I have been borrowing my Aunts old computer for the past month or so, and this morning I turned it on to find it WOULD not boot because, apparently, the HDD does not exist.
I tried booting from the XP disc to reinstall it but the same issue occurred.

I have no idea how this could have happened in the 7 hours between shutting it down last night and turning it on this morning.

Its a very old prebuilt computer from Packard Bell, from 2000-2001.

Specs are as follows:
Intel CELERON 2.0Ghz CPU
256MB RAM (DDR)
40GB HDD
SiS650 32MB Shared Graphics

I have Avira Antivir installed and scanned regularly, nothing was detected, and I havn't noticed anything strange.
I opened it up and checked to make sure the HDD had not come loose somehow; It hadnt.

I'm out of ideas, and don't understand how it could have been working normally last night, and somehow have this problem 7 hours later.

If you require any additional information I will attempt to provide it.
Thanks in advance, Jim.It's kinda like a light bulb, it can burn out at any time. It's the power cycling that usually does it in.

Do you know how, or are you able to ENTER Setup (aka: BIOS, CMOS)? It's DEL, F1, F2 or some other key when you first power on. See if the HDD is detected in the BIOS.I just checked.. Can't see it in the BIOS either. :/

Any ideas?

Thanks, JimProbably the hard drive is dead, it is 9 years old. Can you HEAR and/or feel it spinning?I'm not sure.. I dont think so, but I'm not positive.

I can hear a slight general whirr from inside but I dont know if thats the hard drive spinning or not.If you don't see it in the BIOS, then something is wrong: either power connector is loose or IDE flat ribbon cable is loose, sometimes hard to tell just by looking. Unplug and replug to be sure. Obviously power down and remove cord from wall or switch psu off if it has a power switch. If still no go, then drive is dead.Alright cheers.
I'm gonna have breakfast and I'll do that afterwards.What error are you getting at boot?Quote from: Computer_Commando on November 14, 2009, 05:37:05 PM

It's kinda like a light bulb, it can burn out at any time. It's the power cycling that usually does it in.

Do you know how, or are you able to enter Setup (aka: BIOS, CMOS)? It's DEL, F1, F2 or some other key when you first power on. See if the HDD is detected in the BIOS.