# Another Computer possibly dying?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 26, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684 "2012-01-26T05:27:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684/1 "2012-01-26T05:27:23Z")

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Hello Again,  
Well, because everything always has to happen in three’s, here we go with another computer issue. This time it is on our Acer Aspire laptop. Occasionally during a reboot I get an error message as follows:

Check Cable Connection  
PXE-MOD: Exiting Intel PXE ROM  
No Bootable Device Insert Boot Disc

Of course the PC won’t boot, but if I do a hard power down and re-start everything comes up fine. So, my thinking is the hard drive is dying, but I am not sure if that is it? Does anyone have an idea if it is a dying hd or possible cable? I am up to date on HD maintenance, ie: Have run check disc and defragged. If it is the hd, how difficult is it to replace on a laptop? Looks as though you un-screw a cover on the bottom to remove the old one and drop a new one in. Could it be that simple?

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684/2 "2012-01-26T08:49:06Z")

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all that means is it’s trying to boot from the network connection. I have no idea why boot from network is enabled by default on so many PCs, I doubt very many people make use of it. try going into the BIOS setup and disabling that, then see what happens.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684/3 "2012-01-26T10:00:18Z")

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It is possible – I don’t know how _likely_ – that the HD is experiencing intermittent issues. If the laptop can’t detect the hard drive, it might try other boot methods (including the network card and/or CD drive). Strange (but not inconceivable) that a simple reboot would fix a problem like this.

As for replacing it, if there’s a labeled slot for it on the laptop case, it’s probably designed to be easy to remove. Most likely a few screws, then you either pull out the HD itself or a caddy that it sits in, and maybe a plastic adapter piece at most. None of the above should be too hard.

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**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-computer-possibly-dying/610684/4 "2012-01-26T23:24:06Z")

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Thanks for the advice