PC won't start ... Help Please!

electron_3

I would try HDD in another PC if you can to see if that spins as albertross said.

If thats a no go It may well be dead, but it may come to life long enough
for you to get your files off, its either that or ask an indepedent shop.

Ally

albertross wrote:

Could you plug your HD into the other PC.. just to see if it spins.

if you are not getting anything on screen at all, then something is failing before the HD boot sequence, so the disk and data may be ok. Unless you have been hit by lightning or had a major power surge

O/H wanted to do that .... but will it or could it damage the HDD in any way at all? If it is safe to do that, we'll give it a go now.

Could I just take it into PC World or something for a diagnostic?

electron_3

Ally wrote:

O/H wanted to do that .... but will it or could it damage the HDD in any way at all? If it is safe to do that, we'll give it a go now.

Could I just take it into PC World or something for a diagnostic?

You could take to PC world for a diagnostic but an independent small shop
would be the best as I would do that if I were in your shoes.

Preference thats all.

Ally

albertross wrote:

try unplugging the CD drive, hd, and any external components.

has it been moved recently?

does the monitor work on your other PC

all external components have been removed. The monitor is working fine ... light is on and it's been check on this PC too.

albertross_2

just be careful that you don't short it on the case, and turn everything off at the mains before you start. you can just plug it into one of the 5V power connectors, turn the pc on, if it spins things are looking up. the next stage would be to turn off and connect to the ide cable as well (turn off pc first)

pc world are always an option, but you may as well try some diags yourself for free 1st

Ally

We are going to try and see if the HDD works in this old PC. So I'll be offline for a while, hopefully not too long!

Thanks again all, and will get back to you ASAP!

albertross_2

Don't walk up and down the carpet with it in your hands either.. static electricity can damage it.

albertross_2

from http://www.service.targa.co.uk/

Starting: PC cannot be switched on

Description:
The PC cannot be switched on. It has no function. There is no fan noise and the LEDs are not lit.

Solution:
Please check the Power switch on the back of the PC. If it is switched to "OFF" please switch it back on.

useful eh?

toucanspeed

Just tuned in... after reading above sounds like the HDD is dead. Best option is to try it in your 'old' pc. If this doesn't work then you can still recover the data but it is likely to cost a lot.typically £200-300. If you get stuck inserting your HDD into the old pc then let me know.

John_LG

Ally wrote:

Can't even get into BIOS mode. When I press the 'on' button, nothing happens ... only sound you can hear is me cursing

Does a duff HDD = all data lost? Or is it recoverable??

If you are not getting the single beep at POST (Power On Self Test), then I agree it's very likely to be the PSU. BUt first things first, lets check your data is OK, which is extremely likely if it's just your other hardware that's failed. Glad to here you are checking the HDD in your old PC, but...a few things. Are you using Windows XP? Or Win98? They are formatted differently, so it'd make life easier to plug them into a PC with similar operating systems. (WinXP/2000 are NTFS, and Win98=FAT... which is just about how the data is stored)
Not a panic though, if your new PC is winXP and your old one Win98, you can get a free programme called Read NTFS, just google search for it. it'll read NTFS (WinXP file structure) through DOS in Windows 98. Very clever.

It really shouldn't be the HDD at fault, or you'd at least get some POST beep(s) at boot up. (But I'm always happy to be wrong!)

Hope that helps.