Is it naive to think I can reuse my old hard drive?

Chomeur

closed wrote: »

does it boot or not?

No, the fan comes up for a second or two, a small green light comes on on the motherboard, and nothing more.

Chomeur

RussJK wrote: »

For some reason I doubt you are using that version of Windows.

I'm using XP Home Edition.

RussJK wrote: »

Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).

There's no Security tab. Only General, Sharing and Customize.

Chomeur

closed wrote: »

you ran it on the wrong drive. what's the original problem

How do I select the drive? "chkdsk /r" doesn't seem to be specific to any drive.

closed

chkdsk /F d: or e: or whatever

RussJK

Chomeur wrote: »

I'm using XP Home Edition.

[/I]

There's no Security tab. Only General, Sharing and Customize.

1. Then you need to load an account with administrator privileges.
2. Edit: you may have to be in safe mode, despite the instructions from Microsoft. Load safe mode - restart computer, keep pressing F8 until you get the option, then load Safe mode with Networking (so you can get online if you need to ask anything).
3."If the security tab isn't visible on any of your folder properties in XP, you may have "Use Simple File Sharing" selected in your Folder Options. Open Explorer and go to Tools>Folder Options.
Click the "View" tab and scroll to the bottom of the listbox with the heading "Advanced Settings".
Clear the "Use Simple File Sharing" checkbox."

Chomeur

RussJK wrote: »

1. Then you need to load an account with administrator privileges.
2. Edit: you may have to be in safe mode, despite the instructions from Microsoft. Load safe mode - restart computer, keep pressing F8 until you get the option, then load Safe mode with Networking (so you can get online if you need to ask anything).
3."If the security tab isn't visible on any of your folder properties in XP, you may have "Use Simple File Sharing" selected in your Folder Options. Open Explorer and go to Tools>Folder Options.
Click the "View" tab and scroll to the bottom of the listbox with the heading "Advanced Settings".
Clear the "Use Simple File Sharing" checkbox."

1. Under User Accounts my account is listed as "Computer Administrator" so I think this is OK.
2. As I mentioned, I've tried this and my computer just freezes.
3. There's no such checkbox. The last one is "Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items."

Chomeur

How on earth does anyone ever get any work done in an office, with all this mess to sort out?

asbokid

Chomeur wrote: »

Over the last two months it got more and more sluggish at starting. Sometimes I had to try several times. Eventually it stopped altogether. I called in at computer stores and they said it was probably the power supply. They didn't have a new power supply in stock so I ordered one especially. That didn't help matters so I have sent the power supply it back.

I think the lesson I'm learning from this is, if your computer no longer starts, throw it out straightaway and buy a new one. Don't try to hold on to any of it - you'll just waste too much time.

This is moneysavingexpert.com.. If you want timesavingexpert.com it's that way ----> (!)

Sounds like it was suffering from a combination of software problems, rather than a hardware fault.

Suspect the usual Windows weakesses. The failure to perform regular security updates means a lot of malware installs without the user's knowledge or permission. As more and more malware robs the processor time, this grinds the machine to a halt. The total failure of the machine was probably unrelated to the general slowing down.

It's reassuringly inexpensive keeping old PCs alive if you buy second hand spares from ebay. Budget on £10 for a "new" motherboard, £15 for a half-decent replacement processor, a once top-of-the-range video card might set you back £15 tops. A CPU heatsink and fan for maybe £3. An extra memory stick for a fiver, etc. Mouse £1, a quality Microsoft keyboard £5.

Your local computer store doesn't sound too good. Every PC shop should keep power supply units (PSUs) in stock. The most common type of PSU, the ATX, hasn't changed for a decade, and the cheapest ATX PSU costs just £5.

The price of petrol is so disgusting these days that if you don't live in the middle of town, it's often cheaper to buy on ebay.

As for fitting your old drive into your new PC, there are very cheap IDE<->SATA converters, costing less than £5, if that's what you need.

The skills needed to change components in a PC are so common amongst young people these days, the work shouldn't cost much more than minimum wage. For £6 an hour, I know I would rather change a motherboard or a CPU than stack shelves at 3am in Tesco.

Hope you get it sorted soon :T

KillerWatt

Chomeur wrote: »

How on earth does anyone ever get any work done in an office, with all this mess to sort out?

They don't use the Home versions of Windows for a start, and they normally have an IT department to hand.

Chomeur

asbokid wrote: »

This is moneysavingexpert.com.. If you want timesavingexpert.com it's that way ----> (!)

Sounds like it was suffering from a combination of software problems, rather than a hardware fault.

Suspect the usual Windows weakesses. The failure to perform regular security updates means a lot of malware installs without the user's knowledge or permission. As more and more malware robs the processor time, this grinds the machine to a halt. The total failure of the machine was probably unrelated to the general slowing down.

It's reassuringly inexpensive keeping old PCs alive if you buy second hand spares from ebay. Budget on £10 for a "new" motherboard, £15 for a half-decent replacement processor, a once top-of-the-range video card might set you back £15 tops. A CPU heatsink and fan for maybe £3. An extra memory stick for a fiver, etc. Mouse £1, a quality Microsoft keyboard £5.

Your local computer store doesn't sound too good. Every PC shop should keep power supply units (PSUs) in stock. The most common type of PSU, the ATX, hasn't changed for a decade, and the cheapest ATX PSU costs just £5.

The price of petrol is so disgusting these days that if you don't live in the middle of town, it's often cheaper to buy on ebay.

As for fitting your old drive into your new PC, there are very cheap IDE<->SATA converters, costing less than £5, if that's what you need.

The skills needed to change components in a PC are so common amongst young people these days, the work shouldn't cost much more than minimum wage. For £6 an hour, I know I would rather change a motherboard or a CPU than stack shelves at 3am in Tesco.

Hope you get it sorted soon :T

OK, fair point about time saving.

My computer is made by Shuttle and both PC World and Maplins told me that they didn't stock a power supply that would fit. So I had to go back to the supplier and they sent me one for £80 (which didn't work). Maybe this is a reason not to buy Shuttle again.

As for "failure to perform regular security updates" my computer used to frequently spend 15-20 minutes installing these when I turned it off.

I'll try fitting the old drive into my new computer when I get it.