When powering up my friendâs computer, it comes up âPri Master HDD
Errorâ. Then it says to insert boot diskette in A. He is running
Windows XP. What does this mean?
It means that your friendâs computer has a problem.
The fact that itâs supposed to be running Windows XP is actually
beside the point ⊠the computer hasnât even gotten that far yet.
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A cryptic message like âPri Master HDD Errorâ means that the computerâs BIOS cannot access the hard disk (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) in the computer in order to boot. In fact, it apparently canât even find the disk to even try to read anything from it.
Since it cannot boot from the hard disk, itâs asking you to insert a boot diskette into the floppy drive, typically referred to as âA:â. Even if you have no floppy drive the BIOS may still ask for it; it canât boot, so it has to ask for something.
Unfortunately, the error message doesnât really tell you anything specific about the actual error. Itâs the computerâs equivalent of saying âsomethingâs brokenâ without really telling you what that something is.
If youâre not comfortable opening up your machine and poking around a little, this would be the time to take it to a technician for diagnosis. As weâll see in a moment, the problem could be any of several different issues, and theyâll need to see the machine to determine what it is.
In your shoes, the first thing I would do down âthe try-it-yourself pathâ would be to turn off the machine, unplug it, wait a while, and then plug it back in and try again. I know it sounds either stupid or magical, depending on your point of view, but removing power for âa whileâ can often cause things that are electrically âstuckâ to sometimes reset themselves. If it works, which admittedly is not all that often in a case like this, itâs cheap and fast.
If that didnât work, Iâd once again turn off the machine and unplug it, because this time Iâd be going inside. Iâd open the computer (if itâs not a laptop, that is) and check the cabling, making sure that cables, both data and power, are securely seated and âpushed inâ all the way. Itâs not uncommon for a marginal connection to suddenly stop working without apparent cause or at the slightest bump. Once again, if it works itâs cheap and easy.
If you know enough to identify that your computer uses an add-on disk controller that sits in an expansion slot, Iâd make sure that it, and all the expansion cards for that matter, were seated properly.
Similarly, Iâd also be tempted to remove any expansion cards that werenât absolutely necessary to boot the machine â sometimes a failure on one card can cause an error to appear as if itâs coming from another place.
Another good diagnostic step, once again with the power off, is to disconnect the hard drive, and then attempt a reboot just to see if thereâs additional failure information that can be gleaned from the resulting error message.
At this point, things get tricky. My next step would be to connect the hard disk in another machine and see if it works at all. If it doesnât, thatâs a likely indicator that the hard disk itself has failed and needs replacing.
If the hard drive does work in a different machine, then the problem is likely with your disk controller or motherboard. I say âlikelyâ because things are rarely that cut and dried. Hence this is, once again, where Iâd be recommending a technician to confirm this before running out and replacing either.
Sometimes this error is caused by a faulty BIOS.
You might want to try and flash your BIOS (check the pcâs manufacturerâs website on how to do that).
Before putting your hard drive in another computer, I would try running the xp repair console from your installation disk (if you have one that is ;-).
If youâre unfamiliar with all of the above, I would do as Leo says and take it to someone who knows what theyâre doing!
In any case, I hope yer friend has backed up all his dataâŠ
This error is clearly not related to outdated BIOS. It is a sure HDD ( HARD DISC ) FAILUREâŠ
This has happened to me a couple of times but by inserting the xp cd and bringing up the repair console and running the âfixmbrâ command which rewrites the master boot record fixed it. Worth a try.
I have an elderly Windows 98 SE machine which displays the message âPrimary Hard Disk Failâ every ten or so times I boot it up. I just switch off, remove the power cable from the back of the machine and then insert it again a couple of times to discharge static. The machine then boots up normally!
01-Nov-2008
There are a couple of other things that you might try to restore the machine. If you can, open the machine and remove the IDE cable that connects the hard drive to the mainboard at both ends. Do this several times for both ends of the cable; sometimes (especially on older machines) corrosion builds up in the connector(s) at either end of the cable which will cause erratic performance of a seemingly random nature. Removing the connector(s) and reinstalling them several times will remove any corrosion buildup. Another thing that you might try, especially in an older machine, is to replace the âkeep-aliveâ battery on the mainboard! Most people forget that itâs there, and after about 3 â 5 years, it fails erratically. Its sole purpose is to keep information in the ROM intact â itâs not rechargeable, and if itâs not providing enough âjuiceâ some or all of your ROM settings (including your hard drive specs) can get corrupted, which may give you the type of error message youâre seeingâŠRegardless, back up your data as soon as possible, because it could be a failing hard drive!
I had this error message after fitting different hard drive and found I had the jumper set wrong on hard drive. Switched it to master and it is fine.
This is a very common issue with the older Bios setup such as I haveâŠQ-Lity Motherboard with:AMI Bios(American Megatrends). Here, try this: F1 to enter set up mode. Then enter boot path options:1-Enable,2- IDE-0,3-IDE-0,4-CD Rom,5-tryother?yes.Then: You need to enter your: Pri Master and Select Master(Pri-slave & Select-Slave) if: You have (2) Two Hard drives installed. You will need to research the MFG of the type of HDD installed for: Disk,Cyc,Mode,Head size ,etc. *If your only running one Hard drive..*.Pri Master=set values. *Select Master=Set values. *Not installed on: Pri-Slave, and, Select -Slave.OrâŠSet on AutoâŠall auto on. If it still doesnât recognize or Locate themâŠyou will need to reset your boot path options again (ie) Try: Enable, CD Rom, IDE-0, IDE-O, and , Try other. Sooner or later it will pick it upâŠbut it takes time! Wish you the best.May the Lord help you!