No back up and PC packed up HELP

paddyrg

closed wrote: »

buy a new psu, and it may last another 6 years

Indeed for the cost and fun(!) of replacing a PSU it has to be worth a punt, even if only for the sense of satisfaction :-)

However as the OP mentions the DVD drive is already dead, and we know the HDD has been grunting away for 6 yrs (which is the true MTBF for some models! Manufacturers routinely overstate by upto an alleged 15x!!) and if nothing else will be small compared with a modern equivalent, and at least one other component has croaked, and the OP has some cash to spend, it may be a chance to start afresh with a nice new flatscreen monitor, bigger drive, newer OS in mainstream support, keyboard without crumbs and coffee in it, etc.

Tomsolomon, not all high street sellers are equal, that's all I can say...

culpepper

A new pc will be so much faster as things have progressed hugely in 6 years.A laptop would still accept the external caddy if you needed to claim the files off your old HD.
If you remove your old HD ,it should be screwed into the bay from inside at both sides,2 screws per side so you need to remove both sides of the old case,you could take it with you when you buy a caddy to fit it into and the shop can then advise you which one you need.
The cheapest option might be to get a new PSU but if it turns out that everything was on its way out at the same time, you might end up spending out for various bits before it was in working condition again,still cheaper than a new machine though unless it is the motherboard that has died.
Of course freecycle often has pcs being given away if you dont want brand new and you could swap your old harddrive straight into the case of one of these as a secondary drive.

googler

Whether replacing PSU or moving Hard Drive to external caddy, combination of google and youtube can be your friend. Search terms such as

"guide replacing PSU PC"
"PC PSU 101"

or similar will get you guidance from all over. Add 'youtube' to any search term for video guides on whatever you want to do.

victor2

Buy a nice new desktop, like a Dell, with Windows 7 on it, get a disk caddy and see if you can get your data off your old drive. Then look at putting a new PSU in the dead machine (try a new power lead to it first if you can) and see if it still has some use in it. Get another drive for the caddy and use it to backup your new data on it. Windows 7 has a neat backup function built in so you don't even have to buy any software.

pstones578

veruccasalt wrote: »

Please help! I have never backed up my PC as the DVD writer stopped working ages ago and I never got round to it. My PC has been playing up for a while, and now seems to have died completely.

I have two questions:
is there any way I can get any data off my hard drive? I have loads of photos, letter, kids homework etc, and

I think it may be the power supply unit that has failed. Is it possible to easily replace this part, and is it expensive?

Thanks for any help.

Bet you wish you'd have got around to it now.

pstones578

veruccasalt wrote: »

Yes, but you see I WANT to! I don't know if you know your Roald Dahl very well, but Verucca Salt is the spoilt girl who gets a golden ticket in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory because she REALLY REALLY wants one. (VS were my initials before I got married, so the forum name Veruccasalt seemed to fit very well-at least I am aware of my faults!) I know I don't spend a lot of money on me (DH might disagree!) but I do love nice new gadgets. I have quite a nice Sony laptop (not that I rate Sony as a brand any longer) so am feeling quite excited about getting a new PC.

You need to get on moneywastingexpert.com for that sort of help

veruccasalt

I've dug out the paperwork for my existing pc. It's actually 7 years old, with a RAM of 512mb and 120gb hard drive. Cost around £700 then. So less than £2 per week- don't exactly call that money wasting! So whatever I spend is going to be a vast improvement.

And yes I do of course wish I had backed pc up. But my priority for the last two months or so has been to do my hardest to make sure my husband and children had the best Christmas they could for various reasons.

ChiefGrasscutter

Sometimes (but not always) when a power supply "blows" it sends a surge through which does considerably more damage to the PC.........

veruccasalt

Might it damage the HDD? It looks like I can get a USB caddy very cheaply so I'm going to have a go at getting the files off it.

spud17

spud17 wrote: »

Have you checked the fuse in the wall plug?

You've not answered the question, only that other things plugged into the 6-way socket are working.

What about the fuse in the end of the lead connecting the PC to the 6-way socket?