Reply With QuoteWhat you suggest may work (and as you say there will probably be many issues) so I would simply plug your old C into the other computer (but not as the boot drive) and manually rescue the files/folders you need.
I switched off my computer on Thursday evening as normal and it shut down correctly. Yesterday morning it woldn't switch on, it appered completely dead: no beeps, no lights, no fans and no disk spinning.
I checked the circuit breaker n the fuse board and checked the fuse in the plug, both OK.I tried another power lead but the result was the same. I opened the case and checked all the plugs going into the motherboard and all OK. At this point, I called a computer engineer who arrived and carried out the following checks:
Checked the on/off switch with a multimeter - OK,
Checked for power to the compute - OK.
Checked the voltage from the PSU - OK.
Checked the BIOS battery - OK (it's recently been replaced).
Removed and replaced the RAM to ensure it was seated correctly.
It's clear that there was power in the machine because I plugged a flash drive into a USB socket and the LED indicator on the flash drive lit up.
He suspected a problem with the motherboard but this would require further testing and to be honest, the machine is 5 years old so parts may be difficult to get and I decided it was probably better just to get a new machine. This is an Intel Xeon machine.
I'd experienced 2 or 3 "blue screens" in the last month, starting with quite a loud buzzing through the speakers a few seconds before the blue screen appeared with the message (dumping contents of memory to cache" or something similar so it's clear there was already a problem.
Assuming the contents of the hard drives are OK, it's an inconvenience at this time rather than a disaster but it would make things easier if I could retrive some information from teh drives such as passwords and e-mails.
I have another Intel Xeon machine currently running XP, could I simply put the C drive from the dead computer into the working computer and boot from that to recover information? I realise that many of the drivers will be different and there will be error messages but would it work? Is there any risk to the hard drive?
All ideas gratefully received.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
What you suggest may work (and as you say there will probably be many issues) so I would simply plug your old C into the other computer (but not as the boot drive) and manually rescue the files/folders you need.
Sounds like motherboard est mort.
I had a thinkpad do that - even tried replacing the keyboard but no
B
Any files on the hard drive should be readily accessible if you add it to your working machine without booting from it.
If you try to boot from it you'll have all sots of issues with it trying to load drivers for the different hardware etc although it shouldn't cause any damage if it doesn't work.
I agree, you can get a lead or external hard drive case to place your hard dive into, then copy and save the files from the hard drive to your other computer.
I had a similar thing to my computer once, borrowed a different power module, swapped it over and it sprang to life. However yours might be a bit more terminal after the tests already carried out.
I hope you get it all sorted.
I moved to a mac years ago due to reliability issues with PC slowing down workflow, it was a good move. Still keep a stripped back PC that is very stable for some work duties, never connect it to Internet.
Hi Eddie
I wouldn't try to boot another PC/laptop from your drive. What you might do is to invest in an external hard drive dock (example1, example2) and access your data using that. Even better would be to immediately back-up all the data from the drive before trying anything else...just in case. You'll be able to find a dock at your local computer superstore (I hope).
I know that's what my brother does when any of his customers' PCs come in to be fixed. It's out with the hard drive, make a copy, then look at it as an external drive on another system...starting with a scan for viruses, malware etc.
Hope that makes sense and may help a little.
Bob
Depending on the type of hard drive you have, you may need to switch the jumpers to make it a secondary drive rather than a master, then connect it to the running XP machine and you will be able to browse the drive and copy files elsewhere. As said previously, this gets round the 'driver' issue. Or you may be able to use the case of an external HDD, then just browse to it like you would with any other external drive.
Worse case scenario, you could try attaching it as the boot drive, you may get lucky and it will boot with some clashes of drivers, I have done this previously and it should work, but it depends mostly if the video drivers are compatible enough to allow it to display. If they are then you can normally copy stuff from the drive to a flash drive or similar.
Hi Eddie,
There is a good chance that the other PC would boot from the 'old' drive, if the interface is the same (i.e. SATA/PATA). Maybe with a standard VGA screen, but if you want to just recuperate some passwords (note them on paper before restarting the PC with its proper drive again), that should be possible. Alternatively you could fit the old drive as second hard drive or attach it using a USB adapter (available for a tenner or so), so you'll have it as an external backup. You will be able to get at most of the data that way as well.
If it's about passwords for all sorts of web sites stored in a browser: if you use Firefox on both machines and the data from the broken PC are more complete and/or important than on the other one, you could get them back by copying over the Documents and Settings/Eddie/Application Data/Mozilla (or something like it) folder from the broken machine to the other one. All the history, passwords etc. from FF are stored there (em... make a backup of the same folder on the working machine first, before you write the data from the broken PC over it, in case it doesn't work). Maybe it could work the same way with Internet Explorer, but I hardly use that so I really can't say. It may be too integrated into Windows for it to be copied over separately.
I've had similar. Tested the output from the PSU, even put a PSU tester on to double check and all reported ok. Then wired up another PSU (it takes two minutes) to bypass the original and all worked fine. Then it's just a case of swapping out the faulty unit.
My money would still be on a faulty PSU.
How did the guy check the PSU? Did he just use a multimeter or did he use a PSU tester? Did he try and bypass with another unit? Is it a standard ATX PSU?
Unfortunately it's a workstation and some of the connectors to the motherboard are non-standard.:-( It's a rather large 700W PSU and for the price, I might as well get a new computer.Originally Posted by Cowie
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
You should be able to plug in you old drive into your newer computer as well as the existing drive. The drive you add will be labeled D drive, so you computer will run as normal on the original C drive and you can access all the old files on the D drive.
Most computers have more than one slot for hard drives.
It certainly could be, but in my experience it is far more likely to be the PSU that has failed, than the system board. Of course the disparity between the failure rates decreases as the quality of the machine improves, but it is still more likely to be the PSU.
If it is a generic chassis and PSU then testing it shouldn't be too difficult providing that you have an suitable alternative known-good power supply. If it is proprietary then it is far more difficult, even for a proper engineer.
Diagnosing computer problems is extremely difficult remotely.
Only now do I see that it is proprietary... I had expected it to be and probably a Dell, when I saw that it had a Xeon CPU.
You may experience some difficulty accessing the data on the transferred disks, but that is quite easy to get past.
Honestly, and not to dismiss anybodys advice, I would take the hard drive to a trustworthy local computer shop I.e. not PC World and ask them to recover the data or put it in a caddy for you. Sometimes it is better to let the professionals take care of things.
Why?
It's not exactly difficult to plug a HDD into a computer.
It is rarely as easy to recover data as you hope. Various incompatibilities between old and new drive connectors, jumpers to set etc. Then perhaps the drive and data might be good and accessible or not? I'm speaking from experience as I work in IT and used to engineer/support systems so I get the call from friends, family and friends of friends and family to sort out broken PCs and hard drives.
It's not exactly difficult if you know everything... but to save worry and stress I would always recommend giving to a professional with good reputation.
It might be difficult for a complete novice (my mother for example) but many people are familiar and happy to upgrade PCs as indeed they are designed to be.
I've never come across an incompatible HDD connector. Aren't they either IDE or SATA?
You must be joking! I am a computer engineer and I have NEVER seen a qualified engineer working in a computer shop! At PCWorld you have FAR MORE chance of finding one professional person, with a CompTIA A+ certification at least. When I was a Mastercare engineer they had an MCP at Chesterfield PCWorld (although he didn't hang around for long when he received his papers).
A chimp can put a drive in a caddy for you though, so any of the computer shops on London Road should be able to manage this.
I'd just get a USB caddy and put the old drive(s) from the dead pc into that. It should be completely accessible on any other computer as a USB drive. Then copy the files you need to the new pc or to a NAS drive or both.
I'd agree with this approach. Reading it as a secondary drive on another machine is the best bet. retrieving data is usually straightforward though retrieving passwords etc. may be a bit of a faff. Putting the drive into another machine and trying to boot from it might work, but there will be all sorts of driver issues. The main problem is that this will result in the drive been written to and files modified, which is the last thing you want if there's no backup. It's also possible that the failure has caused some corruption on the drive and this will only make matters worse.
One other point, while the Blue Screens of Death you were getting suggest a possible motherboard issue, if there are NO fans at all spinning - including the PSU - then I'd say the PSU is definitely duff. The PSU provides different voltages to the board and it's entirely possible that the 12v supply has failed while the 5v is still working. In some PSUs 5V is still supplied without running the fan, which could explain why the USB still has power.
I would say that it is not usually straightforward due to permissions issues. This can be quite easily worked around when you know how, though.
I transferred both drives from the Fujitsu Siemens Celsius R500 (dead) into an elderly HP Workstation XW6200 and crossed my fingers. It booted up with a few "not found" messages so I went into startup and disabled all the programs related to hardware not present on this computer. I then checked for update drivers and downloaded them (a lot) and although time consuming, it was pretty straightforward. The most difficult driver to find was in integrated audio driver for the HP.
Now working fine and no data lost but a lot slower to boot up.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
I was building a PC for a friend once, almost finished, and there was an evening of thunder and lightening - walked into the room to find the motherboard smoking (I hadn't left the PC running). That was before I discovered surgemasters. There was no other indication of any power surge - just the smoking mobo.
P.s. Glad you're back up and running, Eddie.
Well I have not the faintest idea what you are talking about.
A computer is like a powerful slide rule/abacus.
A HDD is a head-down display.
Eddie
There's a very good chance that it's the voltage smoothing caps on the motherboard that have failed. Check the electrolytic caps (they look like tin cans) near to where the the main power connector connects to the motherboard - There's usually a bank of them in a row or cluster around this area. Check the top of them carefully to see if any are bulging. They should be flat on top. Also, if you see signs of brown crud anywhere, that's a tell-tale sign if a failed cap and is leaking fluid. If you're at all handy with a soldering iron, they're generally quite easy to replace. RS and Farnell will probably have drop in replacements. In addition to ensuring you get the correct capacitance and voltage (written on the device), you need to ensure lead pitch is correct and the diameter of the replacement parts aren't too big. Note, if one has failed, it's probably best to replace them all.
I've done this fix dozens of times over the years and it's usually a very cost effective excercise. Did one recently in fact, but in that case it was the electrolytics in the PSU itself that had failed. Even good electrolytic caps are only rated for 2000 hours, so it's easy to see why this is such a common problem.
Gary
I had to have my mother board reflowed because I had let it overheat and it broke the connections. the reflowing worked long enough for me to remove the data, then it packed up again
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