A hard drive boot problem normally results in the hard drive not booting , the types of issue can be broken down into 3 types.
Settings – This is perhaps the easiest to fix, it usually means the hard drive cannot be seen or another device which has a higher boot device priority is attempting to boot in place of the hard drive.
Software Problems – These generally result from a change to the operating system, most of the time in my experience it happens when files have been moved or deleted, but can also be caused by corrupt or damaged files.
Hardware Problems – This is perhaps the most severe hard drive error, not only can it be the cause of a hard drive not booting, but if the hard drive has developed a hardware issue its likely any data may also be lost, and the hard drive will need to be replaced.
Step by Step
To resolve any settings issues, we need to go into the computer BIOS, this is accessible when you power on the computer, you should see a screen advising which key you need to press to enter Setup, normally the Delete or F2 keys.
Once in the BIOS from the hard drive section can you see the hard drive?
If you can ensure that it is set as the first boot device, it’s also worth disabling any other SATA ports.
Does the hard drive boot up?
If you cannot see the hard drive from the BIOS screen, power off the computer and ensure its connected properly (as this requires opening the case, ensure all power is removed and you are earthed), if using a laptop simply remove and reconnect the hard drive.
Power the computer back on and again check in the BIOS to see if the hard drive is recognized, if not then this could be a hardware issue, the only surefire way to check is to remove the hard drive and connect as a slave disk to another computer. (A USB caddy makes this very easy, for about $10 you can get a connector which will allow you to connect a hard drive to another computers USB port.
If the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS and its set as the primary boot device, when the computer is powered on is the hard drive making any noise or unusual noises?
Hard drives with hardware issues normally will not be spinning or they will make a ticking sound trying to read any of the hard drives data, if this is the case the hard drive has failed terminally, anything on the hard drive will be lost, and the drive will need to be replaced (there are specialized data recovery companies who will be able to recover the data, but they are very expensive)
If the hard drive appears to sound ok and is trying to boot this could be a software issue.
Software issues on hard drive range from a simple disk sector error through to trashed boot files.
Luckily Windows offers lots of built in repair tools to help with such problems, the only thing you will need is your Windows installation CD.
From here you will be able to repair most errors and faults, checkout our other articles where we provide help on repairing Windows 7, XP and Vista, running CHKDSK and repairing other software boot problems.
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