PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: David on July 03, 2008, 15:52
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Hi all I wont double post.but in short my desktop just stopped working the other day and it looked like a psu so I went out and got a new one and nothing.this all happened a week after upgrading the ram (doubled it)and I dont know if its connected with this problem,anyway my question is if I go over to maplins tomorrow and get another motherboard will the hard drives data be lost Dont forget I am to say the least as bright as a 20 watt bulb in a powercut.
Email is down at the moment so I will have to jsu check every now and again.Im not that bothered if the pc has gone although its only 16 months old just want to know if there is any hope for the dats stored on it thanks for any advice ???
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Hi all I wont double post.but in short my desktop just stopped working the other day and it looked like a psu so I went out and got a new one and nothing.this all happened a week after upgrading the ram (doubled it)and I dont know if its connected with this problem,anyway my question is if I go over to maplins tomorrow and get another motherboard will the hard drives data be lost Dont forget I am to say the least as bright as a 20 watt bulb in a powercut.
Email is down at the moment so I will have to jsu check every now and again.Im not that bothered if the pc has gone although its only 16 months old just want to know if there is any hope for the dats stored on it thanks for any advice ???
Hi Dave, have you got another desktop, or a friend who will let you put your hard drive into their desktop [as a slave drive]That way you will be able to save any data [copy] Of course if your motherboard is kaput [are you just guessing] then all data on your hard drive will be fine. You know it could be the hard drive that is knackered. I've never had a Motherboard go on me, but I've had one Hard drive that went walkabout. And it's replacement was knacker as well.
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Hi Tony yes I have a spare Desk top here.I am guessing sort of hence the mention of double posting.I did post the problem on next door and went out and got a new psu.hoped this would fix my pc which just went off.sadly it didnt remedy the problem.switched on and nothing although when I plug a multi usb in it does light up.
Did put extra ram in about a week ago and not sure if this contributed to problems.I will try and strip it down again tomorrow but although have had a look at sites cant see a way to test the motherboard.I dont know for sure.
I was wondering if the current is transferred through the motherboard and then to the fan as there is no life in the new one at all.......
Anyway the other machine is also sata if I switch them will all my data be on th eold machine :icon_drowning:
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There is no data as such on the motherboard, David, so everything you need to save is on the hard drive. This can be installed as a slave on another machine, and the data copied across.
My worry is that you are throwing away good money after bad, by guessing at what's wrong, and I would suggest you take the machine into a repairers, and get them to give you a diagnosis before spending any more on it.
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To be honest Simon my main concern is for the data on the hard drive if I can salvage this it would be brilliant.In my mind Im thinking the worst case scenario and already thinking what is good enough to keep for parts as I have started my list for the new machine but I want at least a month to ensure it is built well.
In the meantime I still need a desktop and found a refurbished one in pc world the same spec as the one which has broken for £149....mad price but ok for an eventual spare.
So the first item in my bag is my new fan.........cant waste it can I
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Exactly how many machines have you got, David? I know you have a laptop, and the broken desktop, but you said above that you have a spare desktop, so does that make three in total, and if so, how many of these are working?
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Exactly how many machines have you got, David? I know you have a laptop, and the broken desktop, but you said above that you have a spare desktop, so does that make three in total, and if so, how many of these are working?
Now now Simon....I have a the PB which is the one that has broken,then I have another desktop which my daughters has but it was my old one.then I have my Toshiba laptop.....the I have a PB notebook which gets very little use so I have 2 desktops and 2 lap tops but the notebook although only 8 months old is slow .
Then there could be a new one.
But the PB is only just over a year old so there you have it............. ;D
Sorry didnt cover all your points Toshiba ,working (its new) PB ,Not working,PB Notebook,working and daughters desk top,old but working got a very understanding wife :D
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Thanks, I wasn't being funny, it just gets a bit confusing sometimes. :crazy: ;)
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I was only joking Simon.............I must cause more confusion than any pc ever built. ;D
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We wouldn't have you any other way, David. :brickwall: :drink: :what: :lol:
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If its a SATA drive then you dont even need to slave it, just plug it into another SATA enabled pc and you should see all your data.
Unfortuantely if its in C/user (yourself), then that may not be accessible as you may need to have booted into windows to see that.
If thats the case you could probably still be able to boot of it in another working pc but it may take some messing around.
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Thanks Sandra,its looking hopeful,well not lost forever at least.Im not sure what the C/user is but I think it is this.as Im usure of the original fault yet it could be that the psu wasnt the problem,but expect it is,so I will take it to a repair shop for a diagnosis and take it from there.if it is the mobo then maybe I can get the repair shope to copy or recover the data or even transfer it over :icon_book: :icon_book:
Havnt been able to reply as notifications are a problem at moment what with Email services suffering at moment
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Most programs save everything to the C: drive by default.
Unless its saved to the folder for its own program which would be C:\program files\xxx where xxx is the name of the program, then they are usually saved to C:\ usernamexxx\documents where usernamexxx is your own account, even if theres only a single user account it will have accounts for admin and your name at least.
In the folder C:\ usernamexxx\documents you will also have folders for Video, Photos, Music and My Documents.
Windows will attempt to save files into which it thinks is the most appropriate.
Unfortunately unless you have booted to the operating system then these user accounts arent usually available so if you add the drive as a second drive in a different pc you cant access the information in those folders :(
This is why I always advise people to take note of where windows wants to save files to and to change the location to anywhere but the windows default and not to the Desktop as that location is in your user account folder as well, preferably on another partition or hard drive if you have one.
If you only have a single partition then create a folder on C:, call it Saved files or similar, then create folders inside that for your documents, photos, music and videos or anything else.
That way if the windows OS fails for some reason and you cant boot into windows you can still access all your data if you use that drive in another pc.
Hope that you can follow that ok David and that you may benefit from it in the future
:)
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Sandra's right, but if you have a pro version of windows you can take over account specific files by taking ownership of those files. When reading this I can to the same conclusion as Simon. It's not wise to throw money away if you aren't sure what part needs replacing. I would suggest doing what simon suggested and taking your computer to someone better equipped to diagnose your problem.
When I ran a shop here before the hurricane I had 5 dead emachine towers lined up against the wall. Since we're so close to the gulf of mexico here the humidity is often extremely high. When a lightning storm comes up it tends to short out cheap computer parts. Turns out that pretty much includes everything inside an emachine. The majority of the time we were able to get their data by slaving the hard drive.
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Thanks Sandra nd Reno....as you see Im just reading up and a lot is making some sense to me and it will get clearer the more I read..must admit a lot of my other pas times have suffered as I find this subject very addictive and achievable to thanks again.....back to my books ;D
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Most programs save everything to the C: drive by default.
Unless its saved to the folder for its own program which would be C:\program files\xxx where xxx is the name of the program, then they are usually saved to C:\ usernamexxx\documents where usernamexxx is your own account, even if theres only a single user account it will have accounts for admin and your name at least.
In the folder C:\ usernamexxx\documents you will also have folders for Video, Photos, Music and My Documents.
Windows will attempt to save files into which it thinks is the most appropriate.
Unfortunately unless you have booted to the operating system then these user accounts arent usually available so if you add the drive as a second drive in a different pc you cant access the information in those folders :(
This is why I always advise people to take note of where windows wants to save files to and to change the location to anywhere but the windows default and not to the Desktop as that location is in your user account folder as well, preferably on another partition or hard drive if you have one.
If you only have a single partition then create a folder on C:, call it Saved files or similar, then create folders inside that for your documents, photos, music and videos or anything else.
That way if the windows OS fails for some reason and you cant boot into windows you can still access all your data if you use that drive in another pc.
Hope that you can follow that ok David and that you may benefit from it in the future
:)
Would all of these comments be applicable Sandra? the main things I want are photos would this be accessable on the other machine which I intend putting the hard drive into ???
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It depends where they are stored now David.
If its in the C:\username folder then you probably wont see them in the next PC. If its just in C: or on another partition then you would see them without any problems.
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Thanks Sandra its just in the c...will try it later. ;)
Im still getting the knowledge up to scratch and then Im off to Maplins to startd building.I did buy a 450 psu as this cannot be returned and not wanted to waste the £40 will this be powerful enough for a decent machine.To date the spec of this fan is or so it seems will be enough to be able to get a decent mobo...(getting the jargon lol)
The other machine has not been to repair shop yet but I intend to put back the original psu in there as it is large and not really imo suitable for the case so the case I get for the new one will be much larger to house such a long psu.
If all this makes sense
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450 should be ok for most PCs, unless you are running lots of fans and fancy lighting inside the case.
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No Sandra no lights just a bog standard pc which I want to tailor to my needs and gaming isnt my thing just a fast cpu and the machine will be used for a bit of browsing and Email just ordinary stuff. :)