HDD problem [MBR? boot device not found]

[evensoul]

HI!

My girlfriends pc is having this kind of problem:

Pc can't find it's hdd on boot. It just searches a boot device from cd or floppy. In other words it cant find the hdd as boot device.
The hdd isnt even showing at startup where the bios lists all ide-hardware.

-This is the only hdd in use (Samsung 40gb)
-Problem started suddenly

Here's what i've tried:
-Cables are connected
-i've ran fixboot and fixmbr
-now even the whole hdd is formatted and the partitions have been made

More info:
-HDD works fine as slave
-The xp boot disk finds the hdd when starting to install windows from CD

Ask more questions if something is not clear or is confusing.
Im out of ideas and need help.

(sorry for my crappy english:D)

[brad]

Is the Bios set to Auto Detect?
brad

[Gecko]

Have you tried a different IDE cable?

You might want to download from Maxtor.
I have found Powermax to be a reliable tool in diagnosing hard drive problems and not just Maxtor drives but most others too.

[evensoul]