Having a few problems with my comp.

Hello everyone,

Having a few problems with my system right now and would greatly appreciate some input

1) I bought a new WD 160 gig/8 MB Cache HD a few days ago. It came with a PCI card to plug the HD into instead of the MoBo. Formatted using NTFS, installed XP and all my apps, etc. My secondary HD, a 60 gig Maxtor HD, is plugged into the PCI card as well. I am wanting to remove the smaller Maxtor to go into a Linux box, but whenever I remove the smaller one the computer won't boot into the OS. It just sits there looking for the Maxtor after it found the WD. The Maxtor is completely empty, absolutely nothing on it.

2) My computer seems to be running very hot. At first I had 2 Antec case fans running on it, but they don't push too much air. 1 was intake the other was exhaust. I bought some Delta case fans, which push a ton of air but are extremely loud. I had to remove them because the neighbors were complaining about the noise (very thin walls)! They seriously sound like a jet is in my comp room. Right now I just have a desk fan blowing into the computer with the sides off. This is keeping my comp from overheating and locking up, but is horrible on the dust collection!

3) I just had to buy my 4th power supply in the last 6 months. Gone through a 300w, 2x 500w, and now on a 430w one. I am not sure if this is contributed to heat, due to the fact that the wiring in my apartment is old and aluminum If the light in my computer room flickers, my computer will turn off! Should I break down and buy a UPS to keep the power steady or get one of the more expensive power supplies, or both?

Thanks a bunch!

Regards, Justin

 

I guess the PCI controller card is because the HD's are either ATA 66/100/133 and the Mobo doesn't support these natively?

1) Could it be that the system boot files are on the Maxtor drive and hidden
so it looks like the drive is empty? Select show hidden files and folders from the tools/folder options menu of a folder, then check the contents of the maxtor.

Other could be. Make sure that the main drive doesn't have the jumpers set incorrectly after the slaved Maxtor is removed.

2) Yes you need more cooling. Maybe quieter fans? Where is the "Hot" spot(s) inside the PC. If around the HD(s) then you need a fan inside the front blowing air across the Hard Drives towards the back of the box with an exhaust fan sucking the air out. Newer HD's run hotter. Try to separate drives so they arn't hard up against each other. Make sure the CPU and or graphics arn't overclocked AT ALL.
Clean any dust from the CPU fan/heatsink. The same for the graphics card if it has a fan and also make sure the power supply is dust free, and any other fans.

3) UPS is a good option, as is a cheaper surge protector power board. Maybe go the cheaper option first?
Maybe a faulty supply to the premises? If lights are flickering have your power company check the voltage supply over a 24 hour period or more.

 

Thanks for your reply!

1) I checked the Maxtor with show hidden files and nada. Nothing on it. The reason there is a PCI card is that Windows doesn't recognize HD's that large or something of that nature. Or maybe because it's Ultra ATA, i'm not sure. It just said to use the PCI card. When the computer boots up, before it starts to boot the OS, it just hangs when it's doing all the hardware checks and doesn't find the Maxtor installed.

2) How do I check for a "Hot Spot" in the comp? When I had the Antec fans inside there was 1 in the front side of the computer at the bottom for intake and 1 in the rear at the top. I might just break down and buy a case from thermaltake or something.

3) I have a surge protector hooked up, but it never seems to help. I'll probably just get a UPS and see how things look from there

Thanks again,
Justin

 

Did you use a utility to set up the 160gb drive or the Windows CD? Something in the MBR (Master Boot Record) does not like the little drive disappearing. It may be a DDO (Dynamic Drive Overlay) on the small Maxtor...try the Maxtor utility MaxBlast to check that drive (and your other Maxtor). You may end up having to reformat your Win XP system if it cannot be corrected, but could try a "repair" or reinstall with the small drive removed.

Temps
Everest (in my sig) will show you the temperatures of the CPU and system under the Motherboard readings, but you should check that they are correct by going into the BIOS and reading them there. The harddrive temperatures can be seen under SMART in Everest. If your HDDs are not overly hot, run extra fans at the back of the case to remove CPU and graphics heat.

Matt

 

XP will recognise the drive sizes no problem. As mentioned the PCI adaptor will probably be there to give you ATA66+ access. Earlier Mobos may not recognise these larger drive. A BIOS update may be advantageous for you situation?

 

My windows box has a fairly new MOBO. An Asus A7N8X Deluxe. It supports 2x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33. I just used the PCI card that came with the WD HDD because it said to Does this mean I can just yank out the PCI card and see if it works just hooked into the MOBO?

For the heat problems I splurged and ordered a case by ThermalTake. This is what I ordered http://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/WinGo/v7000d.htm.

Hope this does the trick!

 

Flash case, EL lighting and all.

Glad I couldn't find the price tag.

I'm intrigued as to why you are needing to connect the drives with the PCI cards. Probably a valid reason. Just one I'm not aware of. Assuming you have the correct ATA cables I would try connecting the drives directly to IDE 1 master and slave with the appropriate drive jumper settings. Unless you can find a valid reason for the cards, I'd be wanting to take them out of the data chain.

Oh and before you "just yank the cards out" uninstall any associated software and uninstall the PCI card from the device manager, shutdown and physically remove them.

 

I was quite surprised, the case was only $77.00 USD. No PSU though.

LOL, I wouldn't literally yank them out!

About to find out if just hooking the WD into the IDE on the MoBo will work, will post back in a bit!