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Possible hard drive crash

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by gpb59, 2009/05/28.

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  1. 2009/05/28
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I probably have a hard drive crash. At first the power was on bu I had a black screen. When I powered off, it came back on. It happened the next day and made it to windows is starting up and stalled there, there was a squealing sound coming from the cpu. Now it doesn't boot up at all. Are the options just to bring it in for repair? Can you boot from the windows xp CD?
     
    gpb59,
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  2. 2009/05/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The omens are not good at all .....

    When you try to boot do you see the POST screen (white text on black background)? - does the power light come on? - does the hard drive light come on?

    If no lights come on at all I would think that the PSU (Power Supply Unit) has failed.

    If the lights do come on and you see the POST screen I would suspect the hard drive. Could try testing it with the manufacturer's dosk diagnostic software - most boot from CD or floppy .....

    Disk Diagnostic Software ....

    ExcelStore

    Hitachi/IBM

    Samsung

    Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum

    Western Digital

    Yes, you can boot from the Windows CD provided that the boot order in the BIOS is CD-ROM > floppy if fitted > hard drive.

    If you have a Recovery disk be aware that it will format the drive and all data will be lost.

    If you have a retail XP CD you could try a Repair install - if you can get that far.

    Do hope you have a current backup of your personal data.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2009/05/28
    pljr036

    pljr036 Inactive

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    insert an original xp cd then select the first repair you see
     
    pljr036,
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  5. 2009/05/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    pljr036
    You need to pad out that advice a bit - I will do it for you .....

    Selecting the first Repair option loads the Recovery Console from which you could run chkdsk /r
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2009/05/28
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I'm not getting far enough to do anything. Sometimes a screen comes up first
    that says "American Megatrends" on top, I think on the bottom it says testing NVURAM (or something like it), but then the screen goes black.

    I have most of my data on an external HD.

    Should I bring it in for repair, or just get a new computer? Can a professional
    at least get the info off the hard drive?
     
    gpb59,
    #5
  7. 2009/05/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    That is the POST screen, but the 'sometimes' is of concern. What about my question re. lights?
    Generally speaking - yes, but it depends on the state of the hard drive so the cost is in the range $$ - $$$$. If the drive is recognised as a slave in another computer copying off the data is straightforward - that's $$. If the drive is not recognised the task is more difficult and a data recovery service is required - that's $$$ or more.
    No straightforward answer to that as the extent of the problem is unknown. If the computer is a few years old now might be a good time to upgrade, especially with Windows 7 on the horizon. OTH you could get a repair shop to check it out and diagnose the problem for you.
     
    PeteC,
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  8. 2009/05/28
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    The power light comes on, not sure about the HD light. I'll probably take it in to at least get diagnosed. The computer is at least 5 yrs old.
     
    gpb59,
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  9. 2009/05/28
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    especially with Windows 7 on the horizon.

    If i get something new now, I'd then have to buy windows 7 (optionally). They aren't on computers now are they?
     
    gpb59,
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  10. 2009/05/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Windows 7 should be released by the end of the year - at least to OEM's to offer for the Christmas season.

    There are suggestions that MS may offer a free upgrade to Vista users for computers bought after a certain date. but not all OEM's may participate.

    FYI - OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer. i.e. in this case the computer manufacturer's - Dell. HP, etc.
     
    PeteC,
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  11. 2009/05/31
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    found out it was my motherboard that was fried. The hard drive was OK. Do I just need to get one of those hard drive enclosures in order to hook up the hard drive to my new computer to transfer any data I need?
     
    gpb59,
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  12. 2009/05/31
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Yes, that will do the job nicely and when the data has been copied off you can format the drive and use it for external data storage/backups.
     
    PeteC,
    #11
  13. 2009/06/06
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I got the hard drive enclosure and the computer tried to install it but then said could not be installed successfully, and I think it said refer to manufacturer.
    It's a seagate Barracuda 7200.7. Is there something I need to do with jumper settings on the drive?
     
    gpb59,
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  14. 2009/06/06
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Jumpers should be set to Slave - would have been set originally as Master.
     
    PeteC,
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  15. 2009/06/06
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    how would I do that, where are the jumpers located?
     
    gpb59,
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  16. 2009/06/06
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    PeteC,
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  17. 2009/06/06
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    actually maybe something happened to the hard drive since I removed it. Should I hear and sound coming from it?
     
    gpb59,
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  18. 2009/06/06
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    When powered up you should be able to detect that the drive is spinning by a hum from it and, depending on your enclosure, there may be a power light on the front.
     
    PeteC,
    #17
  19. 2009/06/10
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I got my old hard drive connected through the USB, but it says it is unreadable, the file or directory is corrupted or unreadable. I ran the hardware diagnostics on it and it passed. Is there anything I can do to read the data? When I had taken it into a shop, they plugged it in and they said the data came up
     
    gpb59,
    #18
  20. 2009/06/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I would try a file recovery program such as Recuva (freeware) and, if the drive is seen try to pull data off.
     
    PeteC,
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  21. 2009/06/11
    gpb59

    gpb59 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    ok thanks.
     
    gpb59,
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