OS XP SP3 no hard drive found

[BillQC]

Trying to fix Daughters HP min model # 116NR, Only able to run using 1Gig Ram. No 160 GB Hard drive is found. Geek squad could not fix and charged $20. Is there anything I can do to fix this. Can only use for email and very limited storage. OS XP SP3

Thanks,

Bill QC

 

[Zen]

My only question to possibly start this fixing process is this. Is your hard drive an IDE styled hard drive or a SATA styled hard drive? Because if it's a SATA styled one, sometimes Windows needs additional drivers, during the Windows install, to see the SATA hard drive. This is normally when a Windows install asks you if your going to need and or require the use of third party drivers, like SATA or RAID. I think this is at the point when the Windows install asks for you to press (F-6) if you require said drivers. These drivers give the Windows install the ability to see the hard drive, once found, it gets formatted to NTFS and then the Windows install goes according to plan.

Sounds like to me you just need those additional third party SATA drivers, after that more than likely you will be in good shape.

 

[BillQC]

Zen,

Thanks for the response. Have to find out which drive is installed. The unit has no optical drive so will have to see about download of drivers if thats possible. Do you know if a xp download from on line would be ok to do this. No disks are available. This it was installed at manufacture?

Thanks again,

BillQC

 

[Zen]

Finding out what type of hard drive is installed inside your system is pretty easy. Just pop off the side of the case, look where the hard drive connects to the motherboard cable, if the cables end connector is primarily black in color and smaller than a standard IDE ribbon connector, than safe bet you got yourself a SATA drive. But if the drive is connected via what appears to be a very "ribbon" looking cable and the end connectors are "gray" in color than you got an IDE drive.

And in regards to installing a Windows XP Operating System from an "on-line" source, I would have to balk on that idea. I've never installed an O.S. from the Internet, I have done across network installs of O.S.'s over an in house network, but you can't do that sort of thing from an "on-line" source. Are you sure that you don't have a Windows XP install disk? I only ask for the most part, computers back in the days of Windows XP that shipped new, normally came with a couple of support disks, a proprietary, in your case, Hewlett Packard program recovery disk and a Windows XP re-install or repair disk.

If you truly don't have any type or types of disks at all, do not under any condition go to any of the various P2P or Torrent sites and download a "boot legged" copy of an Operating System and install it, not very safe, nor very legal. You might have to make a drive to your local computer store and look in their software section and scout out if they have a Windows XP Operating System. If they got one, preferably one that is up to (Service Pack 3) out of the box, go ahead and grab it, it will work and you can then rest assured that if an install is ever needed in the future, your covered.

Keep us all in the loop here, check in and let us know what's going on as so we know where your at in the process and can advise when possible.

 

[captaincranky]

Finding out what type of hard drive is installed inside your system is pretty easy. Just pop off the side of the case, look where the hard drive connects to the motherboard cable, if the cables end connector is primarily black in color and smaller than a standard IDE ribbon connector, than safe bet you got yourself a SATA drive. But if the drive is connected via what appears to be a very "ribbon" looking cable and the end connectors are "gray" in color than you got an IDE drive.

And in regards to installing a Windows XP Operating System from an "on-line" source, I would have to balk on that idea. I've never installed an O.S. from the Internet, I have done across network installs of O.S.'s over an in house network, but you can't do that sort of thing from an "on-line" source. Are you sure that you don't have a Windows XP install disk? I only ask for the most part, computers back in the days of Windows XP that shipped new, normally came with a couple of support disks, a proprietary, in your case, Hewlett Packard program recovery disk and a Windows XP re-install or repair disk.

If you truly don't have any type or types of disks at all, do not under any condition go to any of the various P2P or Torrent sites and download a "boot legged" copy of an Operating System and install it, not very safe, nor very legal. You might have to make a drive to your local computer store and look in their software section and scout out if they have a Windows XP Operating System. If they got one, preferably one that is up to (Service Pack 3) out of the box, go ahead and grab it, it will work and you can then rest assured that if an install is ever needed in the future, your covered.

Keep us all in the loop here, check in and let us know what's going on as so we know where your at in the process and can advise when possible.

Zen, this is a netbook. So there'll be no popping the side off, as it were. If I had to guess, it uses a SATA HDD.

The question I've developed is this, "why are you trying to install XP on this thing,
when it shipped with Windows 7 Starter"?

 

[Zen]

Well this is a "my bad" moment! I never took the time to Google this computer make and model, I was just presuming that it was a desktop PC not a notebook.

................after Google, "it's a SATA"!

Sorry for the mis-information above, I was only trying to help!

 

[BillQC]

HP min model 116nr on hard drive found

Thank you all for information. Will figure that it has the SATA drive. The reason for the XP OS is this is a older model that came pre loaded with XP SP 3. There are no disks available. From the information I have received, the OS is loaded, just doesn't find the hard drive ??

Still able to use the 1GB ram for email and very limited storage.

Can I some how download drivers for the OS to recgonize that there is a HD?

Would it work to buy Windows 7 starter and install. I do have an external cd drive to use if this is possible?

Thanks,
BillQC

 

[captaincranky]

Well, you could try downloading the drivers direct from HP: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...14&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us&submit=GO
I think that's the netbook we're talking about, but you've posted an incomplete model number, so I can't be certain.

And here's the page from a search I launched with the term, "recovery": http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ct=4041514&tmp_qt=recovery&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us

Here's a utility to copy the OS from the recovery partition on the HDD: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ct=4041514&tmp_qt=recovery&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us

You can also download the manual in PDF form. (link in the first paragraph).

The bad news is, it doesn't look like you're going to get around reading the instructions anytime soon.

 

[BillQC]

OS XP sp3 Hard drive not found

Captain Cranky,

Thanks for the information. Daughter is bringing Computer over Wed. Will go the the Web sites you sent and see if I can get her computer up and running.

The only info I have on the computer that she sent is:

CPU N270 @ 160GHZ
XP Version 2002 SP#
Number 76477-OEM-0064245-81229
HP Min Model # 116NR

Thanks again for your help.

BillQC

 

[captaincranky]

You're welcome.....

 

[BillQC]

HP min model 116nr

Thanks Zen & Captain Cranky,

Got HP min model working ok. This is an old model and ended up having only 1GB Ram and 16 GB HD. Good for Checking email and surfing the net. Daughter is happy !!

BillQC