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29-07-2007, 08:44 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | dead computer
just to let everyone know that i will be on line less for a few days as my computer has mysteriously died , it is an ex computer, it has ceased to be, it has shuffled off its electronic coil, it has gone to silicon heaven , this computer is dead!
basically it is refusing to boot - the fan runs on start up but there is no hard disc activty at all - fortunately it is still under waranty so it will shortly go back to the nice men at pc world to sort it out.
even more fortunately my photos are on an external hardrive and are , touch wood , unaffected.
I am writing this on my mothers extremly slow laptop so although i will be checking my email and pm regularly i wont be posting much until either my computer is fixed or i buy a decent laptop as backup.
try not to miss me too much 
P
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"new improved eeyore , now with added tact..... for that whiter brighter finish" |
29-07-2007, 08:59 PM
|  | Wild Member | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Herefordshire
Posts: 227
| | | Re: dead computer
Oh no!! I had that problem. My laptop crashed majorly, because I had 120 processes running on start up!! It just gave up. Had to use the main computer which took so long to load up you could log on, have a shower, come bach and it would have only just finished lading up!! Got the lappy back now tho.
Hope your computer isn't too dire!  Sarah 
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Oh shadow, dear shadow, come shadow and dance! |
29-07-2007, 09:19 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: North Anston, South Yorkshire
Posts: 502
| | | Re: dead computer
If the only things that are working are the fans and you don't get any boot up whatsoever then it sounds like a motherboard failure which I suspect would mean a new one.
However I'm sure the guys at PC World can sort it out ............ eventually |
29-07-2007, 10:47 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: N.Yorkshire
Posts: 1,910
| | | Re: dead computer
Well good luck with PC World (been there, done that  )
Stick to your guns and don't leave without a satisfactory outcome ok!
Missin'ya already! |
29-07-2007, 11:47 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Berkshire
Posts: 1,672
| | | Re: dead computer
PC World!  |
30-07-2007, 06:18 AM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: N.E.SOMERSET
Posts: 6,455
| | | Re: dead computer
It sounds like an overworked hard drive  commiserations,all my images
went with mine on the day my new external drive was hooked up ready
I turned it on and a drive which had worked perfectly the previous day
just would not start
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You cannot maintain an ecology, if you lose any of the pieces. |
30-07-2007, 06:39 AM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Hetton le Hole Tyne & Wear
Posts: 539
| | | Re: dead computer
Like eeyore always store valuable material on external drive and do regular backups. Every drive is capable of collapse without recovery. |
30-07-2007, 07:31 PM
|  | Member of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Posts: 267
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightshade  It sounds like an overworked hard drive commiserations,all my images
went with mine on the day my new external drive was hooked up ready
I turned it on and a drive which had worked perfectly the previous day
just would not start | Just a few thoughts which might resolve the issue if you still have the same computer:
Was the external drive a USB connection?
If not were the jumpers set correctly to Master and Slave for your configuration?
Was the Master drive, i.e. 'C drive', at the end of the cable as it should be and the secondary drive in the middle?
If you have a new machine now you could try installing your old 'C drive' as a slave to the new machine once the jumpers are set correctly, that might give you a chance of recovering your photos.
If, of course your old drive is truly defunct then the only remedy would be an expensive recovery of the files by professionals.
Hope all this helps and if it isn't quite clear do come back to me for clarification and details of 'how to do it'  |
30-07-2007, 07:42 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: North Anston, South Yorkshire
Posts: 502
| | | Re: dead computer
To be honest I have had faulty hard drives before and what usually happens is the PC gets to the boot stage and then cannot find a hard drive so asks for a boot up disk.
From what eeyore has said it hasn't got even to the booting up stage, therefore I would stand by my original theory of faulty motherboard or perhaps processor.
DoY |
30-07-2007, 07:58 PM
| | Member of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Posts: 267
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duke of York To be honest I have had faulty hard drives before and what usually happens is the PC gets to the boot stage and then cannot find a hard drive so asks for a boot up disk.
From what eeyore has said it hasn't got even to the booting up stage, therefore I would stand by my original theory of faulty motherboard or perhaps processor.
DoY | Yes possibly but my suggestions were for Nightshade's machine which may not be under warranty now and just lying in a garage for example. Depends how badly the pics are wanted  |
30-07-2007, 08:08 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: North Anston, South Yorkshire
Posts: 502
| | | Re: dead computer
Sorry I was refering to the post which suggested eeyores problem might be hard drive rather than your post (maybe I should have quoted that one ) |
30-07-2007, 08:14 PM
| | Member of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
Posts: 267
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duke of York Sorry I was refering to the post which suggested eeyores problem might be hard drive rather than your post (maybe I should have quoted that one ) | That's OK, it's just that, (should I actually admit to this?), I'm an ICT Technician and do quite a bit of mix and matching of drives on older machines |
30-07-2007, 08:22 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Llanelli, Carms, S.Wales
Posts: 988
| | | Re: dead computer
I have the same problem as eeyore at the moment and have had the same problem before. Last time it was the motherboard I think as all I did was give the insides a good hoovering and it worked, so try getting rid of all the dust inside first before going to PC world.
Dai |
30-07-2007, 08:23 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | Re: dead computer
as i recall nightshades drive heads had collided and that drive was an ex drive it had ceased to be etc
in my case only the van runs the screen stays dark and there is no activity at all from the hard drive - i tend to think that it is a m/board failure - but i suppose another posibilty could be the psu if its not giving power to the boards or similar
anyway like i say its under warantly and i shall be giving pc world the swereve and going straight back to packard bell to get a tech out to fix it - in the meantime i have access at work and via this old laptop - so i can post but not upload pictures or do anything with photoshop
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"new improved eeyore , now with added tact..... for that whiter brighter finish" |
30-07-2007, 08:24 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon I have the same problem as eeyore at the moment and have had the same problem before. Last time it was the motherboard I think as all I did was give the insides a good hoovering and it worked, so try getting rid of all the dust inside first before going to PC world.
Dai | no can do as opening the case invalidates the warranty and as it is still covered i dont want to do that
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"new improved eeyore , now with added tact..... for that whiter brighter finish" |
30-07-2007, 08:35 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: North Anston, South Yorkshire
Posts: 502
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by eeyore in my case only the van runs the screen stays dark and there is no activity at all from the hard drive - i tend to think that it is a m/board failure - but i suppose another posibilty could be the psu if its not giving power to the boards or similar | It could be the psu but as the fan is working there must be some power there so unless it is only the power to the motherboard which has gone (unlikely) then I do think it is the motherboard. Since it is under warranty I'd be interested if Packard Bell will actually try to fix the motherboard or just fit a new one. I have just got two new motherboards and they were only £30 each. |
31-07-2007, 08:18 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kenninghall, Norfolk
Posts: 3,256
| | | Re: dead computer
It's simple. With a simple solution.
Get a mac |
31-07-2007, 08:36 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lincolnshire/Cambs/Norfolk border right on The Wash
Posts: 2,177
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by NickCantle It's simple. With a simple solution.
Get a mac | Is this sort of abuse permitted by the WABlords???
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too many books... not enough money!!!!!!!!!! |
01-08-2007, 04:36 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by NickCantle It's simple. With a simple solution.
Get a mac | why would i want to do that - my £2k+s worth of pc software wont run on a mac 
and anyway macs arent anymore imune to hard droive failure than a pc because the components are very nearly identical.
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"new improved eeyore , now with added tact..... for that whiter brighter finish" |
01-08-2007, 05:13 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 16
| |  Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by eeyore why would i want to do that - my £2k+s worth of pc software wont run on a mac
and anyway macs arent anymore imune to hard droive failure than a pc because the components are very nearly identical. |
Sorry eeyore but you are wrong - the new Intel Macs run PC software, I think the Bootcamp software lets you run either in Windows XP or Vista (or dare I say MAC) and boot from either system. If you've had a hard drive failure, the chances of recovering data from the drive may be very slim and expensive. I've been on Macs since 1988 - Mac Classic - have never had a hard drive failure (touch wood) and only had two system failures one in Mac OS8 and one in Mac OS9 - both were cured simply by switching the computer off and then back on again. That is the simple cure for 99.9% of all Mac problems. I also run a large amount of Windows stuff (Photoshop, Office etc) via "Virtual PC". |
01-08-2007, 08:54 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyM Sorry eeyore but you are wrong - the new Intel Macs run PC software, I think the Bootcamp software lets you run either in Windows XP or Vista (or dare I say MAC) and boot from either system. If you've had a hard drive failure, the chances of recovering data from the drive may be very slim and expensive. I've been on Macs since 1988 - Mac Classic - have never had a hard drive failure (touch wood) and only had two system failures one in Mac OS8 and one in Mac OS9 - both were cured simply by switching the computer off and then back on again. That is the simple cure for 99.9% of all Mac problems. I also run a large amount of Windows stuff (Photoshop, Office etc) via "Virtual PC". | i havent had a drive failure (my data is all on an external drive and backed up on DVD anyway) ive had a motherboard failure - a fault which occured 3 times in quick succesion on my power mac, sisters imac, and mac G3 - i also had a mac power book catch fire - at this point i decided that i'd had enough of apple and went over to PCs
i know that you can run pc software on some macs - but why would i want to do that - as all my software is pc there is a far cheaper option for running it - a pc !
the only appeal of apple is apperture - but i'm not that fussed as a fast PC running lightroom and extensis is its equal IMO anyway
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"new improved eeyore , now with added tact..... for that whiter brighter finish" |
02-08-2007, 08:42 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: May 2007 Location: Caversham, Reading, Berks.
Posts: 519
| | | Re: dead computer
Hi eeyore,
You've the best idea, don't touch as it's under guarantee, and try not to bash it too hard when you return it, did that, and it worked when the workshop tested it, I said next time I'll take it for a trip around the block and try it again before I return it.
Max.
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02-08-2007, 06:07 PM
| | Member of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 262
| | | Re: dead computer
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyM Sorry eeyore but you are wrong - the new Intel Macs run PC software.... | ...though I can't think why anyone would want to do this on a Mac.
HW |
06-08-2007, 07:50 PM
| | Wild Member | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Herefordshire
Posts: 227
| | | Re: dead computer
I've lost my laptop again!!!! Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! Stupid ashampoo disk!!!!!  Using the really slow main computer again....... I could be here some time.......... zzzzzzzzzz............
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Oh shadow, dear shadow, come shadow and dance! |
06-08-2007, 08:43 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Chilterns
Posts: 7,717
| | | Re: dead computer
just to update on my situation, contrary to their reputation, pc world have agreed to fix my pc no questions asked - they agree that its probably the M/board and say that they will likely just replace it rather than attempt to repair.
as it is likely to be a couple of weeks before thats done I have also laid out some wedge on a laptop.
for those who are interested the tech spec on this is compaq - AMD Turion 64 dual core processor , 2GB ram , 256 geforce graphics c | |
