Hell with Dell :(

nobodythere

Got a new computer from Dell today. Opened it up to put in the hard drive from the other computer. No extra slot for a hard drive. "Ok" I think, "I'll just stick it in as slave". Bios doesn't detect it, tried messing with the autodetect thing, no luck. Tried every possible combination, even different cables, different jumper settings, it still only the detects the primary master (regardless of which hard drive i put in) and a CD drive.

So i figure i can put the dell drive into the old computer and copy the files over from there. So I boot up from the old drive and then realise that it's NTFS so I can't copy it over. There's no free NTFS reader that also writes for windows.

So my last idea was to try booting from the other drive which will read FAT32, but Dell's stupid modified XP won't boot on the computer. So I need any suggestions...

And does anyone know if I'm still under warranty after opening it up? :P

RicardoSmith

Sounds like you don't know what you are doing to be honest. Thats hardly Dells fault. Buy an external USB disk enclosure, €48 in Maplins and stick your old drive in that.

Fenster

I broadly agree with Ricardo's assessment.

Mac daddy

RicardoSmith wrote:

Sounds like you don't know what you are doing to be honest. .

Otherwise you would not have bought a dell

The Muppet

If you only want to connect the old drive to copy over the files from it configure your old drive as it was in youi old computer ( ie master) . Then assumimg you have only one Device on your secondary IDE (usually your dvd rom) disconnect the Ide cable from this and Use it to connect your old drive.

When you boot from the Windows XP NTFS partition it will be able to see and copy the FAt 32 partition and files off your old drive.

BTW the title of the thread is misleading as the problem you are having has nothing to do with Dell.

Big Nelly

Mac daddy wrote:

Otherwise you would not have bought a dell

Dell are over priced s**t! if I was you wud buy a hammer and beat the crap out of it!

humaxf1

I had a similar prob with my DELL. I tried a second HDD and it would not recognise it!

I tried auto detect in the BIOS, but no luck. Im just wondering is the machine setup the way it is so you cannot mess with them?

Dara.

seamus

humaxf1 wrote:

I had a similar prob with my DELL. I tried a second HDD and it would not recognise it!

I tried auto detect in the BIOS, but no luck. Im just wondering is the machine setup the way it is so you cannot mess with them?

Dara.

I would doubt it. It wouldn't make good business sense to make one's machines non-upgradeable. It's probably something else to do with jumper settings or IDE cables.

fintan

grasshopa wrote:

So i figure i can put the dell drive into the old computer and copy the files over from there. So I boot up from the old drive and then realise that it's NTFS so I can't copy it over. There's no free NTFS reader that also writes for windows.

if your trying to copy files over just connect the two machine with a cross over cable?

as for your warranty, you have i think twenty days, to inform them in writing that you dont want the machine from whatever date you receieved it, opening the machine doesnt effect this..... has to be faxed or emailed to a certain address. They might offer you something to keep the machine (printer or free delivery) but expect it to take a long time to get ot collected and to get your money back, im thinking 3 or 4 months if not longer.

It would be easier to keep it and try and fix your problem.

Occidental

Dell don't lock down BIOS.

You're problems are most likely a combination of a mismatch of jumper settings on drives and possibly connecting the drives to the wrong connector on the EIDE cable.

Dempsey

Have you tried enabling the second drive in the computer management section of windows xp?

impr0v

I love my Dell and refuse to hear it criticised.

Mine works fine with an additional drive though.

RicardoSmith

As an aside I have installed about 200 old drives as slaves in Dell machines in the last 2 months with no problems, other than the rare (about 5) that have weird jumper configuration of the old drive. Some trial and error always find the right combinations of jumper on the old drive.

If you are stuck and near D.15 I'll give you a hand. PM if you need.

nobodythere

RicardoSmith wrote:

Sounds like you don't know what you are doing to be honest. Thats hardly Dells fault. Buy an external USB disk enclosure, €48 in Maplins and stick your old drive in that.

I know what I'm doing. Just cos I bought from Dell? Not actually my computer you see, it's a friends. I know what I'm doing, I'm just terrible at explaining things. Maybe it is a jumper mismatch, nowhere near Dublin.

The Muppet wrote:

If you only want to connect the old drive to copy over the files from it configure your old drive as it was in youi old computer ( ie master) . Then assumimg you have only one Device on your secondary IDE (usually your dvd rom) disconnect the Ide cable from this and Use it to connect your old drive.

When you boot from the Windows XP NTFS partition it will be able to see and copy the FAt 32 partition and files off your old drive.

BTW the title of the thread is misleading as the problem you are having has nothing to do with Dell.

Sorry I just had to rhyme with Hell :P I'm guessing it was just mismatched jumper settings but they were on different cables. I did plug out the CD drive and connect the hard drive instead on the secondary cable (pretty sure I said that, not good at explaining as I said). Anyway I solved the problem by cleaning the dell hard drive and making a FAT32 partition to copy all of the stuff over about 10gb in size. Then I just used their resource CD (it's all so annoyingly dumbed down!) to put XP back on the computer.

So it's solved now by going around the problem -- Thanks a lot for all of your help.

RicardoSmith

grasshopa wrote:

I know what I'm doing. Just cos I bought from Dell? Not actually my computer you see, it's a friends. I know what I'm doing, I'm just terrible at explaining things. Maybe it is a jumper mismatch, nowhere near Dublin.

Where did I say it was because you bought a Dell???

I'm glad you got it sorted. But this is very basic stuff. However your posts clearly show that you don't fully understand the technical knowledge you think you have. Which is less than ideal for someone who is mucking about someone elses brand new PC.

Its that simple.


Incidentally anyone who critising Dell for being Dell is missing the point entirely. Its like criticising a spoon for not being a fork. Pointless.

tribble

Spoon, Fork, pointless...
:rolleyes:

Jesus Rick, you're gettin' worse

t

unkel

RicardoSmith wrote:

Incidentally anyone who critising Dell for being Dell is missing the point entirely. Its like criticising a spoon for not being a fork. Pointless.

Agree. It is impossible to beat Dell on basic business machines that include an OS and a warranty. If you want a good value or high end gaming machine, build it yourself...

The Muppet

Some of Dells advertised prices are pretty good particualy those with the Flat screens. I have never purchased one so I don't know if the advertised price turns into reality when you try buy one.



BTW a Pointless fork would be pretty useless.

RicardoSmith

The Muppet wrote:

..
BTW a Pointless fork would be pretty useless.

...a pointless fork is a spoon.

Evac101

[Ricardo] ...a pointless fork is a spoon.

Pretty sure a pointless fork is a spork - no? :P