My PC is dead

[Cubfan]

Went out to mow the lawn, bring the trash out to the curb, etc.. come back and my computer was dead. At first glance I thought it was in a power save mode cuz the power light was on (yellow) but it's dead. I try powering it back up but the yellow light comes on and a soft humming (not the normal power up sound). It's a Dell something or another. I dont know squat about computers. Any ideas? I haven't backed up a single file/photo/video well before G2 was born!!! Am I screwed?!?!

[seattle]

Not sure what model Dell you have but most have status LED on the back to check power up status.

Here is a Dell link to the codes.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx270/en/ug/solve.htm#1235408

[CTDon]

When our old computer fried, we brought it to a mom & pop pc store. They were able to save all the pictures, so no you're not necessarily screwed. You're going to pay out your ass for it though 'cause they know how to do what you can't! :angry:

[DarthDaddy]

Depends on what happened...

If your Hard Drive is still good it really is not that difficult to get the information. They sell Hard Drive Enclosures that allow you to take an Internal Hard Drive and make it a USB External Drive...

If your Hard Drive Failed there are places that can recover the data...

Could just be a power supply issue...

[jeffus]

They should hand-out external hard drives with the 'Welcome Baby' packages at the hospital. :crazy:


(These new emoticons suck!).

[Cubfan]

Unfortunately I'm not seeing any lights back there.

Tell me more about this 'power supply' theory. Cuz it's getting power, perhaps not enough? It seems the fan is running, albeit weakly. What do I do for the power supply?

Oh, I have an external hard drive.... just haven't used it in a long time (embarrassed icon)

[chuck]

YOUR SCREWED!

Ok, sorry just had to say it being you left the door so wide open, chances are very good that you can recover your data, it sounds like you have some sort of hardware failure on your hands, best advice, if you are clueless, take it down to a mom and pop shop and have them look it over, they will be able to tell you within a few minutes what is wrong and they will more than likely suggest a new machine, but if they are worth there wait they will tell you what needs to happen to get it running again. Are you sure it just didn't go to sleep?(sleep mode sucks) I assume you've unplugged it and rebooted it?:blushed:

[Cubfan]

I'm pretty sure it's not sleeping or it would have woke up after the 4th drop kick and 6th left/right combo.

Oh, and of course I'm clueless, cant ya tell?

Ok I guess I have to take it in... thanks dudes.

[Cubfan]

Weird stuff going on...

Did some troubleshooting. Basically I just tried the outlet on the wall. It powered up! But then my keyboard and mouse didn't work. So I powered down (via power button), turned back on and it's working now...

I'm going to spend today copying photos, videos, and porno to external hard-drive...

[Cubfan]

well something still aint right, all I did was turn on the power to the external hard drive and that locked everything up again...

I hate computers, I really do.

[stretch]

Keep trying. You really, really need to keep everything backed up! One more option right now would be to go get a USB flash drive and siphon your really essential stuff (baby pictures!) onto that. 8GB will only run you $30 or so.

Not to be preachy, but data storage is dirt cheap. You should be keeping copies of your files on at least two external hard drives, one of which you don't store at your house.

[Captain Dad]

This happened to me in December of 2007. The more i tried to fix it the more I F'd it up. Take it in, let someone that knows what they are doing fix it. I tried the chain stores, first Staples the Best buy. Staples quoted me $70ish to copy the hard drive to an external hard drive. They could not do it, told me they would have to send it "in" and the price would be close to $1,000 to get the info. After I ran out of the store crying with my babies in tow I debated which one I would sell, cause at least I would have some pictures of them if they were able to get the hard drive copied. I went to Best Buy's Geek squad and they were able to get about 90% of my hard drive copied for $170ish. All porn and meaningless old work crap saved. Baby daughters birth and my fishing pictures gone. Luckily everyone e-mailed most of those pictures I had sent them, back to me.

In order to never have to worry about this again:
1) use you external hard drive to back up pictures often
2) Every 6 mo to 1 year make DVD or CD copies of your pictures
3) BUY A MAC!!! They may cost a touch more up front but how many 10yr old+ PC's do you still see running. We have 2 dead PC's 1 old Mac that the boy uses and his and her MacBooks.
4) Nothings perfect, follow 1 and 2 even if you follow #3.

Good luck, I am still reeling from the loss of some pictures. I hope it all works out. (how are you posting without a computer?)

[Don-Dad]

For those with more than one pc/mac and a network, get crashplan, it works on all operating systems and backups your pc everyday to another pc. I run two back ups everyday after my last hard drive crash. You can even back up to a fiends pc offsite. I have not tried that feature yet.

[jeffb]

I just configured "Time Machine" on my mac. Hopefully it will prevent this situation.

Get a Mac, you'll be happy. Especially with all those pictures of the kids...

[Cubfan]

I got it working long enough earlier back up some photos to the other drive. But now again, it's dead. I'm done screwing with it. I'll bring it in somewhere after the weekend.

[CTDon]

but until then, keep downloading porn on your wife's computer!!!

[jeffus]

The 80 Gig iPod can be used as an external hard drive as well.....I really don't know what I was thinking when I bought that thing, but there's a lot of room in there...:icon_rolleyes:

22,000 full resolution pictures, 10 hours of video, and 7,000 songs with room to spare. :shocked:

[Cubfan]

worried about the iTunes next. That's a whole lotta music.

[Cubfan]

(how are you posting without a computer?)

stealing a few minutes here and there on the wife's work computer. She works out of the house. I make her go feed the baby so I can get on the internet. the baby is stuffed all day.

[Cubfan]

Brought it in. At first he thought it was the power supply but now he says it's the mother board.

It's hard for me to understand what he's saying over the phone, but the jist of it was he says it's cheaper to sell me a rebuilt computer than to fix the board, yada yada. I think he said the board itself was $69 but after all the work, etc. it would be closer to $250.

I told him the data was my primary concern and he says that's no problem, I should bring in my external hd and we can copy things over. He didn't quote me a price on that yet.

Any thoughts? Sorry for the sketchy details, we didn't have a good connection and he's got a nifty accent.

[Hockeyfan]

Bring him a few homebrews and sweeten him up before he takes out the lube and finishes you off. He may go easy on you. :icon_wink:

[Cubfan]

so this guy showed me once circuit/transistor/thingy that was bulging. Says I need a whole new computer. Can this be right? he says he can fix it but I'm better off buying a new one. I asked if he can just fix the one transistor and he said 'no', something else will go bad. Is he just trying to up-sell me his rebuilt stuff to get more out of me? I think he's honest and decent, but I dont know squat about computers...

Right now I'm out $90 to copy everything over to my external hard drive. I'm cool with that, since I was going to be out $45 anyway for his initial time. (what's another $45?). but as it stands, he says I need a new computer, but I think there's gotta be a better/cheaper way.

[stretch]

PC parts are a commodity. They're cheap and easily available and not hard to put together yourself. I find it hard to believe you couldn't get a replacement main board and even processor for less than the cost of a whole new rig. On the other hand, there are a lot of el cheapo new PCs available nowadays with pretty good specs, so going for a new one might actually give you the most bang for your buck.

Do you remember what, exactly, he said was the problem?

[Hockeyfan]

I would go new with one of those nice laptop or desktops with the dual core processor for under 5 bills. Otherwise step up to MAC.

[Captain Dad]

I would go new with one of those nice laptop or desktops with the dual core processor for under 5 bills. Otherwise step up to MAC.

I concur with Hockeyfan. Retrieving your info was money well spent. Throwing good money after bad is just going to piss you off in 6 months when something else breaks or if there was more wrong with it than you thought. Unless your computer was top of the line last year you are better off going new (even better, go MAC) because something else is going to break soon. Check the cheapest PC you can find and see if it could kick your computers butt, if so, buy it.

I wish Apple paid every time a MAC user was asked this kind of question.

[Cubfan]

Do you remember what, exactly, he said was the problem?

the MB. One of the transistors was bulging. "leaking" he said. Basically the motherboard.

[Don-Dad]

for what you would pay for a decent motherboard, $150 or more, then the hassle of putting it all together, get yourself a new(ish) pc. Dell is always running deals for PC's under $500 or check out http://dellauction.com I bought a decent pc from them a few years back, paid less than $250. Just be mindful of the specs (drive size, operating system).

A mac mini is $599. All you need is a monitor, keyboard and mouse with a mini.

[Hockeyfan]

I bet a MAC's mini-MAC would kick your PCs kid's ass. Come on Cubfan. You'll love it. Ask Stretch. You seem to value his foreign opinion! Darn furners. Don is right though. It's alot coin and no guarantee that you can do it. Then what is next to break? You and your wife have some $$ sitting around for a rainy day. This is that day!!

[Cubfan]

that's just it, I already have a decent monitor, keyboard mouse, etc.. Can I just get the tower/main unit/whatever it's called w/o all that stuff? Just seems a shame on little doo-hicky can ruin the whole thing. In other words, money IS an issue here. I dont want to spend money all this new stuff...

I only value Stretch's opinion when it comes to beer and wine. :)

[Don-Dad]

Yeah, you can get any tower or mac mini and use it with your monitor. With the mac, you might have some issues with the keyboard but I'm sure you can pick one up cheap.

you might even looked into a refurbished unit, places like http://tigerdirect.com have decent deals on refurb's.

Newegg.com. (http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1279576-10440007) - has some good deals on towers only, many under $300

[seattle]

for what you would pay for a decent motherboard, $150 or more, then the hassle of putting it all together, get yourself a new(ish) pc. Dell is always running deals for PC's under $500 or check out http://dellauction.com I bought a decent pc from them a few years back, paid less than $250. Just be mindful of the specs (drive size, operating system).

A mac mini is $599. All you need is a monitor, keyboard and mouse with a mini.

A Mac Mini is not a good value right now since it is way overdue for an update. It is still using an old chipset and is way slower than the base iMac. I would recomend a refurb iMac. Check Bensbargains.net and fatwallet.com for PC deals if you want to stay with PCs.

[cloweman]

Hey CF,

Sorry I didn't see this until today. I can probably fix your issue and I most likely have the parts you need sitting around the house. Let me know if you want me to stop by and take a look or, better yet, bring it back here and do some troubleshooting. It sounds like a power supply issue (I've got 3 or 4 extra), but it could be something else.

If it is the MB, we can pick you up a cheap one at Tiger direct and I can get it installed and up and running again. It will only cost you beer. Sure something else will go wrong, but when that time comes you can replace that part also.

[Cubfan]

the guy at Computer Plus up on Island Ave says it's the MB. If you can fix it, there will be much beer and joy.

I assume since it's the MB a new operating system will be needed. Do you have Windows laying around??? I'll call ya.

[cloweman]

Even replacing the MB isn't a big deal. If we can find the same MB, we may not need to reinstall the OS. Otherwise, we may. Do you have the original disks that came w/ the computer? We can get everything back to the way it was when you got the pc.

I may have a copy of Windows XP home laying around if you don't. Let's cross that bridge when we get to it.