A simple laptop HDD question

[Thiback]

Hello,
A friend of mine having dropped his windows 8.1 laptop on the floor, it no longer boots. In an attempt to diagnosis the failing component(s), I swapped his laptop 2.5 inches HDD with mine, thinking this would at least make me able to boot the system and tinker from there.

But it didn't work, a bios message shows that there are no bootable devices, although my HDD is correctly inserted in and has Windows 8.1 too.
Does that mean his laptop is dead ? Or does that you just can't swap the boot HDD of two computers ?

[Guest]

Hello,

A friend of mine having dropped his windows 8.1 laptop on the floor, it no longer boots. In an attempt to diagnosis the failing component(s), I swapped his laptop 2.5 inches HDD with mine, thinking this would at least make me able to boot the system and tinker from there.

But it didn't work, a bios message shows that there are no bootable devices, although my HDD is correctly inserted in and has Windows 8.1 too.

Does that mean his laptop is dead ? Or does that you just can't swap the boot HDD of two computers ?

No, I believe you need to reinstall windows or put in a bootable USB for it to recognize it 

[Brennan Price]

Try making a bootable Linux USB drive, if it boots from that it is fine but he will need to buy a new HDD and OS

 

Also, if he is careless (because he dropped his laptop) may I recommend an SSD instead of a new HDD since SSD's are much more durable, last longer and wont break when dropped.

[EZWalk]

Hello,

A friend of mine having dropped his windows 8.1 laptop on the floor, it no longer boots. In an attempt to diagnosis the failing component(s), I swapped his laptop 2.5 inches HDD with mine, thinking this would at least make me able to boot the system and tinker from there.

But it didn't work, a bios message shows that there are no bootable devices, although my HDD is correctly inserted in and has Windows 8.1 too.

Does that mean his laptop is dead ? Or does that you just can't swap the boot HDD of two computers ?

I assume you have checked to make sure that the sata-like cable is plugged completely into the mobo. That's what I did and it fixed mine.

[bauer8cs]

I assume you have checked to make sure that the sata-like cable is plugged completely into the mobo. That's what I did and it fixed mine.

That's the best way, but you will likely have to disassemble the laptop a fair bit to ensure all connections are properly secured on the motherboard. This is your best bet before buying a new laptop. Also, try the old HDD in your laptop or another computer to ensure it still functions.

 

Also, trying a linux USB is a good idea as well to see if the laptop is completely shot.

[Gikero]

It may be a UEFI setting. If you have Secure Boot enabled, it looks for a specific partition on the boot drive and will not proceed without it. Not difficult to correct, but the simplest way is to re-install Windows. Repairing or manually changing your drive's boot info will likely cause it to fail to boot into whatever it was in before. So it could be a annoyance.

^^^^ This all assumes Secure Boot is on.

If not, create a bootable USB drive with Linux and check to see if you can see your HDD from within.

[Thiback]

Thanks to you all for your help.
I booted ubuntu from a usb drive, and the computer boots normaly into Linux, seems to work fine. The original hard drive of the laptop securely connected, it appears to be working correctly as well (you can hear it working). However, it is impossible to mount it from Ubuntu in order to access it, and Linux and the BIOS indicate that it's instable/dying. Pushing the power button from a cold boot and waiting a long ass time in front of the HP logo, I managed to make Windows attempt to load itself, but after a few seconds into the loading screen, I see a BSOD for one milisecond before it crashe and tries to gather error informations : at 5% into that process, it tries to reboot, and then the BIOS displays an imminent failure state of the HDD. Windows isn't accessible any further than the loading screen.

 

From all the information gathered, I guess the HDD will have to be replaced (I'll definitly get him an SSD). But I'm worried about Windows ; does that mean he'll have to pay a new licence ? Isn't there any way to recover his OEM license ?

[Edwardk326]

when you drop a laptop usually the first thing to go is the HDD a really hard drop could affect the RAM and the motherboard however the motherboard is usually protected quite well and is usually the last thing go unless pound it into oblivion as a punching bag.   

[bauer8cs]

Thanks to you all for your help.

I booted ubuntu from a usb drive, and the computer boots normaly into Linux, seems to work fine. The original hard drive of the laptop securely connected, it appears to be working correctly as well (you can hear it working). However, it is impossible to mount it from Ubuntu in order to access it, and Linux and the BIOS indicate that it's instable/dying. Pushing the power button from a cold boot and waiting a long ass time in front of the HP logo, I managed to make Windows attempt to load itself, but after a few seconds into the loading screen, I see a BSOD for one milisecond before it crashe and tries to gather error informations : at 5% into that process, it tries to reboot, and then the BIOS displays an imminent failure state of the HDD. Windows isn't accessible any further than the loading screen.

 

From all the information gathered, I guess the HDD will have to be replaced (I'll definitly get him an SSD). But I'm worried about Windows ; does that mean he'll have to pay a new licence ? Isn't there any way to recover his OEM license ?

 

No, there should be a windows product key somewhere on his laptop's body, this is mated to his motherboard. As long as the motherboard is the same, a USB windows install should be just fine using the key that came with the laptop.