on button problems on my hard drive

ormus

to clarify,
is it one of these?

weegie.geek

In fairness, I've heard the idiots in PC world and the like refer to the base unit as a hard drive before, so if the OP has listened to them, it's no wonder he's confused. I've done IT sales before, and the amount of different things I've heard a base unit be called is astounding.

To the OP:

Where is this button? What SHOULD happen when you press this button?

Does it turn your computer on?
Does it eject the CD/DVD drive?
Does it turn on/off an external storage drive like one of these?

Just to clear stuff up, a hard drive is a piece of equipment that can either be inside the Base unit or laptop, in which case you'll not see it, or it can be external and connected to your base unit (or laptop) via a cable.


CD/DVD drives can be Internal (although that one hasn't yet been fitted into a pc, that's how they look when new) or they can be external.


The base unit part of your computer will look something like this. This is where most of the components are fitted, and most of the cables will plug into this. It'll also probably be the noisiest part of your computer, with the fans etc spinning.

At 68 you're a late starter, but good on you, computers can be useful and fun, but baffling to newcomers. One way or another you're confused about what you're talking about, but hopefully we'll get you up and running.

I've a feeling that what you're calling the hard drive is actually the base unit. There will usually be at least one button on it, to power the PC up. There might be a smaller, recessed reset button, and there will most likely be buttons on the CD/DVD drive(s), which are fitted inside the PC base unit's case, but are separate to all intents and purposes.

If I'm right and you're talking about the power button, and it's come off, you'll probably be better off with a new case, and transplanting the guts from your current base unit into it (or, more likely, getting someone else to do it for you).

It's not hard when you know what you're doing, but if you know someone who's a bit more au fait with computers it might be an idea to ask them for a hand.

You could take it to a computer shop and pay them for the new case and to fit the components inside it if you don't know anyone. Not sure how much they'll charge mind you.

A case itself is likely to be somewhere in the range of £20 to £30 for a basic one.

Have a google around and see what's involved in building a pc (which is basically what this entails - although you'd be dismantling a pc first, so you'll get a hands-on view of how it SHOULD look when you're done) and if you think you're up to the task then go for it. If you're careful there's not much that can go wrong. Just watch out for static electricity and take your time.

I've heard good things about http://www.pchomehelp.org/ but I've no first hand experience. It shouldn't take one of their guys more than an hour to dismantle a PC and put it back together in a new case, so you're looking at £60 all in, for the case and an hour's labour from them.