Immediatly after posting the previous post my comp crashed.
I rebooted but was then unable to log in on the windows start up screen.
Re-booting again brought up the BIOS screen with options to re-start in safe mode...( 3 other options) or 'restart windows normally'. All of which I am familiar with from problems over the years. Could not manipulate the curser so it chose the latter, re-startng normally after a 28 second countdown, started rebooting process until it recrashed halfway through (blue screen with scary message) and continued into a recuring cycle of the same.
Thought about it for a while and decide to uninstall and reinstall windows. ie reformat the drive and lose all data but hey ho. Bastard would not even let me do that (done it twice before with no problems)
Friday I took it to a small local computer company to see if they could reinstall windows for me. On Saturday they told me that "Your hard drive is fucked mate".
Fine, what do I need to do? Buy another one £45 (+£40 labour incl. inspection). but its Sat so it won't arrive till Tues, might be ready Weds.
Not complaining, I've had my monies worth with the old drive but it wasn't experiencing ANY problems until visiting that Govt website (that kept crashing, just a coincidence? Yeah, right.
Food fight: CO2 makes us fatter
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Well, this is amusing. But, after looking at some numbers on food
production, it may simply be that CO2 is helping us grow more food. And
what happens when...
13 minutes ago
28 comments:
Sounds like bad news, but if your'e faced with 85 pounds for the new drive it might be time to think about whether it's worth simply getting a new puter if your old one is more than three years old or so. Plus you could probably sell the old one, noting its problem, on Ebay or somesuch for about a quarter of whatever you paid for it.
Ya just have to figure out how to make the best of a bad situation I guess.
:/
Michael
::sigh:: I *hate* it when I do a typo on something like "you're" because half the people reading it will just think you don't know any better. LOL!
:>
MJM
Sorry to hear the bad news Banned.
We 'Colonists' are on Holiday today as you most likely are aware so in that spirit I wish you and all your readers a Happy Freedom Day!
Insist on keeping the old drive (whatever you decide to do).
Get hold of a "Caddy" and plug it into that. Then see if you can access any files when it's connected to your new or repaired 'puter. You might be lucky and be able to copy your documents off it. Not having to thrash itself by booting might just be sufficient to keep it going.
There are stories about putting faulty drives in the fridge for a while, but I don't know if this really works.
If you find you are denied access to the documents there are plenty of posts via Google on how to "Take Ownership".
Good Luck.
I once stuck a TI-99 in an oven set very low for five minutes in the hope that if the problem was just a submicroscopic crack in a line of solder that it might melt it back into contact.
When I took it out the computer began working again.
Of course maybe it was just scared of what I might try next.
:)
Michael (Totally true story btw... from the early 80s.)
I suppose when you think about it, that you might as well lob out £300-400 on a new one.
Bloody annoying when it happens though.
Sympathies!
Not fun, mate,speaking from experience, you have my sympathy . :-(
I like the microwaving it idea from MJM - will it work for a laptop? Mine needs a lesson it won't forget.
LOL! No microwaving! I think it might explode! Literally!!!
Isn't there TV commercial about that? For Mozy backup or something? And the kid absentmindedly microwaves his laptop instead of his frozen dinner?
:>
Michael
LOL! No microwaving! I think it might explode! Literally!!!
Isn't there TV commercial about that? For Mozy backup or something? And the kid absentmindedly microwaves his laptop instead of his frozen dinner?
:>
Michael
:-)
"No microwaving! I think it might explode!"
- I'm sure the battery would. Not so sure about the rest. From experience of gold rimmed tea cups the printed circuit tracks certainly wouldn't like it!
Hmm, at least we Rigbys aren't alone with a computer problem! Also trying to decide whether to replace the whole thing of just a few bits and pieces to keep it going for a little longer.
Hi Banned. Sorry to read about your computer problems. I used to have all sorts of problems with windows crashing and such. If you want to spend the money, get a mac mini. I've had about 10 months now, and no problems, (knock on wood).
I hope your weekend was fun, regardless of that.
Any news yet?
Do hope you manage to get it sorted very soon.
Never had the problem myself but can only imagine that my levels of grumpiness would reach life threatening proportions if I did.
Good luck!
Thanks for all the help and advices boys and girls.
Got my comp back today, took the old HD home last week and drilled some holes in it so it does not end up in Nigeria being scanned by fraudsters.
Happily I keep all my vids, sounds and docs on exterior hard drives so have not lost anything (except favorites menu) but it is taking a while downloading various security and media programs.
Good to be back.
I'm sorry Banned, I thought I left a comment. Suicide is the answer.
Shit I just hope PC world can recover my hard disk and get the files from it. I too have been stricken since 19th June but inertia and a little netbook have stopped me from going insane.
I got virus attacked and now windows will not load in safe mode at all
It just dies
Freewoman, be careful: getting your disk up and running Windows again can be VERY different than recovering your files. If you simply hand your puter to someone and say "I want it working again." the simplest way for them to fix it is to probably to just wipe the drive and re-install Windows. Blam: your files are gone.
If you REALLY want those files back make sure you're working with someone who knows what they're doing and that you've made it CLEAR that you want those files.
It can be expensive sometimes though.
- MJM
Damn the cost, I need those files.. I know I should have backed up but I was jetlagged and knackered and the whole damn thing just crashed. Curses... aplenty It ripped my world apart. I'm only on the point of recovery now. I need those files.
I have no idea where to point you, but look around the net and read about it and pick someone reputable and they may be able to get back everything you need. It could even wind up being pretty cheap if they're honest and if the problem is pretty basic. I have no idea what criteria other than common sense (e.g. does their web site look legit? Have they been around for while? Has anyone complained about them on the net?) you should use in picking someone though. Not my field... heh... ask me about smoking bans and I can fill your ears... ask me about fixing computer hardware and you're tapping an empty keg.
- Michael
I have no idea where to point you, but look around the net and read about it and pick someone reputable and they may be able to get back everything you need. It could even wind up being pretty cheap if they're honest and if the problem is pretty basic. I have no idea what criteria other than common sense (e.g. does their web site look legit? Have they been around for while? Has anyone complained about them on the net?) you should use in picking someone though. Not my field... heh... ask me about smoking bans and I can fill your ears... ask me about fixing computer hardware and you're tapping an empty keg.
- Michael
Freewoman of England / HNL I'm a novice at this kind of thing myself but during my conversations at the, independent, repair place the guy suggested putting the damaged drive in a "caddie" (as mentioned by microdave above) which I understand to be a stand alone chassis in which the drive is housed thus enabling transfer of the data to another drive; cost? £20.00 plus the cost of the new drive, Bargain!
It already has a partition recovery disk and is a HP and I happen to have a 750GB hard drive spare in the same desktop
I will ask about the caddy though
Thanks for the heads up
Aha Just looked it up on Google
Thank you so much I shall definitely look into it.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=222999
Seems like this thing might just do the trick?
Except that I find Maplins to be extremly expensive when it comes to peripherals.
My advice would be to find a geek at an independent store.
Cheaper Caddies at Amazon, I shall ask the questions at Maplin and then buy on Amazon
Make sure the PC you use to retrieve your files has a good antivirus installed and updated - just in case some of those files have been infected!
As most "nasties" are written for Windows, it might be an idea to use a PC running a different O/S. I haven't personally tried it, but you can get a Linux Live CD which will run direct from your CD/DVD drive without booting into Windows. It should be possible to use one of these to access your other HDD and investigate. Whatever method you use, thoroughly scan the recovered stuff (use MalwareBytes and/or SUPERAntiSpyware) as well. Both are highly respected, and available as freeware.
If you find that "My Documents" is locked, Google "Taking Ownership Of Your Files" for help.
Also, on the subject of caddies, remember that there are 2 types of connections in common use - IDE & SATA, so make sure you buy the correct one, or the earlier type with an adaptor.
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