No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility

J

jerbark

I got the above message after turning my computer on. Before you respond, please know that I'm a compute *****, so please answer in simple, kindergarten terms.

When I turn the compute on, I hear a beeping on and off sound, then a black screed with the above error message.

Here's what I've tried so far:
I've turned the computer on and off - no change
I've taken the battery out for 30 min, replaced it - no change
Hit F1 - nothing
Hit F2 - nothing
Hit F5 - ran computer diagnostics and it says everything is fine
Hit ctl/alt/delete, then hit F2. for set up utility - moved the Hard drive to the top of the list (not sure why or what this was supposed to do, it was just a suggestion on a forum) but no change.
Hit F12 - asked it to boot from hard drive - no change
Hit F12 - Went to: Settings/General/System info. Under "Drive Info/Primary HD", it says NONE...is this the answer I.e. my HD is not being recognized at all?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me...I'm about to cry<g>!
 
Description of your system needed - if bought as a complete system just identify that or if assembled from parts by someone you know identify motherboard cpu hdd, etc.

Sounds like your HDD is not recognizable by system. Lots of possible reasons for that.

Beeping is an 'error code'. Please count the beeps - and say if long or short (and tell us, if you know, the type of BIOS you have AMI or Phoenix - but if you can't we should be able to look it up from make/model of your system).

Do all the fans spin? Are there any other noises? Are there flashing LEDs (if so and runs in a series, please describe as may be error code too)? Were there changes leading up to this? How old is the system? When was it last cleaned? Do you have system disks? Do you have a backup of your data? Do you have anti-malware? Have you run it recently? Result?
 
I'm very sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you and thank you so much for responding!

>>Description of your system needed - if bought as a complete system just identify that or if assembled from parts by someone you know identify motherboard cpu hdd, etc.

It was a complete system. It's a Dell Inspirion laptop. I have all of the paperwork, but I don't understand most of what's on it...

>>Sounds like your HDD is not recognizable by system. Lots of possible reasons for that. Beeping is an 'error code'. Please count the beeps - and say if long or short

I counted. It's 3 sets of 5 beeps. I would saw the beep is a little longer than the break between beeps, so that would be "long"?

>> (and tell us, if you know, the type of BIOS you have AMI or Phoenix - but if you can't we should be able to look it up from make/model of your system).

No clue what this even is...

>>Do all the fans spin?

Seems like it.

>>Are there any other noises?

No, it's silent after it makes the 3 sets of 5 beeps.

>>Are there flashing LEDs (if so and runs in a series, please describe as may be error code too)?

No flashing LEDs

>>Were there changes leading up to this?

It's been running really slow, but I was using an old version of office, so I attributed it mostly to that. It hasn't flickered or anything like that. I've probably received some type of reboot message error about 5 times since I've owned the machine, but when I went through the booting process again, it worked fine...so, in answer to your question, it wasn't really running any differently right before the crash.

>>How old is the system?

I purchased it in Feb 2010, so a little over six years.

>>When was it last cleaned?

Never - didn't know that was necessary.

>>Do you have system disks?

Yes.

>>Do you have a backup of your data?

As I mentioned, I moved "almost" everything to a new computer literally about 2 days before this happened so, except for a few files (which is why I want to try and fix the problem if possible), I have everything transferred, but I'd REALLY like to recover those missing files!!!

>>Do you have anti-malware? Have you run it recently? Result?

It runs constantly and I think I did a system check in the past few weeks before this happened and it didn't find anything.

Does any of this help? Am I screwed?

Thanks!
Jerolyn
 
"It's a Dell Inspirion laptop." What model?

Beeps - 5 together with a skip between 3 sets. Any other sounds?

Cleaning - every couple of years unless only on desk in office environment - then 5 years.
 
>>"It's a Dell Inspirion laptop." What model?

Would this be the answer to that: Base, Notebook, Core Penryn T4300, 1545?

>>Beeps - 5 together with a skip between 3 sets. Any other sounds?

No other sounds. It's running right now with the error screen and it's silent - no more beeps

>>Cleaning - every couple of years unless only on desk in office environment - then 5 years.

Thanks!
Jerolyn
 
You're awesome, I would never have thought about that...but does it make sense that the computer would still run if the battery was bad?
 
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