Windows 7 ultimate HDD error

hey guys,

right, ive got windows 7 ultimate 32bit installed on my desktop, its been working fine for ages, however this morning i went to boot it up and it it camne up with boot CD: no disc error
so i changed my first boot device from CD-rom to harddisk rebooted and then i had the white writing and it said disk error please insert system disk, so i went into Bios and i went into the bit to auto scan for a hdd and nothing, i tried scanning for 0 master drive 0 slave and the only dirve it found as a master was my dvd-rom, i tried the win 7 ultimate disc and it coudlnt find a version of windows 7 installed. so i'm at a real loose end as i use that desktop for work and atm im using and old xp home edition pc.

could really really do with some help to fix it, as i say win 7 has been working fine for ages.

system specs

core 2 duo e6420 2.50GHz
2GB ddr2 pc6400
ECS 945p-m3 mobo
300GB IDE HDD
nVidia 8800GTS
700W PSU
Windows 7 ultimate

i dont know tbh i didnt have time to check this morning, but it was working fine no problems whatsoever , but the bios doesnt even pick up the drive now :S

thanks tews i shall try that when i get home :), just incase could you suggest a couple problems that it could be ?

ahh right, well i shall try your cables suggestion when i get home :) but thanks for the help :) shall post if nothing cures it

it is most common that your hard drive has passed away, but I hope it's just a disconnected cable or maybe some poor conductivity?

hi all, well ive tried 5 diff IDE cables and 3 diff power cables and still no luck, i also went to do a reinstall and win7 didnt even detect the hard drive, i assume that means my hard drive is dead? i had a theory that my custom caase may be the hardrive killer as they arent bolted in they just sit in a hardrive removeable bay with a cooling fan underneath perhaps that may be the cause? can any1 suggest a decent cheap case and a decent IDE HDD thats a reasonable size,

many thanks for the help i shall be doing rep points