Help Me!!!
 

**I suppose I should have put this in the Help forum.... Oh well. Feel free to move it.**

My computer has been off since last Thursday. I come home Sunday and turn it on. My motherboard sings at me. It's one of the "error error" beeps, but I don't know what it is.

The computer will detect drives and find both my CD and DVD drives as well as the hard drive.

It will continue making the error sound, and after a while, it will say Primary master hard disk failure

I've tried to boot off XP cd and re-install, but I get an error during setup. It doesn't say what's wrong, just to try again.

I'm assuming my hard drive is faulty, however, it does detect it, so I can't be sure. I'm attempting to locate a spare hard drive of anyone here to test it.

Also, whenever I disconnect the hard drive altogether, I still get the audible error. There is no Primary master hard disk failure (of course because there is no hard disk...), but it still beeps once or twice before trying to boot off the CD.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Go to computerproblems.org and find out how to read computer beeps.

i dont know...just try taking ur hard drive out and inserting it back...maybe its loose or something...the reason i say that is because i had a similar problem a while back...the ram was loose so i just took it out and put it back in and it worked. Try the ram also...but i dont know...hope u get ur computer 2 work.

when comp is starting go to bios, sleect look for drive in : CDROM

put ur windows cd in, restrat, boot from disc, try to repair and if that doesnt work install windows

The beeping your getting is post codes.
Generally they occur when base level hardware is faulty.

If your hard drive was bad, usually you would get an error like "Invalid System Disk", just like when you leave a floppy in your drive.

Chances are good by the sounds of it that your primary IDE controller may be dead. If you can get your hands on an add in IDE controller card, you can disable your motherboards IDE controllers and run the HD to the card to see if that works. If it does then that tells you right there that your motherboards controller is dead. Then you either get one of those controller cards, or buy a new mobo. =)

Just go to WWW.COMPUTERPROBLEMS.ORG and find the thread about reading computer beeps.

Figured it out... the hard drive motor went out.

I told Maxtor to send me a new damn HD and they said it will be mailed in the next two days.

How did you figure it out?

Its common sense, it has been working, its plugged in, primary master is set, if it wasn't the hd then it could have been possibly the motherboard or maybe even the RAM. The same thing happened to my fucking maxtor HD about 2 months ago, I spent like 140 bucks on it, and they said my Warranty was invalid. Fucking cheapscates.