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| Thread ID: 114727 | 2010-12-15 02:09:00 | Dead Computer..... next steps? | aidanmaz (7180) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1161785 | 2010-12-15 02:09:00 | A family friend came to me as his computer wasnt booting, on closer inspection the mobo appeared to be dead, no matter which power supply i put in, it never booted, i unplugged everything and tried to get it started. Its obviously past its prime, and died. Now some data has been backed up, and some like emails havent, the PC was running XP Pro, i believe there are older programs on it which mostly wont work with 7, and new versions are avaible but i think the idea of having to upgrade will be deemed inappropriate. Is there a way to move the HDD to another PC? i know with XP i cant just whack it in another oldish machine and expect it to work. Is there a way to do it without losing ANY files? | aidanmaz (7180) | ||
| 1161786 | 2010-12-15 02:12:00 | Put it in a running machine and swap jumpers to make it a slave drive .... will allow you to copy any data that you want to keep. That's assuming it's the mobo that's stuffed and not the HD. | SP8's (9836) | ||
| 1161787 | 2010-12-15 02:13:00 | You cant copy programs that have already been install either. So, the only files you can copy are emails / contacts, docs, bookmarks. They'll have to reinstall everything else |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 1161788 | 2010-12-15 02:21:00 | I gathered i cant copy program files, as there are registry files needed and whatnot. The HDD is fine, its just the mobo, i had to take ownership of the files on the hdd when i put it in my machine. I thought i could re run the XP setup and repair it, without losing data, which would enable it to boot on another machine. Im trying to avoid getting a new PC as it would involve getting new versions of older apps, which would cost more money, which is the huge determining factor. | aidanmaz (7180) | ||
| 1161789 | 2010-12-15 02:23:00 | "sometimes", and I'm using the term loosely, if you put the Old HDD (as long as its still working) onto another PC, thats close to the original hardware wise, it will boot into safe mode and allow you to recover the data that way, OR you can do a repair install, and sometimes it will boot up again on the other hardware. If this works, it will pop up with warnings about activation etc. Sometimes it works other times it doesn't. Edited: and you will need the COA to enter. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 1161790 | 2010-12-15 02:25:00 | activation isnt an issue, i have the key and i dont mind explaining to MS what happened. The reason im pushing for this is because i do not want to lose any data, and i cant identifiy every program installed on the original HDD, so i can look for windows 7 versions. | aidanmaz (7180) | ||
| 1161791 | 2010-12-15 02:28:00 | Most programs SHOULD work in Win7 (I dont know of any that wont work). Apart from some games. Unless its 64 bit and it needs 64 bit drivers | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 1161792 | 2010-12-15 02:30:00 | activation isnt an issue, i have the key and i dont mind explaining to MS what happened. The reason im pushing for this is because i do not want to lose any data, and i cant identifiy every program installed on the original HDD, so i can look for windows 7 versions. If I recall correctly, a repair install will renew the administrator account too, so if the old pc used the admin account you may be in danger of wiping the admin user data which contains e-mails etc.... |
SolMiester (139) | ||
| 1161793 | 2010-12-15 02:33:00 | So if it is the motherboard (and you did test the RAM too right?), just replace MB, RAM and CPU, and re-use the rest of it. | pctek (84) | ||
| 1161794 | 2010-12-15 02:38:00 | I did test the ram, i tested everything, the mobo is dead, I dont want to replace the board/chip etc, as im not very good in that area, and i dont want to mess anything up. Its an IBM ThinkCentre. | aidanmaz (7180) | ||
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