pcs died...and advice on external harddrive!

[meme_uk]

pcs died...advice please!

hey there

rite... well my pcs has died suddenly...

i was in the process of getting a new pc but things didnt work out unfoutunatly.

suddenly my pc wont turn on. i opened it up and the mobo light is on. if i unplug it and then try to turn it on again the fans spin for about a second and then stop. nothing else happens!

now im thinking its either the mobo or psu... and obivously i want to be sure which one before i get a new one. so any advice appreciated!!

the other thing is.. this has kinda scared me into doing what i should have done along time ago.. getting some kinda backup device. what would your recommend? one of those push button external harddrives... or make my own using a HD encloser..?

just a question about the latter.. how do these work exactly? is it just an internal HD outside ** computer?

my nxt plan of action is to take the harddrive out of the broken pc and connect it to another computer and back some stuff up as soon as i can..

thanks a lot!

 

[hhhhbk]

had more or less identical symptoms on my pc recently
turned out to be the psu
luckily i was able to pinch the one out of my second rig as antec RMA is going to probably take a month

personally i archive to dvd
200GB (50 pack) is under £10 wheras a hard drive that size would cost £60+
guess it depends if your into video as its the only thing which really takes up space


everyday stuff i backup onto the harddrive in my second pc once or twice a week
so even if first machine totally fries id only lose a couple of days of stuff

 

[meme_uk]

hey thanks for the reply

will any PSU work with my pc (seeing as its pretty old):

Asus A7N8X Motherboard
AMD XP2000+ processor
2x256mb DDR PC2700
Geforce 4 ti4200


probably go for something like a Antec TruePower 2.0 380W PSU (CA-029-AN)?

cheers

 

[meme_uk]

hey there

I decided to put a psu from an another pc into the broken one. Its got a max load of 300W PSU. So i removed the old one and stuck the new one in. When I try and start it up, the fans turn on, along with the CPU cooler fan. The
power LED and harddrive LED both come on. The cd drive light is permantly on. Then it behaves pretty randomly. The screen doesnt come on. After a few minutes the harddrive starts making some noise (like its trying to load something). I am at a complete loss. Maybe this PSU isnt powerful enough? My old one was 360W.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

 

[meme_uk]

anyone please?

 

[DaveBennett]

About the external hard drives id go for a something like a Icy Box External Enclosure. Then all you need is a IDE hard drive which you stick inside it and the IcyBox connects via USB.

There the easyest way as there cheap and plug and play so no naffing about. Also, you can just stick a new IDE HD in it if you fill one up or we.

Dave

 

[meme_uk]

hey

thanks for the reply!I think il go for that option

cheerS!

 

[leezer3]

Almost sounds like the GFX is toast.
I suspect that the first PSU probably blew, taking some of the components with it.

-Leezer-

 

[meme_uk]

hey thanks for the advice..

do you think its worth taking it to a computer repair shop so they can access whats wrong with it? seeing as testing the gfx card wouldnt be too easy and whether any other components are gone..

anyone recommend repair places around sheffield?

cheers