computer wont boot up

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kitmk

New Member
my dads desktop which contains lots of important work etc. fails to boot up
after pressing power button it gets stuck on the "advent" screen with all the logs etc. intel inside and so on after constantly trying to boot it fails to
its abt 3yrs old with geforce fx5200 512mb ram 120gb hdd 3.2ghz p4 it has done this before but normally starts up after a few attempts. any ideas on how to either get it to boot or how to save the hdd (We think it is probs hdd related problem) and retrive the information would be greatly appreciated
 
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sam_tcc

New Member
unplug the power and ide cable from hdd and restart the pc see if the screen can keep going. If it pass the logos, your hdd may have problem.
 
K

kitmk

New Member
no way i can find to boot it in safe mode, like, i press esc and all f-keys no joy, i know with my other desktop i had to try each f key untili foudn the right ones, but i have no idea which key to press i dont think it can be done really so any other ideas?
 
steve s.

steve s.

New Member
I'm almost certain this isn't the answer you were looking for but, if it were me, I would run some type of livecd (Knoppix or BartPE comes to mind) and try to burn the data off to an external cd burner or usb flashdrive. Then I could play around with the system (sounds like MBR of the top of my head...I defer to others that are more learned here) to my heart's content knowing that my data was safely off of there.
 
K

kitmk

New Member
sounds like a good idea, but ill need extra private tuition to do something remotely complicated! so like, link me or explain further (pretend im retarded)
 
steve s.

steve s.

New Member
kitmk said:
sounds like a good idea, but ill need extra private tuition to do something remotely complicated! so like, link me or explain further (pretend im retarded)
Click to expand...

Ok. A livecd is a cd that, when the computer is set to boot from cd first before the hard drive (easy to do in bios setting...hit del or f2 depending on what the screen says to get into bios if it doesn't automatically boot the cd rom first). Then the livecd will produce an operating system "on top of" the pc's system, running independently as long as the cd is in.

To get a livecd, search the web, download an iso file of the one you like and burn it to a cd. This may be your limiting factor if you do not have access to another working computer.

Then, run the livecd on the computer and search for the data, looking through the drives using the livecd (it varies depending on which livecd you use).

Once you find the data, you need to have something to burn it to (cd burner or flash drive that is plugged into your usb port). The flash drive is probably the easiest option. But, if you are burning the data to a cd, remember you already have the livecd in the drive, so you'll need an external cd burner or another interal cd burner.

I admit, my way has some limits, that's why I said that is what I would do.:eek:

If, however, you can get the other burner/flashdrive and the livecd (all relatively easy to do) then you can repeat this process ad nausium on any other computers you ever need to repair. I use it all the time.

If that helped at all I'll be glad to explain further.:eek:
 
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sam_tcc

New Member
1. When you turn on, press tab key and see if any error message show during the post.
2. If no error message, restart the pc and press del key to see if all of the drives are showed in BIOS.
3. If all drives are listed in BIOS, check the cpu tempture see if the cpu is too hot.
4. If no problem found, turn off pc, and then pull out the memory and put it back. If you have two memories, put the second one to the first slot and see if it works.
 
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kitmk

New Member
is it possible to unplug the hdd (assuming that it isnt the hdd that is the problem) and plug it into another desktop and burn the files to disc, like will it be compatible with different hardware?
 
steve s.

steve s.

New Member
kitmk said:
is it possible to unplug the hdd (assuming that it isnt the hdd that is the problem) and plug it into another desktop and burn the files to disc, like will it be compatible with different hardware?
Click to expand...

Actually, yeah, and I've done that. If you have another pc that is running windows (for the sake of this discussion) then you can set it as the primary drive and the one you want to look at as the secondary drive. On the hdd ribbon there is a pluggin for the "master" and a plugin for the secondary or "slave" drive (that's just what they are called). Plug the secondary drive into the that ribbon plug. ATTENTION: on the back of each harddrive is a jumper setting, or a little connector that goes over two pins. Each hard drive has a different jumper setting for first or secondary drive, so make sure each drive has that jumper plugged in for whichever drive you want it to be. I recomend you do one as primary (the one doing the reading) and the other as secondary (the one being read), or master and slave. There is usually a third setting for cable select, but I've found that setting can be finicky with two drives occasionally.

Hope that helps.
 
steve s.

steve s.

New Member
In my last comments, I assumed we were talking about IDE drives, like this.

If you are talking SCSI drives, the concept is the same, but plug ins are a little different, not to mention the jumper settings.

Edit: note in the link an example of the little white plugin for the jumper settings

Second edit: you might also note that this drive has little pictures of possible jumper settings on top of it. These vary per drive, but most I've seen have something like this. You may have to look up the jumper settings on the internet (google, "jumper settings (harddrive name)".
 
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K

kitmk

New Member
cheers man, so im looking to plug this hdd into the other computers mobo or into the ribbon cable that connects the other hdd into the mobo? if you know what i mean
 
steve s.

steve s.

New Member
kitmk said:
cheers man, so im looking to plug this hdd into the other computers mobo or into the ribbon cable that connects the other hdd into the mobo? if you know what i mean
Click to expand...

Oddly I do know what you mean.;) There should be a ribbon cable that comes off of the mobo to the hard drive, with one end plugged into the hdd and the other plugged into the mobo. There is (most likely) a third plug in the middle of the cable (actually, usually it's slightly closer to the hddrive). You plug in the slave drive to that plug on the cable.

(there are many ways to do this, but I'm just describing the most common)
(and don't forget those jumper settings)

If all goes well, when you boot up that computer, you'll check "My Computer" and you should have an additional drive there. I would then scan it for viruses and the like (without actually opening it) with some cleaning software (I can give you likes to those that I like if you want). Once it is all clean, burn stuff off of it and then you'll have all your data saved. Then play around as you like following some of the suggestions others have mentioned on the thread.
 
K

kitmk

New Member
ooh, got up and my dads randomly booted it up, after hitting hit, but if it goes off again (powercut or something) then ill know what to do, sounds like a problem with mobo now, cos i cant acces bios, or anythign that i normally would be able to do.
 
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