# Pre-Boot System Assessment Build



## littledhampir

My friend has a Dell Inspiron that runs with Windows 7. She just tried to get on her computer but when she turned it on she got a Pre-Boot System Assessment Build message. She let it run and it said no hard drive is detected. Her laptop is fairly new, she's only had it since Christmas of '09. What can she do to get her computer working again? She has no experience in computers, but I have a little so I could talk her through simple things


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## Mumbodog

If she has a warranty, call Dell.

.


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## joeten

Hi and welcome to TSG if this is still under warranty then get in touch with dell and let them fix it the hard drive may have died


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## techkid

For whatever reason, her laptop is no longer recognising her hard drive as being able to boot.

If she does not have a backup of her important files, now would be an excellent time to do one. Download Puppy Linux (http://puppylinux.org/main/index.php?file=How to download Puppy.htm), and burn the image to a CD. Restart your computer, and set it to boot from CD first (it should say something like "Press <F2> to enter Setup" when you first switch on your computer). Put the CD in the drive and let it run.

From here you can copy your files to a USB drive or another computer on your network. Let us know how this goes.


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## Mumbodog

> it said no hard drive is detected


techkid, worth a try, but the bios is not detecting a hard drive.

.


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## joeten

Yup my thoughts to Mumbodog


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## techkid

Ah. My mistake, must have missed that... .

You never know your luck, though.


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## joeten

Your right about that with computers you never know anything except given the chance they mess with your head lol


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## preachp

Hi littledhampir,

HAve you checked to see if the HDD is plugged into the connector? Most laptops have an acsess hatch on hte bottom to get to the hdd. Also if that ain't it call Dell. Actually if you are uncomfortable with that call Dell.
Good luck


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