Member
how to find if HD is faulty
im having problem with my desktop. it used to make some weird sound that i thought was the HD, but never try to fix it. to day my computer shutdown while is was watching some videos. now when i turn on the light on the front is on but nothing happens on the monitor.
how can i find if is the HD that is not working. i have another desktop can i use the HD of my destop that is working fine and put on the other desktop? or will it damage my HD.
Super Moderator
Is it a clicking sort of noise?
You can put the loud HDD in another computer, but not as the Master drive. Each OS is hardware specific, so it will not boot if in the Master setting. Causing damage to the other HDD by putting it n another machine is just a silly idea, so forget it.
Member
after many tries my pc started again. but after afew minutes shut down again. i dont want to start it again so it wont get worse. is there an program to check the bad HD on my good computer? im using one of those usb adapters for HD. and what im going to start looking for a new HD.
my computer specifications are
gateway manufacuture
GT5674 model
AMD Phenom (tm) 9500 quad-core processor 2.20 GHz
system 32 bit OS
windows vista home Premium
im also need help how to transfer my windows vista to the new HD.
btw. thanks for the fast replies.
Last edited by guatemala; 24th-May-2011 at 03:32.
Super Moderator
Give "Chkdsk.exe" a try. Go to "My Computer," Right click on the bad drive and the go to "tools." Here click "Check Now."
Thats going to check it for you, but Im not sure if that is the issue. You said your keyboard did not light up one of the times, but the keyboard is needed for tasks before your HDD loads the OS.
Cookie Thief
these are my suggestions
other possible problems
bad power supply
video card going out
lose connection or improperly seated hardware
start with checking the connections to the drives
make sure your video card is seated securely
then check the other stuff
you would be surprised at how many people have bought replacement hardware when there only problem was a lose connection
how old is the computer has it been moved recently
other than this I refer you to jazz as he is a whiz with electronics.
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity ignorant people can be taught
stupid people need to be shot.
Cyber Husky!
Wierd sounds and then when you try to boot you cant get any reaction from the screen, Sounds like your video card fan went and broke toasting the video card to me.
You should check to see if the Video Card is still working
︻╦╤─
I did a quick search for the hardware specs, and if your GT5674 is still using the original graphics setup (you haven't added a card) it'll be an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE, from what I've read.
Your problem may possibly be your HDD, but faulty PSU's can also sometimes make some strange sounds and give you random problems (the pc just turns off completely or freezes).
If you weren't hearing any strange sounds I might guess that your motherboard may possibly have a problem (a faulty chipset or something that causes random and sometimes different issues).
*If I was trying to isolate the problem myself, I'd probably try a different spare PSU first.
*Then if the problem still exists I'd disconnect the HDD, turn on the PC, enter the bios setup (press F1 or F2 for gateway afaik) and let the PC just sit like that for an hour or so to see if it freezes or turns off by itself.
If the PSU and motherboard are eliminated as the cause, only the HDD remains
If you're not confident/can't be bothered messing around with hardware (or it's just not possible for you), then you could try.....
Hiren's BootCD - it has plenty of HDD utilities, and will boot from your optical drive.......as long as the option is enabled in your bios ( boot from CD/DVD first).
Good luck.
Spoiler warning:
Member
great replies. thanks guys, i dont have any video card installed. many of you though this could be one cause, now i can try to find out if is power supply or HD. i would say that deadlegion gave me such a nice answer and how to test them. i will try it. i have 2 computer how do i know if the PSU are compatible? just voltage and plugs?
thanks again for helping me,
Super Moderator
The plugs will be standard to each of them, but yes, you should make sure voltage is compatible with the other one. That could damage it.Originally Posted by guatemala
Newegg has a calculator, so all you would have to do is go to their site and plug in all of your devices. (I would assume) Though, I have never done that before..
Member
i dont know what happen but my computer is working now. is been over 3 hrs, i left it on as suggested to check how long it will take to shutdown, then i was going to remove HD as suggested by deadlegion and see if it keeps shutting down. only thing i did was run chkdsk.
any programs i could use to find out what is wrong. i would like to fix it before it happens again. i have a spare HD, can i copy my current windows that came with my pc when i bought it to my spare HD? i dont really care/have any important on this computer.
thanks for helping me.
Last edited by guatemala; 25th-May-2011 at 04:25.
Cyber Husky!
use hirens bootcd and in the hard drive utilitys look for the one that matches yor brand.
then there should be a tester in there, be warned though dont select any formatting or low level format option
Former Lizard Person
Just so you know, this could very well be a RAM issue. I was swapping out RAM sticks in my other computer to test ones that I was pretty sure were bad, and I was stuck at a black screen before POST with nothing on all except the one known good stick. Video card, HDD, and all of that spun up, but no display. A RAM issue would also cause the restarts. Did you happen to get a BSOD when your computer shut down?
As long as you're making boot disks to check hardware, you may as well run Memtest86 as well. Google it.
Cookie Thief
quote from another site about cmos batteryIf your computer is losing its time or date settings, or you are receiving a message CMOS Read Error, CMOS checksum error, or CMOS Battery Failure, first try leaving the computer on for 24-hours. In some cases this can charge the battery and resolve your issue. This often resolves CMOS battery related issues when a computer has been left off for several months. If this does not resolve your issue follow the below steps.
there can be other errors such as not booting properly as well
has the computer in question been off for a while
this may explain why after being on for 3 hours it was working fine
you just charged the battery
by the way if you didn't know the cmos battery is the thing that looks like a watch battery on the mother board
what it does is provides power to the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chip, even while the computer is turned off. This chip contains information about the system configuration (e.g., hard disk type, floppy drive types, date and time, and the order in which the computer will look for bootable disks). The CMOS battery allows the CMOS to preserve these settings.
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity ignorant people can be taught
stupid people need to be shot.
Member
thanks for the great replies again.
i had RAM problems before like 4 months ago, was getting the blue screen error but fix it by removing one RAM at a time. i never bought the bad RAM just left my computer without one RAM.
ill run memtest86/ leave computer for 24 hrs to check if it shutdowns , and check hirens bootcd
Member
ok i did as suggested.
i ran memtest86 test came without errors.
left computer for 24 hrs to check if shutdonw. nothing happen
run hirens bootcd-- cloned my HD so i think im ok now i guess,.
what still bothers me is that i never found if it really was the HD. but at least i got a back up now
thanks for the great suggestions .
not sure if this counts as double post. if does ill edit and delete.
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