pc wont start is it poss to recover music?

lesley2004

hi mattjimf

The link you give for a hdd caddy, I am not very techie, do I just take the hard drive out of the pc and put it in the caddy and connect it to laptop is it that simple?

lesley2004

changing the subject slightly, which sites are good to buy new desktop, have been looking on ebuyer but have not used them before.

Prob looking under 500 for pc with good dedicated graphics on board.

Would you buy zoostorm? havnt heard of them before?

lesley2004

if possible could someone point out a hard drive enclosure on ebuyer that would be suitable as I would like to puchase off that site but there are so many and I am not sure which would be the right one

Mattjimf

With all HDD caddies it is a case of taking out the hard drive and putting into the caddy, although you will probably have to move the jumper (usually a small bit of plastic between the power connection and the IDE).

The best thing to do would be to check what type of hard drive you have, if you open the case up, if you see a wide ribbon cable connected to the hard drive you will need a IDE caddy, if it's a thin black cable it'll be SATA. Unfortunately Ebuyer doesn't have a dual caddy, so you'll need to know if it's IDE or SATA.

Once you know this it'll cut down the options, the one i linked to from PC World handles both types of connection.

Here are some reviews from Amazon.com (the UK site only had one review) - http://www.amazon.com/3-5IN-sata-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/product-reviews/B0012VRBGM/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

phxweb

prowla wrote: »

Of course, if it is the hard drive that has failed (it might be making clunk or graunchy type noises if they're an adequate description!), then it's probably lost & gone forever.

Is this statment based on any kind of knowledge of the subject ? 99% of data is recoverable, ever with the noise /scratching coming from drive.

If you plan to do this yourself you had better get an anti static mat so you dont fry you hard drive when you take it out.

For £30-£40 you could get someone who knows what they are doing and get it recovered safely.

Can i also add, maybe while you are out buying products you may wish to purchase some form or backup solution so that this doesnt happen to you again.

Mattjimf

phxweb wrote: »

Can i also add, maybe while you are out buying products you may wish to purchase some form or backup solution so that this doesnt happen to you again.

Lesley2004 wrote:

I have all my photos backed up but my kids have not saved all their music.

Lesley2004 wrote:

i might try the caddy because it wont be the end of the world if i lose the music as that is all of any importance on the pc

It's only music that needs to be rescued if possible, I'm sure that depending on how Lesley's kids got the music in the first place, there won't be too many problems getting them again.

dave2

I'd go for a caddy too.

Cheapest option is to open up new computer and install the drives. BUT just opening the new computer's case may void the warranty! Secondly use it as a backup drive, handy to have.

Here's what to look for:

1. open the computer case and check the cables currently connected to the hard drive. In addition to the thin-wired power cable there will either be a thick, flat "ribbon" cable with a big rectangular connector which is IDE, or a thin cable with a small connector which is SATA. Main clue is the connector!

2. If it's a PC rather than a laptop it will be a 3.5" drive, not 2.5" which is laptop drives

3. You may need to know the hard drive capacity however as 3 years old I doubt it should be an issue. I'd assume it's 500gb or (most likely) smaller.

IDE: this one has good user reviews £14
SATA: this one has good reviews £15 (also allows "eSATA" which is a bit like a very fast USB for hard drives only)
(no personal recommendation as don't have one)

lesley2004

I just love this site,everyone is so helpful.

Have decided to try a caddy but not until I have bought a new pc as I dont want to have problems with my internet connection and the router is connected to the pc and still working

Have to say I hate choosing a new pc.
Looking to pay 500 and need good graphics card for son to play games any suggestions??

I will let you know how i get on

adouglasmhor

Do you have any local computer shops - small indies not big chains - they often do a good job and better price than the multiple stores.

Donnie

My solution, which doesn't involve any fiddling about with the innards of the PC, would be to use a Live CD.

Boot up from the CD, it runs in your PC's RAM and from there you can access the files on the hard drive and transfer them to your USB drive.

Best of all, it's completely free, other than the cost of a blank CD.