What just happened to my computer?

Started by Galactic Druid, August 22, 2012, 04:21:16 AM

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Adammair

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 02:34:06 PM
If I get a new HDD and install windows on it, do you think the keycode on the sticker on my PC will work?
Quote from: gaggedLouise on August 22, 2012, 02:56:26 PM

It should; the product key isn't one-on-one linked to a given machine or a given hard drive. It worked for me a few years ago when the HD had stopped responding to the motherboard and I had to reinstall: after getting a new drive in I used the old recovery cd (which was originally a retail copy from my mother's pc, bought a year before I acquired this one) and rebooted XP from that one. Both in the original install and in that reload, the disc came from a different machine of a different brand. It should be the same in Windows 7, and linking the system's legitimacy to a specific hard drive (the one that's in the machine when it's bought) would have been really stupid.

Bar codes are linked to what edition of the system it is though, so if you had Win 7 Home Premium and her OEM dvd is for Win 7 Enterprise it could mean a bit of trouble. But yes, borrowing it sounds like a great solution. Hope it works out.

With all due respect, Louise, and no insult intended...I'm not 100% certain that this is the case with Win 7. I know you can perform a repair installation with a different disc than that which is registered to the computer it's installed on. So long as you don't register it when it asks you to, you should be fine. Anymore, Micro$oft is very much against piracy, and they do somehow check to see whether the operating system installed on the computer matches the parts in it. I believe they match mainly to the motherboard, since that is the least likely component to be replaced by your average user. When I recently installed a new motherboard in my desktop, I got a pop-up type thing, saying that Windows had detected a change in the hardware and needed to be re-registered (or possibly 're-validated', I don't remember the exact term.) and so I clicked 'Validate online'. It took only a few seconds but I haven't had a problem with it.

mayovagn

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 02:34:06 PM
I'm pretty sure it's not the PSU. It's very new (650 for the record), and everything else seems to be booting fine.
Desktop actually. And here's the weird part. I got the PC just as 7 was coming out. I had to fill out a mail in for to get 7. The reformat disc will bring me back to vista, and the 7 upgrade isn't an official windows product, it's an Asus disc that does an upgrade to 7 from the installed vista only. The product key is the windows certification sticker on the side of my tower.

Heat isn't an issue for me, I'm happy to say.

If I get a new HDD and install windows on it, do you think the keycode on the sticker on my PC will work?
I love you.

Asus logo. Mobo logo! (I wasn't feeling too bright this morning... Plus I tend to turn the mobo full screen logo's off...)

Its generally easier to swop out a HDD on a desktop than it is on a laptop if you need to. If the drive is going wonky its likely best to swop it out now. If it isn't of course it still wouldn't hurt to have a device to back your data up to.

Of course, it helps to have a little bit of comfort with building and maintaining IT kit in this situation. *Grins*


M
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Galactic Druid

Hopefully they do match by the motherboard and I'm safe. Of course, I haven't tried repairing windows yet, I may just get lucky. I'm not optimistic though, those scratchy noises were bugging me.

Is running a bit choppy a sign of HDD death?
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

Galactic Druid

Okay, so here's my biggest problem; I don't know for sure if the problem is the HDD or something else. If it is the HDD, I don't know if the problem is that the disc died, or I got a virus. It's possible, I just switched from norton to a free AV.

The solution I thought of; I've got an old PC sitting about. I take the HDD from that, put it in my current PC, run the recovery media on it so I basically have the vista machine that it was when I first got it. It's not ideal, but at least it'll be enough to get me online and let me know the HDD is the only problem while I wait to be able to get a 7 OEM disc.

Is this a good idea, or will I just make things worse on myself?
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

Sarena

That might actually work, and if it does and you find out that you still need to get the 7 OEM disc I have, then we can meet up and I can give it to you.  (Please keep in mind that I'll need to have it back.  :P ) If you find out that the HDD is dead, then there are still those other two options that we talked about, hon.
I can go from southern belle to ghetto thug faster than you can say "Bless your heart".
Status:  All caught up and loving it!


Adammair

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 04:03:04 PM
I'm not optimistic though, those scratchy noises were bugging me.

Is running a bit choppy a sign of HDD death?

Scratchy noises has me thinking it's hard disk related, as that may have been the read/write heads scratching the surface of the platters that your information gets stored on. I believe running choppy can indicate that your HDD is having trouble.

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 06:07:52 PM
The solution I thought of; I've got an old PC sitting about. I take the HDD from that, put it in my current PC, run the recovery media on it so I basically have the vista machine that it was when I first got it. It's not ideal, but at least it'll be enough to get me online and let me know the HDD is the only problem while I wait to be able to get a 7 OEM disc.

Is this a good idea, or will I just make things worse on myself?

Can you give us any more information about the two drives? ie, size/capacity, whether the old one has been wiped of data first, how old the old computer is, how old the new computer is, etc. My gut tells me that you shouldn't have a problem, if you are confident enough to swap the HDD out of your old system into your new one, but it's not a guaranteed fix. Was the old comp running Vista and the new one is running 7, upgraded from Vista? I know I'm asking a lot, but sometimes little things matter (or maybe it's just my OCD kicking in ;D ).

Aadreal

If the HDD is dead, I'd be willing to donate to a "Help Guy get his butt back online so he can post for me" fund.  *nods*

Sarena

Adammair, I do know that the new one (which I just learned from him is 5 years old, so he's trying to avoid sinking anymore cash into it) was running Vista and had been upgraded to Windows 7.

Quote from: Aadreal on August 22, 2012, 06:43:19 PM
If the HDD is dead, I'd be willing to donate to a "Help Guy get his butt back online so he can post for me" fund.  *nods*

Heh I'd contribute to that cause.
I can go from southern belle to ghetto thug faster than you can say "Bless your heart".
Status:  All caught up and loving it!


Adammair

Quote from: Sarena on August 22, 2012, 06:46:01 PM
Adammair, I do know that the new one (which I just learned from him is 5 years old, so he's trying to avoid sinking anymore cash into it) was running Vista and had been upgraded to Windows 7.

It's possible, then, that if the old computer is older than 5 years, it was running XP, maybe. Not that that would necessarily be a problem, except in finding updated drivers for any newer hardware that wasn't supported by XP. If he's able to get online with the old HDD, then he should be able to get the drivers. *shrugs* I'll shut up, now, because I'm sure I'm just adding a lot more questions than I need to, to solve the problem.

mayovagn

Quote from: Adammair on August 22, 2012, 06:42:12 PM
Scratchy noises has me thinking it's hard disk related, as that may have been the read/write heads scratching the surface of the platters that your information gets stored on. I believe running choppy can indicate that your HDD is having trouble.

The running choppy thing is likely either OS bloat (Not so common by 7), HDD issues or Ram going wonky.

The best way to eliminate the two hardware issues is almost certainly a good hard copy of Hirens boot disk and some advice from a friendly tech on how to use it to eliminate possibilities.

Of course to download a copy of hirens restored from the interbutts and burn said disc you do require a working computer... *Apologetic shrug* Though I could mail you one from the great white north via anonymous mailings if you fling me a PM.

Seriously, everyone should have a copy of Hirens. Its so massively bloody useful.

M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Sarena

Where would one get a copy of Hirens and how much does it cost?

I ask, because ThatRPGuy and I live near enough to each other that I could get a hardcopy of it to him if I knew where/how to get my hands on it.
I can go from southern belle to ghetto thug faster than you can say "Bless your heart".
Status:  All caught up and loving it!


mayovagn

Quote from: Sarena on August 22, 2012, 07:33:20 PM
Where would one get a copy of Hirens and how much does it cost?

I ask, because ThatRPGuy and I live near enough to each other that I could get a hardcopy of it to him if I knew where/how to get my hands on it.

Sent you a PM on this. *Grins*


M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Sarena

Quote from: Adammair on August 22, 2012, 07:00:42 PM
It's possible, then, that if the old computer is older than 5 years, it was running XP, maybe. Not that that would necessarily be a problem, except in finding updated drivers for any newer hardware that wasn't supported by XP. If he's able to get online with the old HDD, then he should be able to get the drivers. *shrugs* I'll shut up, now, because I'm sure I'm just adding a lot more questions than I need to, to solve the problem.

He just texted and told me that the old harddive has Vista as well. So, hopefully, he can put that harddrive in and it'll work, then maybe he can follow some of the tips on this page and recover files form the old harddrive. 
I can go from southern belle to ghetto thug faster than you can say "Bless your heart".
Status:  All caught up and loving it!


Galactic Druid

So this is new. I thought I'd try one more time to turn on my PC before I mess with it, and this is the message that greeted me.


Can someone translate that? I'm pretty sure it means 'your disc is borked' in english, right?
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

mayovagn

Your HDD is definitely bad.

SMART is error reporting built into hard drives.

If its showing bad, well, that's really not a good thing. Don't fire up that hard drive again till you are ready to try to recover data from it.

Sorry Guy, it looks like you are either going to have to transplant or buy a replacement drive.

*Hugs*


M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Galactic Druid

Well, fuck me. The HDD I was going to transplant from another computer doesn't have the same connectors that the one on my current PC. I'm screwed and broke.
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

mayovagn

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 10:05:22 PM
Well, fuck me. The HDD I was going to transplant from another computer doesn't have the same connectors that the one on my current PC. I'm screwed and broke.

New one is likely SATA old one is likely IDE.

Sata is a thin, usually red, cable which just slots in easily to the back of the drive.

IDE is an older style ribbon cable that has a tab to locate the top of the cable to make it easy to locate which way round it plugs in to the drive.

Your motherboard on your new computer likely has at least one IDE channel on it which you could use to connect the older drive to the new system. However it may or may not have the older four pin (molex) style power connectors on the power supply.

So you may still be able to use the old drive and cable.

Sorry, this is kinda tricky over the interbutts.


M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Adammair

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 10:05:22 PM
Well, fuck me. The HDD I was going to transplant from another computer doesn't have the same connectors that the one on my current PC. I'm screwed and broke.

That's what I was worried about, Guy. Sorry, man. I'll help in any way I can.

Galactic Druid

Quote from: mayovagn on August 22, 2012, 10:09:43 PM
New one is likely SATA old one is likely IDE.

Sata is a thin, usually red, cable which just slots in easily to the back of the drive.

IDE is an older style ribbon cable that has a tab to locate the top of the cable to make it easy to locate which way round it plugs in to the drive.

Your motherboard on your new computer likely has at least one IDE channel on it which you could use to connect the older drive to the new system. However it may or may not have the older four pin (molex) style power connectors on the power supply.

So you may still be able to use the old drive and cable.

Sorry, this is kinda tricky over the interbutts.


M.

Holy crap, you're right! I was able to pull that whole connector ribbon right out!!
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

mayovagn

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on August 22, 2012, 10:26:12 PM
Holy crap, you're right! I was able to pull that whole connector ribbon right out!!

Duh! I used to do this for a living! *laughs*

*Dances*

Just pull the power (larger of the two red cables) on the dying drive till you are ready to try to grab the data off of it!

You can pull the data cable as well as power of course, yet you NEED to pull the power so it can't spin up till you are in a position to try to recover from it.

Other than that, carefully install your surrogate drive and see if you have a four pin molex power that will fit it and have at seeing if the thing will fire up with the other drive. Though windows will likely throw a hissy fit that hardware has changed over either drivers or not being genuine.

Still that would nevertheless put you much closer to a working computer again. *Hugs*



M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Galactic Druid

Alright, it's all hooked up, I'm going to try it out!
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

Galactic Druid

Finally, some good news! When I went to put my PC back in it's spot, I found the windows 7 upgrade disc!! After I run the recovery media to get my computer in order, I can still have 7!
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

mayovagn

*Smiles*

Upgrading is never as good as a full install disk of course... *Grins*

Yet its still better than not having it at all.

I can heartily recommend xubuntu if you fancy making a break from microsoft products of course... *Grins*

M.
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo

Galactic Druid

I tried booting it up, the computer refuses to acknowledge there's a drive there. I'm sure I plugged it in right, there's no other slots to plug in an IDE ribbon on the mobo. I can't get it to notice the drive (yes I did plug it in in terms of power too) in either the BIOS or the recovery program's detection.
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

mayovagn

Check in the bios and see if its detecting the IDE drive at all and if it is look in the boot configuration.

The IDE detection is likely in the early part of the bios screens, yet without being sat in front of it its hard to say for certain.

You have both the ribbon (Data) and the four pin (Power) plugged into the drive right?
All hail Eris! Kallisti! All Hail Discordia!

Member in good standing but poor sitting and terrible leaning of the Most Secret Order of the Stone Bonker of the Kakapo