dead pc?

Russ66

Be careful with the repair disc option as you could still lose all your data even if it says you won't, it may just do a factory restore.:mad:

If you are desperate to save your pics etc then try this:

Do you have access to another desktop?

If so, take your hard drive (HD) out and connect it to the ribbon cable & power lead that go into the back of the cd/dvd drive on the donor pc.

When you boot it up, go to drive D or whatever the cd was and you should be able to see your data. It is then a case of drag & drop etc from your HD to the HD on the donor machine and copy it all from there or burn a disc etc.

Otherwise, I would just switch the pc off for a fortnight and wait for your techie friend to come home.:beer:

HTH

thamesmatt

albertross wrote: »

chkdsk c: /F

just tried that, and fixboot and repairing start up and system files

no luck!

if i plug in my external hard drive and try and load windows xp on that the mess about in the bios thing to bot first on a usb .... (am confusing myself here) could that allow me in to windows where I can try to copy my photos and music across... or would that be too simple?

raptorman

Is this any use to you?
Trinity Rescue Kit | CPR for your computer

Its a Linux based live-cd which will basically boot itself in memory and then allow you to check the hard drive or transfer files to another PC(and do a whole lot more).

I haven't used it myself yet but it looks like a handy piece of kit.

Check the 'Documentation' page for usage instructions.

richyrichuk

hi mate, if u want to foind out whats wrong with ur pc...run the diagnostics like it said.

thamesmatt

raptorman wrote: »

Is this any use to you?
Trinity Rescue Kit | CPR for your computer

Its a Linux based live-cd which will basically boot itself in memory and then allow you to check the hard drive or transfer files to another PC(and do a whole lot more).

I haven't used it myself yet but it looks like a handy piece of kit.

Check the 'Documentation' page for usage instructions.

Thanks, i'll give this a go tonight, i'm not teccy enough you be able to remove the disk and dare not for fear of losing everything so this sounds ideal!

Is there anyway of connecting my PC to my old laptop as a drive via the USB port then copying over that way?

Also if I managem this and then reformat the disk will the PC work again or is the error an actual physical error? i.e. the disk is broken?

thamesmatt

raptorman wrote: »

Is this any use to you?
Trinity Rescue Kit | CPR for your computer

Its a Linux based live-cd which will basically boot itself in memory and then allow you to check the hard drive or transfer files to another PC(and do a whole lot more).

I haven't used it myself yet but it looks like a handy piece of kit.

Check the 'Documentation' page for usage instructions.

Thanks, i'll give this a go tonight, i'm not teccy enough you be able to remove the disk and dare not for fear of losing everything so this sounds ideal!

Is there anyway of connecting my PC to my old laptop as a drive via the USB port then copying over that way?

Also if I manage this and then reformat the disk will the PC work again or is the error an actual physical error? i.e. the disk is broken?

Russ66

thamesmatt wrote: »

I'm not teccy enough to be able to remove the disk

It's a piece of p*ss, as long as you can work a screwdriver.:rotfl:
Take a look HERE.

Fannying about with all the repair utility programs could land you in even more trouble if you're unsure what you're doing.:o

Is there anyway of connecting my PC to my old laptop as a drive via the USB port then copying over that way?

Don't think so. Not if your pc aint working.

thamesmatt

raptorman wrote: »

Is this any use to you?
Trinity Rescue Kit | CPR for your computer

Its a Linux based live-cd which will basically boot itself in memory and then allow you to check the hard drive or transfer files to another PC(and do a whole lot more).

I haven't used it myself yet but it looks like a handy piece of kit.

Check the 'Documentation' page for usage instructions.

tried it but on a memory stick as I have no way of burning cds with my pc knackered! couldnt get it to work!

thamesmatt

Russ66 wrote: »

It's a piece of p*ss, as long as you can work a screwdriver.:rotfl:
Take a look HERE.

Fannying about with all the repair utility programs could land you in even more trouble if you're unsure what you're doing.:o



Don't think so. Not if your pc aint working.

ok! i'll have a go this weekend!!!! thanks!!!

BritBrat

Get someone to download knoppix http://www.knoppix.org/ and make a CD.

Put CD in your CDROM drive and boot from the CD, then you can see if you can access the drive and move/save data.

(You may need to enter the BIOS to make the CDROM the first boot option)

The more you play around with the drive the more chance you got of losing everything.

Computer First Aid Using Knoppix