Geeno

So my old tower pc doesn't work any more. I brought it to Carolina, plugged it in, turned it on, all was cool - still had my music and everything looked right.... then I restarted and BAM... nothing. I turn it back on now and it basically tells me I'm gay and that it can restart to the settings last used to boot windows, but it just recycles back to that.

I'm assuming I can somehow rescue the data on the harddrive, and that the problem might be as simple as getting a new one and loading windows on to it. But that already happened once and I had a friend stick a small HD in with windows, to load from so that I could access the old one.

I think the error message I got was something about PCI controller.

I'm hoping that rebuilding this could be cheaper than buying a new system, which I wouldn't be able to do for a while.

edit: Ever since the initial error message it just gives me a
"Windows did not start normally blah blah blah
start in safe mode
safe mode with networking
something else

last known configuration

start windows normally"

All of those just bring me back to the same screen. So I'm assuming something is wrong with the hard drive.


edit2: i reinstalled windows vista, had the cd and threw it in, seems to be going smoothe. Told me there were a bunch of corrupt files and such. I definitely think the hard drive is unstable at best.

Still, I'd like some advice on rebuilding/remodeling/upgrading this computer. I should be able to just go out and buy a motherboard, graphics card, sound card, hard drive and just cram em in and go, right?

edit3: Could I use an external hard drive exclusively or should I get some sort of new internal? I want to move all of the files away from the old internal hard drive.

edit4: So it's running but it seems like there aren't any drivers for anything. I tried to play a song and it opened WMP and was like "oh we would play this except you dont have a device". fcuk. I stuck in the drivers cd but a lot of good that did me.

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Flamingnun

Did you partition your files/music before you reinstalled windows?

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Geeno

The hd was already partitioned....

Wat do you mean??

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Flamingnun

Like, are you sure you didnt wipe all your shit from the HD when you reinstalled windows (unless W7 has some sort of failsafe)?

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Geeno

Well the stuff is still there, at least the paths and all of that, I'm sure I didn't wipe everything. Just windows stuff,, which is saved in an oldwindows folder.

But no, i didnt format the hd

(and its vista)

edit: just hooked it up to the web, im going to try to run updates and search for drivers that way. Hooked up the ipod too to see if I could transfer music files and if they're still good. Right now im letting WMP load the library... all looks good.

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Flamingnun

Yeah, should be good then. Had me worried for a minute brah.

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Kompressor

What's the make/model/specs of your tower?

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Geeno

Oh lawd its from 2004... I'm not positive. I will try to collect that information. I haven't messed around with a pc like this in so long.

Im considering just building a new desktop from scratch. Seems like it's gotta be the cheaper way to go, and these days I'm much more handy with assembly and tech type stuff.

(in the end of the day i would like to be able to play diablo 3)

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Geeno

Okay so is a dell dimension 4800, pentium 4 processor, integrated sound card.

I can't get any sound to come out of it! Im just trying to use headphones on it, but it doesnt work. Files are there and playing, no use though.

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mothernature

Have you run scan disk on the hard drive yet?

I don't know alot about computers, but yours is old. Very old. You might want to start saving your stuff before it's too late.

My computer is old too. My motherboard is going out and I've lost a memory slot and now I'm running on 512K RAM. I can't do more than one thing at a time. It sucks.

I'm looking at Dell refurbished s. They have fairly decent ones for about $350.

maybe your sound card is bad?

Geeno

yeah, yall think i should power down and wait till i get an external to back stuff on to? cause i dont want to make this any harder on myself

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farmergiles

If you want to save your tunes and stuff then I'd back them up asap if poss. If the hard drive is dying the more you use it the more you might lose.

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Waves

I dont think you have to worry about powering down or anything, unless your shit is physically damaged in some way

With computers it all depends on how much money you want to spend

For 400-800 dollars you can get a new tower with all the stuff you need, mobo/ram/vidcard/harddrive/cddrive/etc

If you were to do that I would go with an internal Hard drive cuz they are more stable and longer lasting and cheaper. Running windows from an external HD can be done but its a fuckin hassle esp if you arent a big geek

When you get your new tower just install your new HD as the master and your old one as the slave and you can literally just drag and drop all the stuff u want to save from your old HD

if you just want to get a new HD you can get one for really cheap like a 1TB external for 70-100 bucks. if u take that route i would make the new hard drive your slave and keep your setup as it is now.

basically as long as your hard drive is intact you can count on your data being okay, then its just a matter of either getting that new rig or upgrading your current rig to the level you want. my suggestion is to get a new rig. you can even get an awesome widescreen moniter for like a bill these days.

This thread is sort of confusing to me if u have any specific Q's just ask

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Waves

oh heres dells site maybe u can download the right sound drivers to get sound playing out of ur current rig:

Drivers & Downloads

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On this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow

BudSniffer

I would get another HD, if you can put it in internal do that, if not get an enclosure and make it external for now. Copy all the stuff you want to keep on this drive.
Then you can rebuild or build new and still have your stuff. I have a 20G drive I have my Windows installed on, and a 300G drive, I use to install everything that is not Windows, games, music, other programs etc....
I just had to rebuild my system the first part of Nov., I had to go with an older board though cause all my hard drives are IDE, but I got a Pentium 3.2G and 2G of Dual channel memory with an Nvidia HD video card and 24 inch 1080P monitor! I already had the monitor, but I got the board, processor, memory, and video card for about $300
Then once you have your stuff saved, I would find some type of diagnostic software and see if you can find the problem. You can find a lot of stuff on CNET.com. Or you could also do a repair of your windows and see if that works, it doesn't delete anything, just reinstalls your Windows. I had to do a Repair on mine after the new board, because I was getting the same thing about the "last known configuration". But I have XP Home, and then had to reinstall SP3....it was a pain, but it saved all my old info........Actually I would try the repair first, I think.....

Attached Images

 

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"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

Geeno

Nice maglight brah

But yeah i tried repair and it was all 'wtf idk' so i just reinstalled.

I'm exploring options right now. I want to go bang for buck, obviously.

I'm looking into refurbished dell systems since I could potentially make payments on them and not have to drop the cash all at once.

This is a confusing world for me.

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Geeno

Im pretty sure I'm just going to start from the ground up and build myself a desktop. Budsniffer, i didnt even think about parts and compatibility... ive just been trying to mentally list all the elements I'd need...

Tower box
Power supply
Fan
Motherboard
CD/dvd drive
USB ports
Graphics card
Sound card
Hard drive
Network card...

idk what else but damn this is already sounding more difficult than i had imagined!

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BudSniffer

Unless you get a combo, you will need processor and memory. That's where the big bucks come in, not the motherboard or graphics card and stuff.....
It's not that hard, but I always break out in a sweat getting that thermal compound on the processor and mounting the heatsink on it. Scared I'm gonna break something, pushing that CPU clip on.
Heck, if we lived closer I'd help ya with it!

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"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

Snowmayne

check out cyberpowerpc.com

i love the pc i got from them, pickd out all the parts myself and they put it together.

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mothernature

I have a good friend who actually built the computer I have now (the dying one...lol). He said that after you buy all the components, screws, fittings, feet, connectors, etc., you don't save much money putting it together yourself. He also said that putting the motherboard in was the hardest part. He was the one who told me to check out the Dell refurbs.

He also said to get the best processor you can afford, with the DDR3 memory. All the rest of the components can be upgraded (I don't think the motherboard though) when you have the extra cash.

I went to the Dell Outlet sight last night and there were no Inspiron 570's at all. This is the model I've been looking at. Christmas, I guess.