Computer XP/Hard Drive Error

**teigyr** · 07-28-2007, 02:18 PM

In the hopes that someone in this brilliant group has any ideas that I haven't thought of....

I have a Gateway PC that's about 7 years old. It's old but it's functional for what we use it for. It has had drama at times but it has behaved for the past year. It has never exhibited memory or disk problems, however. Most of my work on it has been updating drivers, etc.

Today when I turned it on, the hard drive was not responding. I did a few reboots, I smacked it on the sides, and I did a boot from the disk drive hoping that would trigger something. It is not making start-up noise so that is a BAD sign, I know. I checked the boot menu and the BIOs just thinking something quirky might have happened. Also, we have a firewall and virus software that is updated and while I haven't ruled out the potential of a virus, I think that's unlikely.

This weekend I'm going to check all the connections. I'll open it up and reseat everything and check the wiring. If it's a bad sector (which I'm thinking it isn't due to the lack of overall response) I can check it for errors from DOS. To this point, however, I haven't been able to get to a DOS prompt.

Any other ideas? I suppose if I run out of inspiration we could take it to get fixed (all depends on how much I feel like messing with it) but then again we aren't adverse to replacing it. It's probably cheaper (and better) to replace than to repair.

**Mr. Bloom** · 07-28-2007, 03:48 PM

7 Years is a VERY long life for a computer. I'd try to recover what you can from the hard drive and get a new one.

Good Luck

**mimitabby** · 07-28-2007, 03:53 PM

yeah, what he said.

**teigyr** · 07-28-2007, 04:00 PM

Yeah, I think it's the inevitable. It also is a challenge. There haven't been any signs of Things To Come with the beastie which makes me think it is something like a loose wire or dust or something easy. That being said, I'm looking at other systems though I don't need a monitor and I am saying no to Vista at this point in time.

Part of me thinks though that it IS fixable....I generally check it periodically and have found no signs of corruption. While I have a laptop so there's no emergency on the repair or purchase, the laptop is four years old so it is on its way out too.

**mimitabby** · 07-28-2007, 04:16 PM

Hey, wiggle the wires! you have nothing to lose.

good luck

**teigyr** · 07-28-2007, 04:18 PM

I smacked it...maybe a wiggle is kinder and gentler?

At least the cats don't go up there. My parents computer died due to cat urine. Try explaining that one?

Especially when it is under warranty?

**East Hill** · 07-28-2007, 04:32 PM

^^^

The cats like the smell of the wires heating up, and respond to it.

Teigyr, I hate to say this, but I'm joining the chorus. I plan on a new PC/laptop every four years, as that's about how long they last.

East Hill

**Tri Girl** · 07-28-2007, 05:53 PM

la la la la la la (holding ears and eyes pretending not to listen because I don't want to know the lifespan of a computer)...

I don't have any words of wisdom, but send you my sympathies. Our computer is 5 years old and I just KNOW it's gonna die someday. I HATE that it's cheaper to buy new than to repair- so wasteful. We've spent a couple hundred dollars in the last year or two updating and keeping this ol' gal going. I just can't throw it away when I know I can fix it (stupid environmental conscience...

).
I guess that's why our cars are 14 and 6 years old- and still going. I really think it's because I'm a cheapskate deep down- but that's another story.

Try fixing it on your own or getting an estimate before you buy new. It may only be a little amount to keep her going strong for another year or two. Poor 'puters...

And Vista- I'm reluctant to go that way also... my brain can't possibly learn a new system- I just mostly got this one down.

**Irulan** · 07-28-2007, 06:12 PM

my computer did that when the chip burned out... just refused to boot, period. Fortunately the HD wasn't damaged and I was able to hook it up as an external and transfer most of the data to a new system.

**7rider** · 07-28-2007, 06:30 PM

Oh, yeah. Do I hear you on this one.
I'm nursing my 7 y.o. computer along, too.
I suspect ours will run along just fine...albeit slowly...up until the day it croaks. I just dread that day.
Oh...and also no words of wisdom to offer you either, teigyr. With computers, I know just enough to be dangerous.

Originally Posted by Tri Girl

la la la la la la (holding ears and eyes pretending not to listen because I don't want to know the lifespan of a computer)...

I don't have any words of wisdom, but send you my sympathies. Our computer is 5 years old and I just KNOW it's gonna die someday. I HATE that it's cheaper to buy new than to repair- so wasteful. We've spent a couple hundred dollars in the last year or two updating and keeping this ol' gal going. I just can't throw it away when I know I can fix it (stupid environmental conscience...

).
I guess that's why our cars are 14 and 6 years old- and still going. I really think it's because I'm a cheapskate deep down- but that's another story.

Try fixing it on your own or getting an estimate before you buy new. It may only be a little amount to keep her going strong for another year or two. Poor 'puters...

And Vista- I'm reluctant to go that way also... my brain can't possibly learn a new system- I just mostly got this one down.

**DrBadger** · 07-28-2007, 06:53 PM

Hey-
I had computer issues last weekend also related to hard drive not wanting to boot. When you first tried to boot up did the hard drive make any noise (before you smacked it)? Did it sound like it was trying to spin up but just didn't have enough in it? I was dealing with that with my laptop last weekend, was sure that it had bit the dust, and was ready to go out and buy a new one when it randomly decided to boot up again.

Actually, smacking an almost dead hard drive isn't always a bad idea. you might want to try that again, or when you open up the computer pulling out the hard drive and whacking just that. This can help if it is a mechanical problem and the disks are sticking and having a hard time spinning up. If this is the case, the hard drive may boot up again, but plan on backing up everything right away and realize that the hard drive could go at any time.

Since my computer decided to boot again it has been fine, so I am holding off on buying a new one as long as possible (but it is all backed up now!) I think that the computer got scared that I was gong to replace it!

Good luck!

**meridian** · 07-28-2007, 07:09 PM

If you rule out the mother board, IDE cables, etc, freezing the hard drive is another option. It's a last resort IT trick that sometimes works.

Granted, it may not boot into Windows, but you might be able to get to a dos prompt.. or hook it up to another computer as a secondary drive to see if you can pull your stuff off of it.

**DrBadger** · 07-28-2007, 07:23 PM

Freezing is an option, but make it a last resort one, and make sure to put it in a zip lock bag first to limit the amount of condensation that forms on it. It was actually after freezing and totally de-thawing it that my hard drive did boot up. However, I also smacked it a couple more times and then just let it sit before it booted up again, so hard to say what actually made it boot again.

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