System Crash: Computer Repair for Complete Idiots

[Sky]

Alright, just one more question: I've never done any messing around with my computer's hardware except to do occasional cleaning. Is there anything I should know, any precautions I should take, or anything else I should do before I try swapping hard drives?

Beware static electricity. Doubly so if you're in an area of the US that actually has a winter. (One time, I generated enough static to reset my digital watch.)

Static wrist straps can be found at any respectable computer or electronics store.

[Neko-]

I've swapped HDD's (and prettymuh anything esle) without any specific measures beforehand.... It's not really required to go anti-static, but it would help.

Just be sure to check any jumpers on the back of the disks if applicable... Master/Slave settings for IDE drives and such...

[lwf58]

Yes. I presume that this is a computer with an IDE PATA hard drives, instead of one of the newer SATA hard drive, meaning that it uses a wide ribbon cable to attach to the motherboard.

First off - static electricity is your enemy. It can kill computer parts very, very dead. Before handling parts, touch metal to discharge any that may have built up on you. While working, continue to touch metal every so often just for safety's sake. If your PC and the one you are using for your data recovery are made with steel, you can touch the bare metal framework inside the computer.

Next, disconnect the power cable and then hold the power button in for a few seconds to drain electricity from the PC's power supply. Then you can handle the parts inside.

Unless the other computer is not using one of its two IDE connectors on the motherboard, you will need to hook your drive up to the second connector on the ribbon cable (they usually have three, one for the motherboard and two spaced at the other end for drives). To do that, you have to make sure that the jumper pins are set correctly at the end of your drive and the one on the other connector. The simplest setting is to make sure that both are set on "cable select". The jumper settings are normally printed on the hard drive's label.

Another method that you might use instead is to disconnect the power cable and ribbon cable from the cd drive, and only have your hard drive on them. That way you don't have to worry about the jumper settings. It also allows you to have enough cable length to set your drive on the table beside the computer case instead of mounting it inside.

If your drive is an SATA, it'll have a wide power connector and and narrow data cable. SATA drives are plugged into the motherboard independently of each other, one per connector, so there are no jumper settings to worry about. The problem is that older computers do not have SATA connectors on the motherboard, so you'd have to have a newer computer to do your data backup on.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

I like those any-drive blocks that go outside your computer. You plug the drive into the block, and the block into a USB port on another computer, and you have an external drive. I have enough drives that it's the easy way to swap them around for backup or data recovery.

[Comartemis]

Change of plans; my parents don't want my stuff getting plugged into our second computer on account of virus worries, so I've gone out and bought myself a second hard drive for my own computer. Now I'm trying to get it set up and nothing seems to be working. Specifically, the computer stops booting after reading the processor as if there's nothing else there to read.

I'll bet the problem has to do with the jumper pins; my new HD has a ten-pin setup but the old one only has eight, so I'm not sure how to arrange the master-slave setup. If it's not that, though, it's probably because I disconnected something by accident.

[lwf58]

Look at the label on the new drive and see if it's set on cable select, then do the same for the old drive.

Next, only hook up your new hard drive with the power and data cables, not the old one. The older drive can be connected later. For now, you only want the computer to use the new drive.

You are correct that misconfigured jumpers will prevent the computer from seeing the drives.

To make sure that things go as easily as they can, after installing your new drive open up your BIOS settings when the computer starts. You should see a message on the POST screen telling you how to enter setup. The most common keystrokes are either F1, F2, or Delete.

In BIOS, the first screen should list the drives the motherboard knows are attached, which will tell you if they are hooked up right. The next thing you need to find is the drive boot order. Typically, the hard drive is set to be used as the boot device before the CD/DVD drive. You want to change that order so that the CD/DVD drive is searched first. After that, you can save and exit BIOS.

Then it's a matter of installing Windows.

You want to keep your old drive disconnected because it'll make choosing the right device to install Windows on simpler, and will prevent you from making a major gaffe and erasing your old drive.

[Comartemis]

I fixed the jumper plugs on the new drive and plugged in the data and power cables but the computer still isn't detecting anything.

There's a plastic plug a short ways down the HD's power cable that isn't connected to anything. There's four wires running into it and two running back out into what I think is the main power supply. Is this supposed to be plugged into anything?

[Neko-]

A harddisk should be plugged with one plug for power that has 4 cables going in...

But if you take the HDD out, and just swap the new one in with the same connectors it shouldn't give you much trouble in atleast getting post-boot.

After that it's just setting the proper BIOS settings (if it'snot autodetected) for the harddisk...

[Comartemis]

Neko, I'm not sure you understand what I'm trying to say here. The HDD is already plugged in, as in connected to the power supply. But there's a second plug halfway down the power cable into which all four of the wires go before two of them connect to the power supply.

It looks like this:

HDD -> Female Plug -> 4 Wires -> Male Plug (no connection) -> 2 Wires -> Power Supply

With the setup I have right now, the computer still isn't working. And for that matter, I can't get into Setup from the boot screen; the PC isn't taking any commands from the keyboard. Will connecting this second plug fix the problem or is it more likely to blow something up?

[lwf58]

On the 4-pin molex power connectors, the one that has four wires running into it is for powering drives. If it only has two wires, it's there to power cooling fans that have molex connectors.

If I'm understanding you, you have one that has four wires going in, and two coming out, supposedly running back to the power supply. That connector is for a drive. The two wires running back are probably connected to a fan for cooling the power supply.

Make sure your data cable is firmly seated in the motherboard IDE connector. When you turn on the computer, you should hear the drive spooling up if it's getting power.

Listen for an initial beep, then the sound of your fans spinning, and then the sound of the drive spooling up. Those are the normal sounds of a PC that is working properly.

[Neko-]

Doesn't sound correct... http://www.computerhope.com/help/ps.htm

It should get two ground wires, a 12 and a 5 V wire... All wires should be connected all the way to the PSU (Power Supply Unit).

[lwf58]

HDD -> Female Plug -> 4 Wires -> Male Plug (no connection) -> 2 Wires -> Power Supply

Hmm. You should have 4 wires from the PS running to a female connector.

Male connectors are used for electrical extensions, and have to be plugged into a female connector with 4 wires going to the PS. The extensions serve several purposes, depending on how they are made. They might split the power path to feed more drives, or they may add 3 or 4 pin connectors for cooling fans. (4 pin fan connectors only have 2 wires going to them.)

Sounds like you may not be hooking up a live molex connector to your drive.

[Comartemis]

The fans are working and the PC beeps, but the processor still isn't making any noise.

I just noticed that there's a black fifteen pin plug that isn't connected to anything. It has wires running to the power supply and another plug that runs to the motherboard. Is this supposed to be connected to something?

[lwf58]

If it has an L-shaped opening on the end, it's for powering an SATA drive.

Not every connector from the PS has to lead to anything. They are there because the manufacturer wants the drive to be compatible with as many computers as possible. You may see a connector that ends in 6 pins - they include that because some high-powered video cards need it.

[Comartemis]

*Sigh*

So what else can I do? Nothing I've tried so far has gotten me anywhere. Should I just give it up as a bad job and let my dad's tech support guys take a look at it on Monday?