Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter

Question

I have been experiencing an intermittent disk boot failure for the last few months on my HP Pavilion Slimline PC. At first, it would occur once every week or two, typically when the computer would boot up after being in hibernation. After turning off the computer and turning it back on, everything worked normally. Within the last month, the failure began occurring with more regularity.
This week, I started receiving the error every time the computer would boot from hibernation. I went into the BIOS and saw that the system was not recognizing the hard drive. I tried changing the boot priority to boot from the HDD first, but to no avail. Today, the system worked as usual until I performed a restart, and it has yet to work again. Additionally, the performance has taken a nose dive over the last week (slow processing, programs not responding, etc.).
System Specs:
HP Pavilion Slimline s3710t PC
250 GB SATA Western Digital HDD (Caviar Blue)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor
Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
3GB DR2-800 MHz SDRAM
I have read through many technical forums, including HP’s, and followed all of the advice. I have again changed the boot priority to HDD first, restored the default settings, etc. The only drive I can find listed is the DVD drive on the unit, which is listed as the second drive. There is no first drive listed in the main tab of the BIOS CMOS Setup Utility.
I attempted to run a system recovery, but it is not even possible. Upon running the diagnostics, it of course mentions that there is no hard drive connected. Upon entering the boot menu, it also only lists the DVD drive.
My next course of action was to remove the side panel and reseat the connections on the hard drive, as well as the connection to the motherboard. This was also unsuccessful, and I have not been able to boot up the computer again today.
The computer itself is 1.5 years old and this is the original hard drive that shipped with it. I have never opened the computer, prior to today. The symptoms started a few months ago, just outside of the warranty period.
Based on the forums I have read, it all signs are pointing to a bad hard drive. This is hard for me to believe, as the computer is relatively new and does not get much use. The use it does get revolves around email and Internet access, as well as use of Microsoft Office.
As you can imagine, I am not happy about the prospect of having to buy a new hard drive, as well as pay for the data recovery on the original drive. I hope that someone at HP can come up with a better solution, as a 1-year life on a hard drive is pretty pathetic.
Thanks,
JR

Answer 1

HI JR,
You situation does not sound good if the PC doesn't recognize your hard drive. 
Boot into the bios and run some bios hardware diagnostics.
Try clearing the CMOS.
Try this procedure:
Unplug the PC and open it up. Clean out all the dust. Carefully remove and replace all the cables going to the motherboard one at a time. Do the same for the memory dimms and the video and sound cards if you have any.  You might want to buy a can of compressed air to blow the dust out of the CPU heat sink.  Plug your PC back in and give it a go.
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