Member Avatar for rybo

So, someone pretty much gave me a laptop a while back...a dell latitude...

anyway, i was using it, and on the 3rd day, the screen went white and it froze. I turned it off, and when it went to boot again, it froze at the DELL "bios" loading screen, and after a few minutes, the screen goes white with a message that says "The device in the modular bay cannot be recognized..."
Well, I tried reseating the drive, taking it out, etc...to no avail...
I think the hard drive may be caput, but I tried booting from a SLAX disc, as well as a Damn Small Linux disc, but it wouldnt work. If the hard drive is the only problem, shouldn't I be able to still at least BOOT to a disc?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 93 Views
  • 14 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rybo
Member Avatar for Laser

Are you able to enter the bios setup?
You may need to set the CD drive as a boot device in setup.

Member Avatar for rybo

I can sometimes enter the BIOS, and I've tried booting from the CD drive, but it still does not work.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.