calling all tech wizards HELP

[wandering1]

Er I'm hoping some one can help with a technical problem
First off I should make it perfectly clear I haven't owned a pc for a bout 4 almost 5 yrs never had intenet until 4 months ago

I now own.a pc my old man built and I'm having issues with it ove been in the process off scanning.all my old photos (im kinda low tech)
However every time I.try to boot it up I get the message
Scanning.......scanning. hard disk not found
Occasionally its booted into windows and gone into. Summat. Known as "dreaded" Blue screen mode

Whats wrong.....any idea

 

[British Red]

The scanning or hard disc is not related to photos. It sounds like the hard drive cable may be loose - it looks like a wide ribbon with a wide plastic plug on the end. I would check that first.

 

[Shewie]

How old is the machine Glen? It might be a dodgy SCSI controller on the way out

 

[wandering1]

I took the wide ribbon like cable out and brushed off the connections and. Put it back

As for how old. 4 months but the parts are Jurassic runs on winxp

And no difference still blue screen

 

[British Red]

Sounds like Shewie was right - not an easy fix for you sadly.

 

[wandering1]

Heck no
Only had A brand spankin New graphics card put in a few months back

Still such is....

 

[david1]

intermittent start up is likely to be the hard disk or the motherboard failing.. you said your new to this but it might be worth backing you data up to a portable hard disk.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_dn..._rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=451462147&pf_rd_i=430544031

like one on that link, someone will be along to recommend something that might suit you better

 

[British Red]

Heck no
Only had A brand spankin New graphics card put in a few months back

Still such is....

Can your dad not get another controller if he built it?

 

[wandering1]

Possibly ......

Can your dad not get another controller if he built it?

 

[rickyamos]

Have you tried Scandisk from the command prompt. Or from a booting from a windows xp cd, also the repair option from the disk.

 

[rickyamos]

If the disk is toast it might need a new HD. And a rebuild. Do you have the disks? If not I can burn you one as long as you have the co serial number still readable on a sticker on the case. The only issue you have then is down loading the drivers for all your hardware, if you know the make and model you can get these from the manufactures site. New drives are not to expensive. If you need more help with a rebuild please let me know

 

[ged]

Where in the UK?

 

[neoaliphant]

Its Definitely HD or HD controller on board, ive had loads of times before, but not for a few years you dont tend to get that symptom with SATA controllers
you IMMEDIATELY want to make sure your data is backed up.

if the HD uses a 2 inch wide ide cable, then the HD is ancient and is past its life expectancy
if its the HD controller cant be fixed as on the board
BUT
having a PCI SATA controller and a new SATA HD would kill 2 birds

Al

 

[The_Taffinch]

The best advice has already been given above...backup the drive (or the pics/data you really need) onto another HDD, CD/DVD, or USB stick a.s.a.p if you can. This is probably a case of either the drive failing or the motherboard on it's way out.

Check connections first.

I would then boot into safe mode and update all drivers - motherboard (which usually has the HDD controller in it) and video card. You may need to use a utility program to clean the old drivers off before reinstallation but this is strictly necessary.

If that doesn't help you might try installing Windows and drivers from scratch to rectify the problem , but you will definitely need to back-up before trying this as a re-format of the drive will probably be needed.

Finally, if all else fails IDE to USB cases and caddies are available off the bay and other suppliers quite cheaply which means that you use the drive as an external backup drive which can be plugged into another PC to recover the data. This works if the motherboard has failed and I have managed to get data of a failing drive on one or two occasions. You could buy an IDE drives quite cheaply to replace the old busted drive and get your rig working again.

Good luck!

 

[wandering1]

Where in the UK?

All over I get around.a fair bit in.my.line.of.work

 

[Swallow]

If you have the facility to.....

download and burn an Ubuntu install DVD. (it's free).

When you insert the DVD you will get the option to Try Ubuntu rather than install it.

Doing that is one way to determine if it is hardware or (as happened to me) Windows got so corrupted it just wouldn't run any more.

As mentioned elsewhere back up everything you can before doing anything.

Ebay also has plenty of cable options for plugging a hard drive into a USB port of another computer. I haven't seen SCSI to USB but I haven't been looking.

Ubuntu (even the latest version) will run on old machines, good for photo, internet, email, Libre Office (free Opensource version of Office and compatiable), and a fair amount of free, stuff. Not so good for ripping or burning DVDs and you have to do some things even to get it play DVDs. It can be a useful way to rescue an old machine from obeselence (depending on what you want to do with it).

 

[wandering1]

Thanks allspent most of the afternoon playing with the piece of junk.
Gave up
The one part I need isn't available
Going.to misco....

 

[ged]

Where in the UK?

All over I get around.a fair bit in.my.line.of.work

I meant, if you can get it to Junction 28 on the M1 I can fix it for you.

 

[Shewie]

I meant, if you can get it to Junction 28 on the M1 I can fix it for you.

With a controlled explosion?

 

[wandering1]

With a controlled explosion?

I think I already have that bit well in hand.

The last time we had apiece of junk kit it was our mothers brand spanking new 300 squid brother 4 in 1 printer. It flew from the top of the stairs
bounced of the banister hit the hall wall and landed in a hundred or.so pieces
Problem solved...