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Title: i can't afford new pc parts (help me..) Post by: jess on 2004-11-30, 01:22 Ok.. I need help.. and please no one tell me i need new hardware *cries* I was on web irc.. everything just stopped working except my sound (i had my tv going in the background). I was able to move my mouse but when i right clicked to close unused windows I wasn't able to do so. Left clicking wouldn't work either. I tried doing ctrl+alt+del but nothign happened. While this is happening my computer was making the initializing clicks. After it did that a couple times it switched over to cricket sounding noises. I held the power button so my computer would shut down. As it started shutting down i got an error about something was unable to initialize. My computer shut down before i could read the entire message, so unfortunately I can't say what wasn't able to initialize. So far my virus scan is coming up with nothing. Also, if this is a HD problem, do i just assume it's my C drive? Is it possible that it's my E drive?
Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: Phoenix on 2004-11-30, 06:44 Is the PC still clicking? If so, can you tell if it's coming from the speaker, or the hard-drive? Hard drive clicking is NOT GOOD. It's called "click of death" for a reason. If your system is still behaving strangely I'd advise backing up as of yesterday! If not, well... keep an eye on it. Perhaps it was a one-time malfunction?
Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: shambler on 2004-11-30, 11:39 You tried a reformat?
Unless your hardware is knacked, that will solve anything. Provided you have backed up as you should. :wall: Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: Woodsman on 2004-11-30, 16:52 PCs do funky things for unknown reasons. I would try to reinstall before you go out and buy new parts.
Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: jess on 2004-11-30, 18:54 Quote from: Phoenix Is the PC still clicking? If so, can you tell if it's coming from the speaker, or the hard-drive? Hard drive clicking is NOT GOOD. It's called "click of death" for a reason. If your system is still behaving strangely I'd advise backing up as of yesterday! If not, well... keep an eye on it. Perhaps it was a one-time malfunction? When it happened it was just that day. After I rebooted it stopped. It had to be a hard drive click because my head phones are plugged in. I wouldn't have been able to hear it through the speakers. Also, it's the same click my pc makes when I boot up initially except this time it clicked twice in a rapid pattern then switch to the cricket noise then the pattern repeated. I will be backing everything up when I get home from work tonight. I just was curious if it was something I can fix without buying a new hard drive.Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: ConfusedUs on 2004-11-30, 19:15 If your HDD is clicking, don't delay. Buy a new one ASAP and get the important data backed up WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
Click of death sucks. Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: Phoenix on 2004-11-30, 19:20 It sounds like it could be hard drive, but be careful of misdiagnosing there. Sometimes fan bearings going bad can sound like a hard drive on the way out. An easy way to test that is to open the case up and listen with the side open. If you hear any kind of rattling or "groaning" sounds, try unplugging fans one at a time (be sure to plug them back in, especially the CPU fan and don't leave that unhooked for long!) and seeing if the noise dissipates. It's better than replacing a hard drive that might be perfectly fine. $5.00 for a fan beats $50+ for a hard drive and all the headaches that go with transferring data. If you don't want to risk running the hard drive you can just unplug the power connection while you're doing this and listening to the fans without the system actually booting off the drive. This will protect your drive in case it IS bad while you test the fans.
The main culprit when it comes to fans dying is usually the power supply fan. It takes the most abuse and is exposed to the most heat. If the PSU fan fails the PSU will overheat, causing all sorts of strange behavior, especially lock-ups. They're not too hard to replace. Usually they're an 80mm fan with a standard 3-pin connector that just clips to the PSU's circuit board. It's fairly straight forward if you're not afraid to open up the power supply, but be careful if you do as even when unplugged the capacitors in a power supply are fairly dangerous and can give quite a shock. Never open one when it's plugged into the wall. Even when turned off there's still AC current running through the transformer and the solder points on the main circuit board. I've found that out the hard way before. ;) And yes, BACK UP THAT DATA!!! You can never go wrong by backing up! Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: jess on 2004-11-30, 19:32 I hope I have enough CDs... I already moved my mp3's to me second HD. I really hope my E drive isn't sick too :(.. It's bad enough i've already got to buy a new dvd drive (i can't watch movies *cries*) now this! UGH
Title: Re: i can't afford new pc parts Post by: shambler on 2004-12-01, 00:14 Sometimes putting a length of plastic tube in your ear like a stethoscope will help you to find out which part of the machine is clicking.
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