# Dell Inspiron 600m No Boot Device Primary Hard Drive: None



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Dell Inspiron 600m: No Boot Device. I'm a computer technician and this is one of my patients. I have manually removed the Bios Password and have unlocked the hard drive password. The problem is the hard drive won't boot. I removed and reseat the hard drive and it's still not booting/detected. I tried to reset the Bios by pressing Fn + F several times and it's still not detected. I removed the hard drive and installed it in my wife's laptop (NEC VersaPro) and surprisingly, it boots up. It has Windows Xp Professional installed. I had my wife's hard drive (Windows Xp Home) installed in the Dell 600m and it's still doesn't boot. In the Bios, Primary Hard Drive: None. Why is the hard drive not detected? I used a password generator for the hard drive. I'm really baffled by this problem. The laptop hard drive had a password. Meaning the Bios detected the hard drive. How come when I cracked the password, the system doesn't detect it anymore? The DVD-Combo won't boot also when I try booting with Hirens Boot CD. The DVD-Combo only boots when I removed the Hard Drive. This Dell Inspiron 600m is driving me nuts. Help.. F1, F1.. :3-nuts:


----------



## DBCooper (Jun 11, 2010)

Hi jakemcclear,

That's a bit weird. I am thinking the motherboard could be shot but.....hmmm. Open up the laptop and try removing the CMOS battery. Then put the battery back, turn on the laptop and see what you get.

Hope everything works out well for you.


----------



## SA Spurs1 (May 2, 2009)

If it is capable of booting to a usb device you might try upgrading to most current BIOS A17. What BIOS does it have currently?


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Mr. SA Spurs1, I've upgraded the Bios to A17 and it's still the same. It still can't detect the hard drive. The former Bios version is A16. Any other ideas? Thanks.


----------



## SA Spurs1 (May 2, 2009)

When you boot to the Windows cd are you using a Dell OEM Windows XP cd or are you using a Retail copy. If so use the OEM cd.


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

The battery is soldered to the motherboard. I've tried that before when I encountered the system Bios password. I removed one terminal and re soldered it after 30 minutes. When I tried to boot, the Bios password is still there so I used a jumper on the Bios chip which removed the Bios password.


----------



## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Sounds like the controller or mobo is shot


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

The laptops OEM CD is lost so I've been using a retail copy. I tried booting with the CD first. The problem is, it won't boot using a CD. I configured the Bios to boot from the CD first. It still shows No Boot Device. When I remove the hard drive, then it boots up with the CD. I tried it with Hirens Boot CD. Any more ideas? Thanks..


----------



## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi we do not use hirens here as it breaks quite a few eula's making it illegal software,you can use ultimate boot cd however if as I suspect the the mob or controller is gone it just won't make any difference,have you tried the drive in a usb caddy and hook it up to another computer just to see if it is recognised


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Mr. Joeten, I've tried the Dell Inspiron 600m hard drive in my wife's NEC VersaPro laptop and it boots up.


----------



## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi ok well try it back in the dell and ensure it is firmly seated,if it still does not work then it has to be a problem with the board or controller


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Mr. Joeten, I've re seated the hard drive many times that I've lost count. Any other suggestions/ technique on how to fix this? Thanks.


----------



## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

If you have confirmed that the drive works in another PC and a known good drive fails also in the Dell then your issue appears to be a faulty motherboard/controller.


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Mr. Makinu1der2, do you know other ways/ techniques on how to fix this? Thanks.


----------



## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

There is no real way to fix it


----------



## jakemcclear (Oct 1, 2011)

Thanks Mr. DBCooper, Mr. SA Spurs1, Mr. Joeten, and Mr. Makinu1der2, for all the help. I really appreciate it. Bad news to the customer.


----------



## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Your welcome


----------

