Oh crap...computer issues

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok, this time I put the disc in and rebooted. It goes to the Windows Vista screen, I hit "install now" then it gives me a choose of "upgrade vista" which is blanked out and "advanced install". I hit "advanced install" and it says "no drives were found. click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation. I hit load driver and it says to put in CD and hit "ok". It scans for driver and then says "no device drivers were found".

 

[njedpx3]

Sorry I wasaway for awhile. It sounds like your boot sector on the Sata 0 drive iscorrupted. The data on your hard drive are (yes correct data are plural) probably okay. If you have taken a backup you can probably restore and resume where you left off. If this sounds Greek to you you can take it to a Best Buy or other computer recovery place and they can probably restore you back to where you were. One word of advice you received, I believe it was from Adwi k was not to reformat; yes please DO NOT REFORMAT. You should be able to recover from the initial installation CDs; reload the system but again do not FORMAT. Worst case if none of this works, and you buy another PC you can attach this hard drive as an external one and still recover the data. However, you said most of it was external.

Good luck,

Forest Man

P.S. - when all this crap is going on,take a breath and remember the future with your wonderful bride; life will go on..it will get better.

P.S.S. - I don't know if iever told you ..you did an excellent job on your backyard pool .. If warm enough go treat yourself to a swim

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

This should help:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions

option b: as others mention is Ultimate boot cd, download and burn to cd. Boot from it and use hard drive diagnostics.

It sounds like problems with harddrive it's ether partially damaged or completely rip.

Make sure to check is all cables are well secured.

 

[sholling]

Ok, this time I put the disc in and rebooted. It goes to the Windows Vista screen, I hit "install now" then it gives me a choose of "upgrade vista" which is blanked out and "advanced install". I hit "advanced install" and it says "no drives were found. click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation. I hit load driver and it says to put in CD and hit "ok". It scans for driver and then says "no device drivers were found".

I've been fixing computers for a living forever but it's impossible to give a sure diagnoses via forums. Diagnosing these issues is like any kind of troubleshooting. You can spend a few days going back and forth eliminating possible problems or you elimate the basics and then try swapping parts.

If it's out of warranty you may just want to just swap in a big fast hard drive and see if Windows will install. If it's a desktop the Amazon has the WD "Black" 1TB drive for $100. That's a nice fast drive. Or if you have an old SATA drive that you know works then try that.

 

[pzaur]

Did you try unplugging the actual drive and then replugging it in? Maybe the connections need to be redone on the actual hardware.

-pat

 

[Rickster71]

Sounds like you guys have this under control.

Doesn’t it seem a little too coincidental that you downloaded that software and soon after had drive problems? If I may suggest, someone do a search on that software and check to see if it a known source of malware or viruses.
Good luck!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Here is what I used. It works great and did exactly what I wanted...ummm...besides ruining my computer.
http://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php

I really don't want to even dump $100 into this computer. I got it for $400, 4 years ago so I'd rather just buy a new one if this is not an easy fix.

Maybe I can just mail it to one of you computer guys and you can get my pictures off of it for me and then fix it and sale it. We could split the money.

Sounds like you guys have this under control.

Doesn’t it seem a little too coincidental that you downloaded that software and soon after had drive problems? If I may suggest, someone do a search on that software and check to see if it a known source of malware or viruses.
Good luck!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

How does this look?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+with+Intel®+Pentium®+Processor/9699016.p?id=1218152460479&skuId=9699016

Not sure that link is working. It's the Asus - Essentio Desktop with Intel® Pentium® Processor

-or- help me pick out a desktop from Best Buy.

I would like to stay under 1k, way under would be fine.

I need Microsoft Office
I play all my music from the CPU.

 

[Warpdrv]

http://www.officemax.com/technology/computers/desktop-computers/product-prod2850259

I have 2 of these and they are nice and small and pretty cheap, they have been good for me.... I use them at work

If its just a basic working machine and surfing the net and documents - it'll be more then adequate.

Keyboard and mouse are cr@p, but you can replace that stuff easy enough or use what you have...

 

[sholling]

How does this look?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+with+Intel®+Pentium®+Processor/9699016.p?id=1218152460479&skuId=9699016

I wouldn't call it a good deal. That's an old-old-old Pentium CPU. For that price you should be able to find a brand new Core i5 or a generation back Core 2 Quad. Just keep watching the bargain sites.

 

[pzaur]

You should watch these place for desktops, too:
Staples
Officemax
Dell
HP
Frys
Costco

There are always good desktop deals to be had.

-pat

 

[njedpx3]

I've been fixing computers for a living forever but it's impossible to give a sure diagnoses via forums. Diagnosing these issues is like any kind of troubleshooting. You can spend a few days going back and forth eliminating possible problems or you elimate the basics and then try swapping parts.

If it's out of warranty you may just want to just swap in a big fast hard drive and see if Windows will install. If it's a desktop the Amazon has the WD "Black" 1TB drive for $100. That's a nice fast drive. Or if you have an old SATA drive that you know works then try that.

My Atari 800 needs some work

Peace,

Forest Man

P.S. - Nice advice

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I hate to do this to you guys but all my "play" money is tied up with wedding/honeymoon stuff right now. I don't want to open up a new line of credit anywhere and I already have a line at BB. Can someone please pick out what the best for me would be there?

 

[Warpdrv]

I'm not all that super huge on HP, but these are pretty bullet proof for the price...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Slimline+Desktop+with+AMD+Athlon™+II+Dual-Core+Processor/9692987.p?id=1218150183655&skuId=9692987

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Factory-Refurbished+Desktop+with+Intel®+Core™2+Quad+Processor/9852527.p?id=1218184679974&skuId=9852527

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Factory-Refurbished+Pavilion+Elite+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom™+II+X4+Processor/9852518.p?id=1218184680746&skuId=9852518

 

[pzaur]

PD - What's your price range? A hard upper limit would really help.
My quick suggestion is to find something with at least a dual core CPU and a dedicated video card. I have quickly become a non-fan of integrated cards.

What do you mainly use your desktop for?

Hard drives are cheap and easily replaced.
If you have an OS disk, you might consider building one yourself. It's really not hard. You can strip a lot of stuff out of your old PC and just go with a new motherboard/CPU and hard drive. Just a thought. You'll have to buy RAM, typically, when you do this. It's pretty cheap right now.

I know, probably more work than you want to do...

Warp and PD, the links aren't working that you guys posted...

-pat

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Lets call the hard budget <$800. I mainly just surf web, emails and play all my music on PC. I also do work with Excel and word documents.

I don't want to build anything. I want to run to BestBuy, today, and get something. I have reports due by Midnight and I don't have a way to do them. I am on my PS3 right now just to get on Audioholics.

PD - What's your price range? A hard upper limit would really help.
My quick suggestion is to find something with at least a dual core CPU and a dedicated video card. I have quickly become a non-fan of integrated cards.

What do you mainly use your desktop for?

Hard drives are cheap and easily replaced.
If you have an OS disk, you might consider building one yourself. It's really not hard. You can strip a lot of stuff out of your old PC and just go with a new motherboard/CPU and hard drive. Just a thought. You'll have to buy RAM, typically, when you do this. It's pretty cheap right now.

I know, probably more work than you want to do...

Warp and PD, the links aren't working that you guys posted...

-pat

 

[sholling]

I hate to do this to you guys but all my "play" money is tied up with wedding/honeymoon stuff right now. I don't want to open up a new line of credit anywhere and I already have a line at BB. Can someone please pick out what the best for me would be there?

You think audio/video is an expensive hobby... marriage is 100x more expensive. Especially when it comes time to replace the old worn out model with the latest and greatest.

Best Buy choices. I can't get links to work so search on the SKU numbers:

Dell - Inspiron Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor $609
Model: I560-4000NBK | SKU: 9698845
Intel® Core™2 Duo desktop processor E7500; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM; DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 1TB hard drive; built-in wireless LAN; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Asus - Essentio Desktop with Intel® Core™ i5 Processor $699
Model: CG5275-AR003 | SKU: 9699025
Intel® Core™ i5-650 processor; 8GB DDR3 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 1TB hard drive; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Neither is a game machine but should be fine for most other uses. If you want gaming then build your own or spend a lot more on a gaming system.

 

[pzaur]

PD - what zip? Some stores have 'em and others don't.

-pat

 

[Warpdrv]

I went to best buy and clicked on compact computers.

HP - Pavilion Slimline Desktop with AMD Athlon™ II Dual-Core Processor
$509.99

Or a larger size "every day" unit...
HP - Pavilion Desktop with Intel® Core™ i3 Processor
$699.99

Simple Cheap and more then capable for what your looking to do here...

Either of shollings would be great as well...

 

[pzaur]

You think audio/video is an expensive hobby... marriage is 100x more expensive. Especially when it comes time to replace the old worn out model with the latest and greatest.

Best Buy choices. I can't get links to work so search on the SKU numbers:

Dell - Inspiron Desktop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor $609
Model: I560-4000NBK | SKU: 9698845
Intel® Core™2 Duo desktop processor E7500; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM; DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 1TB hard drive; built-in wireless LAN; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Asus - Essentio Desktop with Intel® Core™ i5 Processor $699
Model: CG5275-AR003 | SKU: 9699025
Intel® Core™ i5-650 processor; 8GB DDR3 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 1TB hard drive; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Neither is a game machine but should be fine for most other uses. If you want gaming then build your own or spend a lot more on a gaming system.

The ASUS has the better processor and the Inspiron has wireless. Either way, both look like good machines.
(I'd probably go with the better processor over the wireless since you can always add a wireless card for cheap.)

-pat