HMPH.

[mrv3000]

My desktop computer died on me. Sure it's XP and years old, but how dare it die on me??

Actually it might be a bad cable between my hard drive and the motherboard since it all of sudden wanted to boot from the A drive. (Yes, it has an A drive.) Even after taking the A drive completely out of the sequence (THOU SHALT ONLY BOOT FROM THE HARD DRIVE) it fails. After a jiggle of the cable, it attempted to boot XP - got as far as the login screen - but then it went byebye. Could be my hard drive too.

I've known I needed a new desktop for ages. Guess it's time to get one. At least I've got my laptop. (I just hope I can pull all my junk off the old drives. Yeah, there are two in there. My desktop was kind of a Frankenmonster I built myself.)

Question for you computer types - is there an easy way to hook up an internal hard drive to a new computer? Like...a box that plugs into a USB or something? I kind of hate the thought of having to crack open the computer and install a second hard drive, then uninstall it, then install third hard drive, then uninstall it. (Although it might be easier nowadays.) I've gotten quite lazy when it comes to this stuff.

Comments

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

Like...a box that plugs into a USB or something?

Yes. I have this one which is both USB and e-sata. It can handle laptop and desktop drives. If the drives are IDE, you'll need to search for something like this or this.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

WOOOOOOOOO! YES! This is fabulous! They're IDE, so thanks for those!!

(And I'm happy they're not expensive. Another yay!)

[outforawalk.livejournal.com]

My sympathies. I still need to have my hard drive pulled from the dead laptop. Most of the tech type people seem to think it is fine. I've just been too lazy to have it done.

I don't guess this is a wonderful excuse to buy some desk top you've been eyeballing, is it? Because that would make this a better moment, for sure.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

That's one thing I don't like about laptops - I like to be able to do things myself, and laptops are a bit more difficult.

And I've not been specifically looking at anything, other than "I really need to replace this slow piece of crap." XD

[reve-silencieux.livejournal.com]

Unless you have a Sony Vaio or Mac laptop (or a really ancient relic that still has a floppy drive and weighs a ton), it's usually pretty easy to pull out the hard drive. For instance, if you have a Dell, look for for a narrow panel on the side, unscrew it and pull it out. Most other brands you just unscrew a panel on the bottom.

This site has a lot of different models and brands with instructions on taking them apart.

http://repair4laptop.org/notebook.html

And if you have a Sony or Mac...well, good luck! Sony's are under the keyboard and they're a pain to get out. (although I have come across one model that was normal) And Mac's? They just love having you take apart EVERYTHING to get in.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

[reve-silencieux.livejournal.com]

Umm... *hands over bandaids* Is this your new or old laptop? Do you need to get into it now?

Like I said, I have come across one model that had the normal panel on the bottom. Let me tell you, it made my day! Otherwise, you have to unscrew some bottom panels, then pry open the casing around the keyboard, sometimes up to where it meets the screen. Then you have to try to squeeze your hand under the keyboard after you pull it partially up because there's some hidden screw holding it down that you can't get to. THEN you have to somehow find a small screwdriver to fit down there at an angle to unscrew the hard drive.

...and do it without killing your fingers.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Nonono. It's my desktop that died. My laptop is fine. :)

[reve-silencieux.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. I hope you never have to open your laptop! My recommendation is to back up if you can, then you won't have to take it apart.

[principia-coh.livejournal.com]

If you don't want to buy cases and turn your old internals into new external hard drives, you want one of these:

http://www.vantecusa.com/front/product/view_detail/377

ThinkGeek, among others, carries this dock. They also make a 2-slot version of this device.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've got IDE drives, and Larissa hooked me up. I can't tell you how happy I am that these things exist! :D

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

Oh, a couple things.

Does the drive show at POST?
If this is a SATA drive, have you tried moving it to another controller/port?
If this is an IDE drive, have you tried moving it to the other IDE controller? There are usually two on a motherboard, You may have to disconnect your CD/DVD drive.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried that. (Didn't pay attention to the POST data flashing by, although when I removed the A drive from the boot sequence in the BIOS, both IDE drives did pop up as options.)

Thanks for the suggestion. I might play with it this weekend, and see if I can at least get it up to get off my data.

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

You may want to try and boot into the recovery console and run chkdsk on the drives.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks! (Of course this means locating my XP disk... :D)

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Moving it to the other IDE controller worked! \o/ So at least I can get my data onto my laptop now!

I wonder if it's the cable or the controller then... (Or if it'll bomb the next time I start it up.)

I still am thinking I need to upgrade, though. I'm not sure I trust this beast anymore. And I use the DVD player a LOT, so I really need that. *ponders*

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

YAY. Glad that worked.

I think IDE cables are pretty cheap. If you want to verify if it's the cable you can use the cable from the previous controller on the new controller and if it fails, it's the cable or just buy a new cable and try hooking up the DVD to the old IDE controller.

Depending on how many drives you have, you can put the DVD on the same controller as the drive but you'll have to verify that your jumper settings on the drives are correct. Usually cable select will work but if both drives on the same controller results in the system hanging at POST, you'll need to look at the drives or pull up the specs to set the Master/Slave.

If one of the IDE controllers is shot, you should start looking into a new motherboard. If that's not an option right now, check for a PCI IDE controller like these or these. The controller cards may result in a hit in performance (esp with DVD) but it's better than being completely without a HDD or DVD drive.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I do have 2 drives on one controller, but in reality I could dump the 2nd drive. I haven't used that in years and only hooked it up when I went from Frankenmonster 1.0 to Frankenmonster 2.0 years ago and wanted to access old files.

Getting a new motherboard/CPU/memory might be a decent option, although it is an older hard drive(s), and older graphics card, the audio is nothing special... :D

[niangao.livejournal.com]

For hooking up a harddrive to another computer as an external drive, you can buy an external hard drive case/enclosure (I believe the more affordable ones go for around $25), hook up the drive into the case, and then just plug in via USB or Firewire :)

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's soooooooooooooooo nice to know these things exist. Actually installing them as drives are a PAIN.

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, laptops are nice for almost  everything except fixing something easy when it breaks.

But I still prefer them as I'm on the go with mine a lot...

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I do really like mine, but I fear the day when something breaks.

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Being the paranoid person I am I have money set aside in case my laptop dies and can't be fixed. it's enough to replace it with the exact same type. Then I'll start saving for the next replacement...

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

That's a smart idea.

[janetmaca.livejournal.com]

lolol A drive. *shakes head*

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

A drives are important! For, you know, holding coasters! XD

[janetmaca.livejournal.com]

Haha, a family friend was sent an email from her brother that offered her a free coke holder , so she clicked on it and bam! the CD drive opened. Good times. :D

[syxp.livejournal.com]

I just love when you use that icon.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I love eye-twitching pissed-off kitty. XD

*hugs*

[shaela]

I’m sorry your computer died on you. If you get your next one someplace like Best Buy, they’ll probably take care of moving things from one to the other. If not, there’s always the DIY option.

Re: *hugs*

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

I'll probably go with the DIY route, just because I don't really care for the idea of people with their mitts on my stuff. :D