XPS 13 not starting – Hard drive not installed error

Question

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some help here as my XPS 13 isn’t starting up. It’s the first time in 9 years of owning it that it has given me any issues.

It was running fine until yesterday, when I turned it on and got an error “Hard Drive – Not installed” (see screenshot).

I acknowledge that the laptop is very old, but I would rather not replace it now. I spoke to Dell support, who said the hard disk is probably acting up due to wear and tear and should be replaced, and they gave me a part number 8D5HT, which is out of stock. I think I’ll be able to replace it myself but will need the right part. Any thoughts or guidance on what I will need to buy, given that the part number they specified is out of stock? I managed to get the storage information for my laptop in the second screenshot, but wanted to make sure I buy the correct part, hence so thought I would ask here.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

ejn63 · Answer

You can use any M.2 NVMe or SATA 2280 drive that will physically fit the system.

In the not too distant past, a 1T drive would have been around $60-70 -- now they're closer to $200, so you may want to consider a smaller capacity drive.

Rustychow · Answer

Thank you! My current one is 256GB, so I'm happy to stick with that capacity.  How will I know if it will physically fit the system?

ejn63 · Answer

Make sure you buy a bare drive without a heatsink - as long as it's M.2 2280 it will fit.

Rustychow · Answer

Thank you! Any suggested brands, or websites? A link to a product would be immensely appreciated.

ejn63 · Answer

I would suggest Samsung, WD or Crucial (but note that the latest one is pulling out of the consumer market).

Rustychow · Answer

Thank you! I'll have a look around

Rustychow · Answer

Found this on Amazon. Assume it'll be ok? Same spec and speed as the current one??  https://amzn.eu/d/0dePMxlE

Rustychow · Answer

@KiBurk​ thank you. I'll try that later this week. Hopefully it's a simple process.

Maxd1 · Answer

The process:

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-ca/xps-13-9360-laptop/XPS-13-9360-Service_Manual/notes-cautions-and-warnings?guid=guid-5b8de7b7-879f-45a4-88e0-732155904029&lang=en-us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLBx2djlxrA

I would purchase the additional install items.

Maxd1 · Answer

Followup:

Your CMOS battery is due for a change; in fact that may be what initiated the error/problem.

https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/fix-hard-drive-not-installed-error/

Not a bad site: https://www.mrmemory.co.uk/ssd-upgrades/dell/xps-notebook/13-9360

Ground yourself continually and do the hard reset to clear any internal 'static'.

Refer to @ejn63 for any hardware questions.

Maxd1 · Answer

PS: A good primer especially taking off the back cover. Go slow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFIE2SKst-s ​

XPS

XPS 13 not starting – Hard drive not installed error

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