XPS 8900, 2TB HDD died, needed to be replaced - nightmare

When was last time you replaced the motherboard battery?  You probably need to do that before going any further.

1. Reboot and start tapping F2 when you see the Dell screen to open BIOS setup
2. Copy down all current BIOS settings, to be safe
3. Power off, unplug power cord from rear of PC
4. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
5. Open case and remove motherboard battery (check Service Manual for details)
6. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
7. Install fresh CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery (~$3)
8. Close up and connect mouse, monitor and keyboard
9. (Try to from old HDD)

You might want to reconnect original HDD in between steps 6 and 7 to see if it will boot from that old drive after clearing BIOS and installing a fresh battery. 

If it still won't boot, repeat steps 3 - 8, but install one of the other drives in between steps 6 and 7; you reinstall the same fresh battery. Set old drive aside for later, if you want to try rescuing your image files, after you get PC to boot from a new HDD.

The "Dell recovery" image is probably quite old and way out-of-date. You may be better off creating a USB stick for Win 10 using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. Use a USB2 stick that's at least 8 GB, and not larger than 16 GB.

Plug that USB into XPS 8900 with power fully off.  Then power on and tap F12 when you see the Dell screen. When the menu opens, select the option to boot from USB.  Follow the prompts.

Once Win 10 is running and Windows Update installs the latest updates, you can install your apps.  Then shut down normally. Now you could connect the old HDD to one of the other SATA ports and to a SATA power cable. Boot from new drive and see if you can access/copy your files off the old drive...

Okay Ron,

Read all your reply. I'll kick this off with a massive Thank you for your detailed instructions - to think in almost 30 years from my (Amstrad 2386) till now and never had to deal with something like this.

It seemed easy enough however,, probably not for me I'm guessing the real problem was that CMOS battery (if I'd only have thought of that myself!). I never re-installed the original HDD . Luckily enough I have one of those nifty SATA drive readers (cheap) and  the other part of the PC (good old Dell) had retained my data. 

It might have taken me hours longer that it should however, thanks to you (with some playing around on my part) finally managed to get it up and running perfectly again. All tests passed even though Dell did try and sell me a new 1 tb drive every time

Okay here goes,

I have an XPS 8900 which I bought in 2016. As  time has moved on I want to use it basically with a scanner to store 100's of documents.

The notice came up to say the HDD had failed and now out of warranty with the offerings of purchasing a new drive. I have in fact 2 new HDD's, 1 of which is 1TB and another as the same original size of 2TB. The first problem is that whilst I've installed the drive I get a notice saying 'No bootable drives' and then whilst the 2TB is installed the pre check is saying what the original pre boot said, that the drive has failed and a new drive is  required (which is wrong).

My request for help is 2-fold, how do I boot up the PC (as in the settings) and then whilst I have a downloaded Dell recovery / windows 10 install on a USB, how to use it. Obviously the new HDD is not formatted and the PC does not recognise the Dell data on the USB.

I have full access to the bios by the way. If anyone could help me I'd be more than happy to say the least.

Michael

Thank you again for the inspiration!

Michael

Yea! Glad you got it working again, and happy I could help.

Sometimes, the easy thing (eg, a new battery) can save you time and money... 

Since the problem is resolved, please mark a post in this thread as the Accepted Answer. Thanks.