If your computer is suddenly showing the error, "Primary hard disk drive not found" or "no bootable device," there may be a problem with your hard drive. To diagnose the problem, you can take several approaches.
Instructions
1. Check the wire connections to your hard drive. To do this, shut down your computer and disconnect all cords connected to the tower. Attach the grounding strip to your wrist. Open the side access panel, and make sure the ribbon cable and power supply cable are fully connected to the hard drive. Follow the ribbon cable from the hard drive to the motherboard and check to make sure the cable is properly seated.
2. Check the pins on both the motherboard and the hard drive. If you recently installed a new hard drive, there is a possibility that one or more of the pins on the motherboard or the hard drive may have been bent in the process.
3. Check the jumpers on the hard drive. Hard drives have jumpers allowing you to configure them for proper operation. These jumper settings are "Master," "Slave" and "Cable Select". If your hard drive does not have the correct jumper setting, your computer will not recognize it. Your primary hard drive must be set to the "Master" jumper setting. Refer to the diagram on your hard drive or the instructions that came with the drive for the proper jumper position.
4. Check the hard drive functionality. This step must be done with extreme care because it involves powering up the computer with the side access panel removed. Connect the power cord to your computer and boot it up. Listen to the hard drive to see if it is spinning. If you don't hear any sound from the hard drive, it is possible that the hard drive has failed and needs to be replaced. If you replace the hard drive and you still hear nothing, it is possible that your motherboard has failed.
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