data from my laptop but now I am not able to access the encrypted files for which I had used the bitlocker software. I don’t know what to do know to get the data back.

I think that you can try to connect it to other computer as you have specified that it was working fine when you had connected it to other computer with the help of the SATA to USB converter and after connecting if it is working fine than you can try to get your data from other machine rather than trying it to connect it to your laptop again and then trying to access it through the safemode. Just check it out if it is helping you out or not and if you are having any further problem then let me know so i9 can try to help you out with other possible solution