PC is Dead
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: North of Boston MA
PC is Dead
I'm not terribly surprised that this morning I found my six year old computer to be dead. It was running last night but this morning I found just a black and white pattern on the screen. I rebooted and it powers up but there is nothing getting to the monitor, there is no apparent disk activity, nor are there any lights indicating keyboard response (it is wireless). The cooling fan is working. There were no beeps on restart.
I replaced the HDD a couple years ago and I know that means nothing but it was giving no signs of pending failure. Everything in "My Documents" is backed up to Carbonite so I'm not worried about data loss too much. Just want to get it up and running again.
So the question is, based on the symptoms, does this appear to be hard drive related or could it be something on the mother board or what? I would think if it was just the drive, I'd at least get the initial start up screens.
Any thoughts? Thanks
I replaced the HDD a couple years ago and I know that means nothing but it was giving no signs of pending failure. Everything in "My Documents" is backed up to Carbonite so I'm not worried about data loss too much. Just want to get it up and running again.
So the question is, based on the symptoms, does this appear to be hard drive related or could it be something on the mother board or what? I would think if it was just the drive, I'd at least get the initial start up screens.
Any thoughts? Thanks
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: North of Boston MA
Kind of what I was thinking too. I'll dissect it tonight when I get home and see what I can see. I have "a couple" other computers laying around so at least I could put my HDD into one to see if it will work. Not what I needed right now.....no time to deal with this.
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From: MA
Also if you put the drive in another pc windows will detect that and disable itself, requiring you to do the product activation..
It would be best to put it in another PC as a slave or via USB hard drive enclosure..
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Charlotte, NC
I hate to be Captain Obvious here.....But 'fixing' a 6-year old PC is kinda like 'fixing' a 2-or 3 year-old cell phone......Toss the damned thing and buy a new one that'll have twice the bells & whistles for about half what you originally paid for the other one.
Hell....Even the mega-loaded laptops (which are usually more expensive than desktops) are running under a grand. Isn't it Dell running the $699 special on their machines?
I know, I know....The economy and all......
Hell....Even the mega-loaded laptops (which are usually more expensive than desktops) are running under a grand. Isn't it Dell running the $699 special on their machines?
I know, I know....The economy and all......
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: North of Boston MA
I hate to be Captain Obvious here.....But 'fixing' a 6-year old PC is kinda like 'fixing' a 2-or 3 year-old cell phone......Toss the damned thing and buy a new one that'll have twice the bells & whistles for about half what you originally paid for the other one.
Hell....Even the mega-loaded laptops (which are usually more expensive than desktops) are running under a grand. Isn't it Dell running the $699 special on their machines?
I know, I know....The economy and all......
Hell....Even the mega-loaded laptops (which are usually more expensive than desktops) are running under a grand. Isn't it Dell running the $699 special on their machines?
I know, I know....The economy and all......
Also if you put the drive in another pc windows will detect that and disable itself, requiring you to do the product activation
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,231
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From: Valley of the Sun AZ
Normally a HD problem will attempt to boot and then either die or hold at a spot for an extended period of time.
Have you checked the power connections to the motherboard or from the plug into the computer? With a six year old machine, the connection could of finally corroded through or simply broke over time. I agree with unplug everything and let it sit for a day. Then see if there is any new activity.
About the "data"....That had me LMAO
Have you checked the power connections to the motherboard or from the plug into the computer? With a six year old machine, the connection could of finally corroded through or simply broke over time. I agree with unplug everything and let it sit for a day. Then see if there is any new activity.
About the "data"....That had me LMAO
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Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Rhode Island
Unplug the power to it, pop the cover off, unplug ever add on card and plug them back in, remove the ram and put it back in, basically unplug everything then reseat it. Like it was mentioned, sometimes connections can get a bit corroded or dirty over time.
For basic e-mailing and web browsing, a 6 year old machine is just fine. I have a 9 year old computer in the dining room, and even that is adequate for most tasks.
For basic e-mailing and web browsing, a 6 year old machine is just fine. I have a 9 year old computer in the dining room, and even that is adequate for most tasks.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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From: MA
The economy isn't my problem.....I just don't want to switch to Vista and I'm not the type of person to toss something just because it is old. Besides, the kind of computing I am doing these days doesn't require too much machine. I wouldn't take a Dell if it were free.
Damnit, forgot about that. Luckily I have several machines that I can drop my hard drive into as a slave. Like I said, everything important is backed up on Carbonite but there are a few files that I have deep hidden on the drive that aren't backed up and I'd like to get back.....don't ask me what they are, just use your imagination.
Damnit, forgot about that. Luckily I have several machines that I can drop my hard drive into as a slave. Like I said, everything important is backed up on Carbonite but there are a few files that I have deep hidden on the drive that aren't backed up and I'd like to get back.....don't ask me what they are, just use your imagination.
You can upgrade your pc and still have XP.. Just do some research from the manufacturer's site.. If they have XP drivers available you should be able to wipe out Vista and install XP..
I know you don't like Dell, but you can still buy a new machine with XP from them..
Another option is Craigslist or the trash..
I picked up an Emachines PC that someone put out in the trash.. I brought it home and it fired right up.. It was a kids gaming machine by the looks of what was on it.. He probably told his folks it was broken and then they got him a new one..
It is faster than the 7 year old machine I use every day..
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 942
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From: South Texas
A bad ram stick will keep the machine from booting to a bios screen.
If you have more than 1 stick of ram, remove all then insert 1 at a time and try to boot to bios.
If it boots on one of them, you can narrow the bad one down..
Dialtone
If you have more than 1 stick of ram, remove all then insert 1 at a time and try to boot to bios.
If it boots on one of them, you can narrow the bad one down..
Dialtone
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,236
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From: Vancouver Island
Could be the power supply. Power supplies may eat motherboards when they fail, just to add insult to injury.
Check that all the internal fans are running... there's often fans on the CPU heat sink as well as on the video card.
Check that all the internal fans are running... there's often fans on the CPU heat sink as well as on the video card.
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: North of Boston MA
I haven't had a chance to do a thing to the machine since last week but have a couple questions that I should know but maybe someone can answer off the top of their head....
1. I have a donor machine that I know works. If I put my HDD in there as the operating system, how hard is it to get running as far as verification. I own the version of windows XP as it came with my machine. Will it matter that it is an OEM and that it is the Media Center version.
2. If I install the HDD as a slave, can I still run all my programs that are on it? In particular, I want to get into Outlook Express and recover some emails and addresses.
3. If I buy a new machine with Vista, can I install this drive as a slave? It is IDE....won't most machines have a different cable type?
4. I have a ton of bookmarks in Mozilla. Will they be retrievable? Do they reside on the drive somewhere that I can grab it as a file? It would be great if that were in My Documents so I could just grab that off Carbonite.
Thanks for all the help as always.
1. I have a donor machine that I know works. If I put my HDD in there as the operating system, how hard is it to get running as far as verification. I own the version of windows XP as it came with my machine. Will it matter that it is an OEM and that it is the Media Center version.
2. If I install the HDD as a slave, can I still run all my programs that are on it? In particular, I want to get into Outlook Express and recover some emails and addresses.
3. If I buy a new machine with Vista, can I install this drive as a slave? It is IDE....won't most machines have a different cable type?
4. I have a ton of bookmarks in Mozilla. Will they be retrievable? Do they reside on the drive somewhere that I can grab it as a file? It would be great if that were in My Documents so I could just grab that off Carbonite.
Thanks for all the help as always.
Moderator
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 164,377
Likes: 82
From: MA
I haven't had a chance to do a thing to the machine since last week but have a couple questions that I should know but maybe someone can answer off the top of their head....
1. I have a donor machine that I know works. If I put my HDD in there as the operating system, how hard is it to get running as far as verification. I own the version of windows XP as it came with my machine. Will it matter that it is an OEM and that it is the Media Center version.
1. I have a donor machine that I know works. If I put my HDD in there as the operating system, how hard is it to get running as far as verification. I own the version of windows XP as it came with my machine. Will it matter that it is an OEM and that it is the Media Center version.
2. If I install the HDD as a slave, can I still run all my programs that are on it? In particular, I want to get into Outlook Express and recover some emails and addresses.
3. If I buy a new machine with Vista, can I install this drive as a slave? It is IDE....won't most machines have a different cable type?
4. I have a ton of bookmarks in Mozilla. Will they be retrievable? Do they reside on the drive somewhere that I can grab it as a file? It would be great if that were in My Documents so I could just grab that off Carbonite.
Thanks for all the help as always.
If you need help I am not far from you..
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Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: North of Boston MA
if it stops working you will have to contact Microshaft and give them a song and dance to get the new access code.
No you will not be able to run the programs, because the info needed is in the registry of that drive and it will not be loaded.. YOu will be able to recover all of youir email, documents, pictures, ...Etc...
Many new PC's have SATA drives in them, but some have both interfaces (SATA & IDE)on the motherboard.
No you will not be able to run the programs, because the info needed is in the registry of that drive and it will not be loaded.. YOu will be able to recover all of youir email, documents, pictures, ...Etc...
Many new PC's have SATA drives in them, but some have both interfaces (SATA & IDE)on the motherboard.
Any tips on how to retrieve emails and address book from OE without running the program? I have a couple thousand but only want to save a small percentage of them.
SATA....I couldn't remember what it was called.
Are there programs that will successfully migrate programs from one drive to another?
Moderator
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 164,377
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From: MA
Any tips on how to retrieve emails and address book from OE without running the program? I have a couple thousand but only want to save a small percentage of them.
Just setup the email account on the new PC then import the email messages from the old drive.. Do you know where they are located?? If not let me know.
The Address book is the same way, but it is in a different location..
Are there programs that will successfully migrate programs from one drive to another?