Sarah Dreams

Computer Woes (hoping against all hope)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 1:40:36 PM

problems, hope against all hope, Compaq, sadness, computer

The desktop computer that I own is a Compaq that I actually bought in 2004. I have done practically no maintenance on it except for reinstalling Windows XP about 2 years ago and your normal defragmenting, etc. About 2 weeks ago I noticed it slowing to almost a standstill if I had more than 3 programs open. I shut the computer down, hoping to open it the next day running faster after a reboot and cool down. But when I turned it on.......*beep* *beep* *beep*.... constant as well as the computer automatically rebooting it's self time after time rapidly. I held the power button down until it powered itself down. I just couldn't stand to hear it die. I then begun to remember all of the pictures that were on my hard drive. About 200 of them that I haven't backed up as of yet...as well as some phone numbers and addresses that I had not yet transfered into my address book here at home.
And I can't even begin to think of the other things.

Oh no, I just remember there were some videos of the kids that I hadn't moved to cd.....

Ok, no more thinking about it.

I took the computer to my little brother, who is in college for the whole computer thing. He built his own computer, so I trust him!

I brought over a few beers

and the computer. He opened it and couldn't believe that I have not opened it in almost 2 years to maintain the dust level.

But why would I clean the INSIDE of the computer? Shouldn't it do that itself in some mysterious and miraculous way? Oh well.

Originally Cody thought that it was the power supply. When he called with an update last night, that was not the problem. He was narrowing it down to the mother board or the.....the.....the hard drive!

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, I suppose if he calls with the news this morning that my computer has lost its hard drive then I will accept it with grace and move on with lesson learned.

Wish me luck
-Sarah

Last Day of School for Girls......and Summer Begins! Tag

Comments

JDjrd2498 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 1:43:52 PM

Good luck. But if i was in your situation i would open it up in safe mode move the pictures and the videos. Then erase the hard drive and install more RAM.

Sarah Dreamsangel292005 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 1:45:14 PM

Err...It wouldn't boot up at all, Jose. I think the hard drive is fried, but I am hoping not. You couldn't open the computer, it kept rebooting itself.

Bojanrolling_thunder # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 1:59:59 PM

Good luck x)

Rippripp2002 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 2:39:18 PM

"fried" is a strong term.

I would think it might be the mother board; but most likely the processor. Usually with that much dust it will be a heat issue before an hard drive issue. Power supply and proc are usually the first ones to go in that case. However, since it is a compaq that limits any and all faith reasonable solution

Another solution to check would be to have him slave your hard drive off his computer and see if he can pull anything from the hd.

NikolaosNikolaosX1 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 3:40:50 PM

Hi Sara. I think this is a problem with the memory chip.
This will be true if when you powered up your computer the BIOS was executed correctly and the beeps started afterwards.

In any case good luck and remember.

(ABIF) Always Backup Important Files

Dacotah # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 4:38:27 PM

Good luck.

JDjrd2498 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 5:14:50 PM

That seems like a good idea Ripp, slaving it he can probably get some of the infomation, and can also narrow what is wrong.

Stardancer # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 5:33:20 PM

Good luck, Sarah! I'm a computer idiot, so I have absolutely no advice for you, but I really do hope that you're able to at least salvage the precious things you have on the hard drive.

Take care.

r jrjfink # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 5:44:39 PM

EEEEKKK!!! Crossing my fingers for you, Sarah! I know how it feels, and I am sending many, many good computer vibes your way. Your bro might be able to slave the HD, but hopefully it's just the MB. Mine did that about seven years ago, and it was only the MB, but then my IDIOT friend from Germany came over the next year and said, "Oh, zis komputer iss acting SHTOOPID! I can fix zis sing; it is VAY TOO SLOW!" and what happened? It died. But that time, it was not fixable with a new MB. 3900 music files, all of my late Dad's emails I'd saved, and my pictures. Gone. Lesson learned.

Crossing my sloth toes, too. It hurts, but for your computer, I'll do it.

Good luck!

maddysman2003 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 6:24:14 PM

If it is the hard drive, try getting a case for it and connect it as an external hard drive to another computer, you may still be able to read it. Are you sure you didn't have Imaging on the Compaq? If it did it has a copy of your files.

Bad WolfCois # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 6:32:26 PM

Here's hoping for the best Sarah..

was it a good idea to give your little brother service technician guy beer while he works?

just kiddin'

Rippripp2002 # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 7:21:14 PM

I always work much better with beer

The beer motivates me to work faster so I can be done more quickly and drink beer without any more of the distractions from the stupid work

KarenNerak # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 8:45:13 PM

That sucks! Sorry to hear it.

Next time, open that mo-fracky up and blow it out once a month!

nightwolfi # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 9:13:51 PM

Holy sucatash!!

Good luck

CherylDuckyChickenLady # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:39:03 AM

Yah..best wishes & prayers for an easy-ish solution!

Sarah Dreamsangel292005 # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 1:18:00 PM

Thanks all...I think I need to bring him more beer...haven't heard from him lately!

SIRAN M. YATESsiran11 # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 1:23:59 PM

mmmm....beer. wait, what were we talking about

Mad Scientist (عادل)qlue # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 3:06:12 PM

Even a completely fried hard disk can be salvaged but it may cost a bit. The data is still there so a good techno-geek sleuth can retrieve it. find a

who battles crime in cyber space and he/she will have all the tools.
.
But let's hope it's not that bad.

Rippripp2002 # Thursday, June 5, 2008 1:28:15 AM

siran, we were talking about beer so all good.

Sarah Dreamsangel292005 # Thursday, June 5, 2008 11:48:31 AM

Well I called him last night, the hard disk is fine. *whew*

r jrjfink # Thursday, June 5, 2008 4:40:54 PM

We all know what did it. It was the BEER!

Happy, happy news. Congrats.

Sarah Dreamsangel292005 # Thursday, June 5, 2008 8:38:03 PM

Aww thanks!

HenrySpicyFlier # Monday, June 9, 2008 4:28:04 AM

Hmm...
Looking over your comments and computer symptoms and the age of your machine may mean this special problem: capacitor plague. Look it up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague. I've found many computers with this malady since then – it's not limited to certain brands. Internal dust can be a killer for computers. It clogs up air vents and cooling fins on processors – which can cause or accelerate the “plague” condition. I have pictures to prove it on many computers I've worked on.

My main machine right now (a Dell GX270) was notorious for that problem. I bought it for $25 (it was virtually gutted, but I had some spare parts around the apartment). I bought new RAM and inserted other bits and pieces to get it to work. For days it kept restarting or giving me BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) error messages. It was mentioned to me to check the main power capacitors. They were bulging just like the Wikipedia article above.

I bought new capacitors from an electronics specialty store and carefully soldered them in. “Lazarus” has been running tickety-boo and non-stop ever since.

If nothing else, has your little brother “slaved” your hard drive to one of his own machines and copied over all critical stuff? I make this a regular practice now as a back-up - then delete the information in 3-6 months.

Sarah Dreamsangel292005 # Monday, June 9, 2008 10:07:20 PM

That is what my brother said....the dust was too much for it.

Mmm about copying the stuff...he is in school and has a regular job so I am not sure if he has done anymore yet or not.