Thread of PC Woes, Troubles, Problems, and Issues

Well ... what I've found happens very often on 7 (no experience with Vista, but I'll assume the same since they run on the same kernel) - is that Windows gets very fussy about picking up new external drives sometimes. I had to play around a bit to figure it out, but here was the process.

1. Go to your Control Panel -> from there double-click on Administrative Tools.
2. Double-click on Computer Management
3. In Computer Management - you'll see Storage in the left panel - under there is the Disk Management section
4. Once you're in there, it should give you a list of drives installed in your system. Sometimes what happens is that Windows picks up the new drive, but doesn't assign a drive letter, meaning it doesn't show up in My Computer.
5. Right-Click on the Gray Block where it says Disk1 (or whatever #) - in the pop-up click on Change/Assign Drive Letter and Path and give it a drive letter. NB Make sure it doesn't have a drive letter assigned already - if you change an assigned drive you'll bung up any programs installed on that drive.

This will obviously only work if that is the actual problem - if it is the actual drive not getting power or working, then this won't solve the issue.

But I hope it helps.
 
I've had this problem a couple of times: Hard drive is running for between 1 - 15 minutes then just gives me BSOD and restarts.
The drive that's failing is actually not more then 3yrs old (500gb Seagate).

My planned actions to recover the data:
1. Put the failing drive in an external enclosure then connect it to PC with USB
2. Install & format new 2Tb Seagte drive (I'm going with 5900rpm drive)
3. Use Seagate DiscWizard to clone the 500gb drive to the 2tb drive

Will probably take a number of tries depending on how long the drive lasts.

Any suggestions to save a failing hard drive will be very much appreciated.
 
So my gaming PC has been out of action for the last two weeks. When I boot the cpu and case fans spin for half a second and then they stop and about a minute later they try to spin again. I cant get the PC to POST. I sent the PSU to the supplier and apparently it's fine. So what's the next likely step? Mobo?
 
phool said:
So my gaming PC has been out of action for the last two weeks. When I boot the cpu and case fans spin for half a second and then they stop and about a minute later they try to spin again. I cant get the PC to POST. I sent the PSU to the supplier and apparently it's fine. So what's the next likely step? Mobo?
Click to expand...

Next likely is the motherboard but have you tried removing every peripheral from the PC that is not absolutely essential to boot up? IE: Hard drives, Grahpics cards (if you have an onboard one), sound cards, DVD drives
 
No haven't stripped the innards. Will try that next and see if it makes any difference. Problem is that the PC died while I was using it, so I'm starting to think I may have fried the CPU...
 
Remove mobo from case & rebuild it outside of case on a wooden table. Lose the reboot & power up cables & do these function by shorting the pins...carefully.
 
What do you guys have to say about my graphics card that heats up over 100 degrees Celsius? It's a Winfast GTS250 1GB btw. :D
 
PenTanium said:
What do you guys have to say about my graphics card that heats up over 100 degrees Celsius? It's a Winfast GTS250 1GB btw. :D
Click to expand...

Is the GPU fan speed increasing when in games (use this to monitor your temps and fan speeds)? Have you checked if any dust is clogging up the heatsink?
 
PenTanium said:
What do you guys have to say about my graphics card that heats up over 100 degrees Celsius? It's a Winfast GTS250 1GB btw. :D
Click to expand...

How long have you had the card? Also, I remember reading somewhere(pcFormat?) that the 250 cards from nvidia generally run quite hot. But that doesnt mean 100 d C. At this temperature your card's lifespan will decrease rapidly. Try to make sure air vents are not blocked, and generally the airflow in your pc works. If you are overclocking it you are destroying it, and should get aftermarket cooler/better aftermarket cooler. Revert the overclock in such case. Any scenario I left out?
 
shadowfox said:
Well ... what I've found happens very often on 7 (no experience with Vista, but I'll assume the same since they run on the same kernel) - is that Windows gets very fussy about picking up new external drives sometimes. I had to play around a bit to figure it out, but here was the process.

1. Go to your Control Panel -> from there double-click on Administrative Tools.
2. Double-click on Computer Management
3. In Computer Management - you'll see Storage in the left panel - under there is the Disk Management section
4. Once you're in there, it should give you a list of drives installed in your system. Sometimes what happens is that Windows picks up the new drive, but doesn't assign a drive letter, meaning it doesn't show up in My Computer.
5. Right-Click on the Gray Block where it says Disk1 (or whatever #) - in the pop-up click on Change/Assign Drive Letter and Path and give it a drive letter. NB Make sure it doesn't have a drive letter assigned already - if you change an assigned drive you'll bung up any programs installed on that drive.

This will obviously only work if that is the actual problem - if it is the actual drive not getting power or working, then this won't solve the issue.

But I hope it helps.
Click to expand...

Never had this problem(ok maybe once or twice but long ago)
Also, its just easier to:
right click My Computer
click on manage
click on disk management

and assign a drive letter.

HOWEVER i recommend never to go that route.
You mention external drives. For external drives just plug it into another usb port, restart pc. Less hassle/less time consuming than trying to fix a pc/ having to take it to nearest shop.

Tip for pc's
You can obviously do if you know what you are doing, and I encourage those that dont to tinker and learn from tinkering, but going as far as to say that you must learn from experience is harsh. The experience could be very unpleasant/costly. Thats my 2cents(2c == R250 for consultation?)
Its my pleasure
 
Hey guys, I'm going to be adding a new HDD to my PC and just want to know how I can copy everything(OS etc) from the old HDD to the new one while they are both installed? Then I want to format the old HDD so it can be the secondary.

Any advice would be great :).
 
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Deceptor said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be adding a new HDD to my PC and just want to know how I can copy everything(OS etc) from the old HDD to the new one while they are both installed? Then I want to format the old HDD so it can be the secondary.
Click to expand...
I'd suggest doing an OS re-install. If you insist on copying it though, you'll need a cloning tool.

CloseZilla, Norton Ghost and Acronis TrueImage are popular choices.
 
Deceptor said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be adding a new HDD to my PC and just want to know how I can copy everything(OS etc) from the old HDD to the new one while they are both installed? Then I want to format the old HDD so it can be the secondary.

Any advice would be great :).
Click to expand...

I would also suggest a clean install of windows on the new HD. Then copy all your stuff over from the old HDD. Never miss an opportunity to make a clean OS install. :D
 
HavocXphere said:
I'd suggest doing an OS re-install. If you insist on copying it though, you'll need a cloning tool.

CloseZilla, Norton Ghost and Acronis TrueImage are popular choices.
Click to expand...

to0kenZA said:
I would also suggest a clean install of windows on the new HD. Then copy all your stuff over from the old HDD. Never miss an opportunity to make a clean OS install. :D
Click to expand...

My main concern is the Steam folder which is close to 100GB. If I did a clean install can I just plug in the old HDD and copy over the Steam folder or would I have to back up the games?

I don't mind doing a clean install because my PC actually needs one :D. But it sucks having to download patches, apps and security updates again.
 
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Deceptor said:
My main concern is the Steam folder which is close to 100GB. If I did a clean install can I just plug in the old HDD and copy over the Steam folder or would I have to back up the games?

I don't mind doing a clean install because my PC actually needs one :D. But it sucks having to download patches, apps and security updates again.
Click to expand...

A while back I copied my entire steam folder over to a new HDD. Didn't make a difference at all.
 
Only got my new HDD today and nothing beats a clean install of Windows :D. Now I just need to transfer all my Steam files.
 
Deceptor said:
Only got my new HDD today and nothing beats a clean install of Windows :D. Now I just need to transfer all my Steam files.
Click to expand...

Hah ... yeah ... and while you enjoy the blazing speed of your clean install you spend the next 4 - 5 hours installing all your applications again. If there was a proper way to speed that up I'd format every 6 months or so.
 
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