My PC died last night.. I spent 4 hours on the phone with HP about the problems, and the only thing left to do is a format and recovery. I could care less about my PC (it's 3 yrs old), but I need to save about 30 GB of stuff off my hard drive. I can see the files in safe mode, however the drivers for my burner and usb ports are gone, and you can't install drivers in safe mode. I can't hook up an external hard drive and move the data- already tried.

So my question is can I take my hard drive out and set it up as a slave? drive on another PC? Will I have access to those files and be able to transfer them to the new PC.

Any help would be appreicated. THX.

 

It looks like you dont have a harddrive failure of any sort if you can boot to safe mode. You can probably put that drive into another computer and transfer the files. Have you tried putting an internal harddrive into your existing computer?

 

The only problem you would have is if you had NTFS on the computer and you're putting the HD In a computer that isn't running NT/2k/XP. So pull it out, make it a slave or just throw it on the second IDE channel, and you can access your stuff. Then you can put it back and format or whatever.

 

i agree

 

Bingo, I've done that MANY times before (all on Compaq's and HP's, go figure)

 

compaq's have a problem with motherboards that fail

 

Along with everything else

 

Compaqs=POS

 

 

I have decided to buy a new computer and just add my current hard drive to it. Anyone have any experience with Sony Vaio systems? For $1050, I can get the RS420 with this:

-Pent 4 w. hyper threading technology @ 2.8 GHz
-512 MB memory, 120 GB hard drive
-ATI RADEON 9200 vid card
-DVD+-RW Drive
-bunch of other stuff

Sounds good to me, but I haven't bought a new PC since 2000.

 

god damn for that price build your own pc it will better then a sony... even though the case looks pretty cool.

 

Brand name PCs use el-cheapo parts and put their "factory" stickers on them. They are actually the cheapest, "never heard of", made in china parts they can get. They spend big bucks on marketing and cosmetic stuff (like nifty looking cases, different colored shells, etc..). If a part fails on them, they simply replace it without regard for the users' data.

Since I obtained an A+ cert and some MCP Certificates, I never looked at brand names again. A custom PC may cost you a bit more but you get all the parts that YOU want, down to the wiring and power supply.

Consider these:

-A P4 and a P3 will both run XP no problem.

-With the resource intensive applications these days, a 200 MHz difference means only a few seconds faster, and not a tremendous difference.

-Identify what you need your PC for and conform the features you want for that. (If you don't do heavy duty gaming, you don't need a 128 Mb video card.)

-Long term satisfaction for custom parts are much better. Make sure you buy them from reputable places.

-Realize how much time you actually spend in front of a PC.

-Brand names make their "packages" look attractive by "bundling" a monitor with the PC. These are the worst pieces of cr*p they have, you'll know 'coz if you ask for a real TFT screen or an aperture grille CRT, the prices do change big time.

-You get what you pay for.


Vicman

_________________

03 TL Type-S SSM
K&N

 

I realize what you said, and it is true..

But I only Buy Dells, and Dells use nice, good, genuine parts.. You get to pick them..

Intel Motherboards to nVidia or ATI Graphics card, to Sony Baterries and etc.. etc..

But I agree Compaq is one of those POS Companies!

 

whatever you do dont buy dell's , they use cheap parts unlike sony(like integrated video card into motherboard), remember dell just buys cheap parts and puts them together, you can do that yourself if you want to go that way.

 

Please, Dell is the worst computer company I have EVER dealt with. The customer support is by far, the worst I have dealt with in any field, not just computers. Finally, their tech support is has the stupidest people that wander this earth. Now that is a fact.

 

dell is the best computer i have ever bought.(other than the one i built ) there service has been great, there tech support was also very good.

 

Just wait, their true color will come out soon enough for you. When my fan failed on my laptop and the machine heated up to the point that the paint melted off the bottom, their tech support rep said that the fix was to, and I quote "we don't call them laptops anymore, we call them notebooks. So just don't put the machine on your lap and you will be ok"

Great service, yeah!!! FVCK DELL!!!!!!!!!!

 

this man is a wise one.