Diskette Drive 0 Seek Failure- Can't Boot F2

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ericnovak Posts 4 Registration date Saturday January 30, 2010 Status Member Last seen January 31, 2010 - Jan 31, 2010 at 01:34 PM
 ali - Nov 23, 2010 at 08:58 AM
Hello,
My mom's computer decided to die yesterday- it looks like she moved it and started it up, it ran fine- but she remembered that she hadn't plugged in the mouse or keyboard so she shut it down via the power button. After plugging the mouse and keyboard back in she started the computer again and was directed to a Diskette Drive 0 Seek Failure.

From what I've read this is pretty easy to solve- just got and disable your floppy drive in the setup, however, when I tried to enter the setup I'm directed once again to the error. I figured that since I was using a USB keyboard that it might have been the problem, so I went out and got a hardwire keyboard and tried that. Same thing. I figured maybe she lost her bios, so I took out the battery on the motherboard and left it out for a while- put it back in and got the error, "Invalid Configuration Information- Please Run Setup Program" and then directly below that, "Diskette Drive 0 Seek Failure" with no option for f2/f12. Restarted computer and couldn't boot into the setup again.

I then tried inserting a recovery disk, but found that it wouldn't read because it doesn't boot until after some of the system does. Go figure. I should also note that f12 doesn't work either.

This is a Dell Dimension 4600- from what I've heard a horror computer. We've had it around 6 years and never had problem.

It would be great if I could get some help.
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7 responses

I do have same problems with dell vostro, so I went to the bios detup and inter standerd Coms featured , and I changed Drive A to None and work find .
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xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Jan 31, 2010 at 03:50 PM
You need to get into the BIOS and change the boot order so it can find the hard disk. I would check the data cable to the hard disk again - that "attempting network boot" message makes me think the BIOS can find the hard disk.

Good Luck
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ericnovak Posts 4 Registration date Saturday January 30, 2010 Status Member Last seen January 31, 2010 2
Jan 31, 2010 at 04:01 PM
Yeah, I'm going to plug the drive in as an external drive on another computer and we'll see what happens. I sure hope that it isn't dead :S
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ericnovak Posts 4 Registration date Saturday January 30, 2010 Status Member Last seen January 31, 2010 2
Jan 31, 2010 at 11:53 PM
Went to the store and replaced the bio/motherboard battery - however, I got stuck again at the dell logo with the loading bar almost finished. Then I had the bright idea to try and hold down the insert key to reset the bios- and by jove it actually worked! I reset the bios and had an F1 to Continue or an F2 to Load Setup! I chose to go with the F2 and I loaded into the bios, changed the settings to disable the floppy, changed the boot to boot CDs first and hard drives second restarted and presto! I got stuck on the first dell loading screen again, unable to boot into bios... Figured I would give the insert key a try again but it wouldn't load up again. After pulling the battery out AGAIN I was able to use the insert key to bring up the F1 To Continue- I figured I would hit F1 and boot to the repair disk- it worked great. However, the repair disk froze...

Then I figured I would do the same thing again, used insert to reset the bios, and get to the F1 to Continue scree- then I just let the hard drive boot instead of booting to a CD. Finally I got into the system! Now I'm backing up everything and I think I'm going to just clean sweep the system and reformat the drive. Maybe I'll run some chkdsk to see if I can repair it, but I think the system needs a re-haul anyways...

Thanks for the suggestions guys!
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xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Jan 31, 2010 at 02:49 PM
Problems after moving a computer are mostly caused by loose connections. Try removing and replacing the data cables.

Good Luck
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ericnovak Posts 4 Registration date Saturday January 30, 2010 Status Member Last seen January 31, 2010 2
Jan 31, 2010 at 03:00 PM
I had already checked all the cables- but I went back in again and discovered that the floppy drive unplugged. Plugged it back in and booted up but it just hung at the loading bar. Restarted and F2-ed but it just hung there saying "Entering Setup" then popped up below that "Attempting Network Boot" What the heck is that? Anyway, decided to take out the bio battery again and when I re-booted it just came up with the "Invalid Configuration Information - Please Run Setup" but no Diskette Drive 0 Seek Failure, thank God. However, after re-boot AGAIN it just hangs on the loading bar and does nada (nothing).
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Looks like a component is missing. Try buying new components and as you know: trial - error.
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