PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: Michelle on July 26, 2007, 19:11
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Just when you thought you were safe.........she's back...........
Wasn't sure where to put this one.......
My Boyfriends computer is dying........... the hard drive is making clunking noises and gives blue screens and black screens on start up - I forget what it says now but if you keep trying eventually it starts up for a while until it makes the noise and blue screens. I've looked it up and it seems its either the connections or the Hard Drive is dying. We've opened it up and it all looks lovely so time to get a new hard drive. Its not new its like 7 years old and I think a 40gb so it won't hurt to get a new one.
What would u suggest? I've seen a 250GB for about £30 - What would be a good make that isn't too cheap but not too expensive :ack:
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Be careful Michele, older pcs with only a 40 gig drive may have a bios limitation as to which size of drive it will support.
Some would only support 60 or 80 gig max but bigger drives usually have a jumper setting that can limit the drive to 32 gig so it can be seen by an older bios which doesnt support the bigger capacities.
Can you give us some information about the pc, ie motherboard make and model and if possible the bios information that comes up on the screen when the pc starts.
Even if it wont boot up it will still show that screen as thats independant of the hard drive.
If it flashes past too quick to read then hit the Pause/Break key before the screen display moves on to the second screen.
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oh poo really! .......... ok I'll get the specs - its okay it will turn on eventually.
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okay three times now and it won't boot up - darn thing.
so far all I can get is this........ does it help?
Intel (R) Boot Agent Version 4.0.14
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
Intel Base Code PXE-2.0 (build 082)
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media Test Failure Check Cable
PXE-MOF Exiting Inel PXE Rom
Drive Not ready - System Halted.
(i guess this should be moved from Pals Mal now should it? )
I ready somewhere about Jumpers should be checked but I only have cardigans?! :o
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I'm pleased you've asked this question, Michelle - I've just experienced the same problem on my backup system. However, there are two HDs on that computer. Is it possible to find out which one is about to turn up its toes?
Gill
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I saw someone else a while ago was saying their computer was making a noise on another thread, was that you ?
I thought I should mention it all started when............
Noise - then blue screen - 0x0000077 0xc000185
mircosoft said this....... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315266
then there have been other blue screen messages since that one.
Anyway I'm going on...... I'll try and start it again.
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Moved, as requested. :)
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Thank you Simon,
New info.......... Couldn't get the darn thing to boot up. So we tried a new Cable still nothing.
So we we just stuck in the old HD with 98 on it and after a while of it saying it didn't have drivers etc, it started i think in safe mode, but that does suggest it is the Hard Drive doesn't it. So now back to which one..... Still need the info don't i ;D
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@Michelle.
Sorry that isnt what I need :(
Its the very first screen that comes up when you switch the pc on at first just before it goes beep, white writing on a black screen.
@Gill.
Can you enable S.M.A.R.T. in the bios as that will often tell you if a drive is about to become troublesome and it will warn you to back up data as the pc boots up when enabled.
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It wasn't me who asked, Michelle. This is something which only happened today.
Sandra - I've had problems with this computer and hard drives for years - that's why it's my backup machine. When I switch it on, it fails to detect its second HDD and I have to go into the BIOS on boot up to detect it. When I switched it on just now I accessed the SMART and enabled it. Everything seems to be performing fine right now; I just hope it lasts!
Incidentally, the machine is a 1800MHz CPU with a 100MHz bus speed. The MB is a Micro-Star MS-6534 in a Medion PC with an Award 6.00PG BIOS and 512MB (8nS) memory. It's an oldie, but until I heard that dreadful clicking it had served me very well :).
Thanks
Gill
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It could carry on like that for years yet Gill.
Cant think why it shouldnt detect the second drive each time.
Does it list it on the startup screen or just show as no primary slave ?
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okay here we are..........
Board:Intel Corp D850GB AAA48527-906
Serial Number IMGB14023665
Bus Clock : 1110 megahertz
Bios Intel Corp GB85010A.86A.0063.P14.0107182015
7/18/2001
HD is working again now, its upside down lol and no noise shhhhhhhhhhh
Is that all you need Sandra?
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That should do it Michelle.
I will see what I can find out for you later :)
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Looks like youre going to be ok with any size Michelle.
The info I found from Intel says it supports large drives over 137gig, so as long as you have XP with SP1 on it should see any drive.
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thanks so much for checking that out sandra :)
its still going right now ........ how wierd is that!
just waiting for the crunch to come lol
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Its behaving itself because you threatened to replace it Michelle.
Much the same was as a naughty child will behave better if you tell him he was on sale or return and you are going to take him back and get a new child as a replacement for him ;D
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If you have two hds and you can hear one grinding away just pop the case and unplug the power cable from one. If it doesn't make the noise any more when you turn it on you have the culprit.
Get a usb hd enclosure and make it a usb backup hd. A friend of mine says they sell enclosures at radioshack nowadays. Online they run about 25 dollars. I think thats about 13 pounds.
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Ah there's your answer Gill.
Right now I need to know which HD I should buy :)
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That's a good suggestion, Bob. Next time I get an indication of impending failure, I'll disconnect the power to the slave drive and see if the problem persists.
I've never heard of a hard drive enclosure before; aren't I ignorant :blush: :) ? What are they and how do they work? Is this (http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3V64&SearchType=1&CategorySelectedId=11026&SearchTerms=enclosure&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=11026)the sort of thing I'd need?
Gill
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yep thats the sort of thing, I have quite a few of them... once a upon a time it was much cheaper to get an enclosure and an internal disk and make your own external.. not the case really now. Still its a nice way of backing up stuff / checking disks. I actually normally just use a cable and power supply that goes to usb (forgetting the casing) to make periodic backups - like using harddrives as big floopy disks! :-)
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It still looks like a cheaper option than a portable HDD and may well be more flexible. If I was to buy this internal HDD (http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4HC5&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,4294963789,45540000), would it be compatible with this enclosure (http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3V64&CategorySelectedId=11161&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11161,4294954832)? Would I need to buy any additional accessories such as cables?
Sorry to be a pest, but this is new to me and it looks like a superb way to breath life into a dated computer.
Gill
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That hard drive wont do as its a SATA drive Gill.
The case is for IDE so you would need something similarto this one :
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=2J7Z&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,41610000,50473
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It's a good job I asked here before placing an order! Thanks, Sandra :) .
Gill
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eek that all looks very confusing!
What do you think of this one for our machine Sandra? will it be ok?
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=20379&source=MDnewsletter
200GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus21 7200rpm 8mb cache SATA 2 300 Hard Drive
It a maxtor thats in there right now 4k040h2
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Your pc like Gills enclosure uses IDE hard drives not Sata Michelle.
If you want a Maxtor drive, personally I prefer Western Digital but others prefer Maxtor, then any of these will do :
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/productlister.aspx?n=2,13,66,417&n=694
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oh right, thanks Sandra :)
I'll look at those ;)
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Just had to tell you, that hard drive is still working - upside down :laugh: :laugh:
shhhhhhhh don't wanna speak too soon :o
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aw its dead
the burial is on thursday ...............
:cry:
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aw its dead
the burial is on thursday ...............
Before you throw it out, remove the magnet from it, they make good fridge magnets nice and strong :)
:cry:
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You can also make real nice little wind chimes with the hd parts. I made one of these awhile back.
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/07/how_to_make_hard_drive_wind_ch.html
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Thanks Bob, thats a great idea, i have a pile of those platters i could not bring myself to throw them out! :)
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Or, if you want to be really secure, put some bolt cutters through the platters...
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Thanks Bob, thats a great idea, i have a pile of those platters i could not bring myself to throw them out! :)
I have a pile of the platters as well. Think I have them singing "Smoke gets in your Eyes" and "Only You". ;)
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No doubt about the wit of the Scottish! ;D
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I have a pile of the platters as well. Think I have them singing "Smoke gets in your Eyes" and "Only You". ;)
I would have expected it to be "Memories"...
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I finished making my wind chimes :)
(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi4.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy149%2Fbolow%2F1Large-6.jpg&hash=24db1508f361da6a0ebe8aa3370e64adcd17dc9a)
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Time to start marketing them for Xmas. :)
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good idea ;D
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Thats great isn't it! ;D
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I decided against getting a new hard drive and mounting it in an enclosure. However, I've been told that Santa might bring me a new internal drive if I can tell him exactly what I want :) . My computer has the following system hard drive specification:
Name Maxtor 6V200E0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Capabilities 203GB
InterfaceType IDE
Partitions 1
Total Cylinders 24792
Total Heads 255
Total Sectors 398283480
Total Tracks 6321960
Tracks Per Cylinder 255
Sectors Per Track 512
Bytes Per Sector 63
S.M.A.R.T Support Yes
Current Temperature 41C (105.8F)
Disk drive
Name Maxtor 6Y160M0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Capabilities 163GB
InterfaceType IDE
Partitions 1
Total Cylinders 19929
Total Heads 255
Total Sectors 320159385
Total Tracks 5081895
Tracks Per Cylinder 255
Sectors Per Track 512
Bytes Per Sector 63
S.M.A.R.T Support Yes
Current Temperature 41C (105.8F)
IDE Controller
Name Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Primary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Secondary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Primary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Secondary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Primary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
IDE Controller
Name Secondary IDE Channel
Manufacturer (Standard IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers)
Status OK
What would be a good hard drive for me? I'd like something to store video files on, so something in the 250 - 500GB capacity range would probably be what I'm aiming at.
As an aside, when I got the system report on my computer I noticed the following:
Memory Resource
Total Memory 1023MB
Used Memory 529MB
Free Memory 494MB
Memory Usage 51%
At present I'm simply hooked up to the internet and running Firefox so I'm surprised that half my RAM should be in use. Does this seem high to anyone else? If so, what can I do about it?
Gill
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At present I'm simply hooked up to the internet and running Firefox so I'm surprised that half my RAM should be in use. Does this seem high to anyone else? If so, what can I do about it?
I've got 600K in use atm, with Firefox and Outlook running, so I'd say it's about normal. Open up task manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del), and see what processes are listed. It's possible you could kill off some of those, or startup items, to free more memory.
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It might also be worth running a spyware scan, Gill, just to eliminate anything nasty that might be claiming resources, and also check what add-ons you have with Firefox, as I believe some of these can be memory hogs.