Advice - PC Repair

barsan

I would appreciate any advice / help - I have an Dell Inspiron Desk Top PC which we have been using for the last five years and I had just purchased a new Dell PC which I was in the process of transferring all our photos , emails and documents etc too

Yesterday a fuse blew in our house and all the power went when we got it up and running again the old Dell Inspiron would not start up - The power on button went a yellow and then there was no light from it - I tried a new power cable into the unit but no joy

Is there anybody around the Bray area that would be able to help me get the Dell Inspiron Unit working again - Its important to me to try and get it working as it contains all our family photos including some of my mother and father which have passed away

Any advice or help would really be appreciated

delly

It is more than likely that the mainboard or power supply has been damaged by the power problem. The easiest way to get data off the PC would be to take the old hard drive out and hook it up to a USB adaptor. Dell computers are great at opening up and getting access to the hard drive, but is it something that you could try yourself?

/EDIT Just to say as well, it is possible, but unlikely that the hard drive was damaged. This is where your data is and this is what needs to be taken out.

barsan

Many thanks for your reply - Sorry but I would not be competent to do this myself as I have no skills / understanding in this area

It probably sounds stupid but I just want to get the photos back- I have done loads of searches today on the net around the Bray / North Wicklow area of relevant firms that could help including reviews etc but nothing positive came up snd I am scared that that if I go into any place they may not know what to do or the importance of this to me and I may loose the photos for ever

I have just felt disappointed in myself all day that I never backed them sooner not that I would know how to do this I knew the old PC was on it last legs that's why I bought a new one and the intention was to transfer everything that's why I bought the extra service from Dell like phone support and the easy transfer cable etc but I left it on the long finger over the last two weeks and unfortunately a fuse blew yesterday - It probably serves me right

Again many thanks

riclad

Get a 3.5inch drive enclosure ,sata type.with its own external power supply.
if drive is very old it could be ide type,
so you ,ll need a
sata / ide drive enclosure .
http://www.maplin.co.uk/c/computing-and-office/hard-drives/enclosures-and-docks

https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8p95qnBWMHUAtXc2nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDM

pld ide type drive has 40 plus copper pins at the back,

sata drive has 2 slim flat connectors , no pins .
remove power cable from pc esb socket.

open pc,
take out drive .

hold by the sides .
put tape over pcb board underside of drive .
to protect it .
place drive in side caddy if its a sata drive .
slide it in to 2 drive connector slots .


if ide connect drive ide cable to drive
eg slide gently onto drive pins .
red stripe on drive cable is closet to drive power port .

as in pic below

https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pdlrHBW4BEAJos2nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMT

red stripe is pin 1 ,ide data cable
is close to red stripe on main ide power cable .

plug ide power cable into ide power 4 pin slot .
as in image above .


plug ide data cable into ide data port on the external caddy unit .
plug power cable into ide power slot on the caddy .

switch on the caddy .
wait 2 minutes .

plug usb cabel from caddy into a pc or laptop .
thats already booted up.
turned on.

window should open, drive external detected ,

window should open after 1-3 minutes ,
open folder ,click ok,
to browse drive , e,
f, etc
click ok,
browse folders,
user, docs, music ,pictures ,etc on drive e

copy all data to a folder ,new folder 1 .
on pc or laptop .

ON DELL pcs, open case , maybe 2 screws hold side panel. beside drive .
there may be 4 screws holding drive inside the metal frame .
2 screws each side .
open screws,
put em away.
remove the drive .
hold drive gently by the sides like a cd.
do not touch drive underneath .
where the logic board is.

look up electronic recyling finglas ,
they have all the parts for old pcs,
and they,ll put in a new power supply .
or a genuine dell power supply,
same size and the same wattage .
they have dozens of old dell pcs and parts there .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=971jVrUp9mg

you could tell him just put in a 2nd hard drive 60gig ,
and copy all data to drive 2 60gig.
dell installation
psu and drive 60gig would cost maybe 40 euro .
not including labour .
secondhand psu and drive .
from an identical dell pc.

http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/

they do pc ,laptop repairs there too .
about 1 mile from finglas village .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVaBB8X6KhQ

touch water taps ,at a sink, bathroom,
to get rid of static elecriticy before you touch the hard drive.
if drive is sata ,just slide in the data ,power prongs into the drive enclosure data,power slots .


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTeqibWfZTI

open pc ,look at drive ,
2 black ,red cables half inch wide going to drive means its a sata drive.

buy a sata drive enclosure maplins 35euros .


sata cables
2 reb cables here
https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pc6tHBWtUcAcIk2nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMT












https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8paMtHBWZz8AET42nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDM

see pic above ,wide grey ribbon cable is ide data cable about 4-5inches wide .
red ,black,black,yellow cable is ide power cable .


if drive is ide type you,ll need a sata/ide enclosure .

sata drive powered enclosure is 25 approx in any pc store .


its possible if you get a new power supply installed the main pc motherboard could be faulty.

disconnect data ,power cable from the drive , as a precaution ,before you do anything .

it would be cheaper to buy an enclosure sata/ide and just copy the pics to a laptop or another pc.

Skerries

definitely sounds like you blew the power supply if you are getting an amber light on the front of a Dell

riclad

If you get a power supply make sure it has the screw holes in the same place to match the case
Get one 250 or 300 watt power rating
Make sure it has the same type of motherboard connector cable
, Look on adverts.is dell PC power supply

Some PC power supplys have a square 4 pin connector as well as the main motherboard connector ,
Both of which plug into the motherboard .
From the back view the screw holes should be the same distance from the edges as in the old power supply

kodistar

Hi there,

Just take out hardrive and reconnect to new computer then your data will be on that hardrive then just transfer photos onto it via memory stick.

If hardrive is corrupt then you will need sata recovery kit r ide kit Google it you will see what it does,try first option first and plenty of computer companies will know what you mean so don't worry about it.

beauf

barsan wrote: »

...I am scared that that if I go into any place they may not know what to do or the importance of this to me and I may loose the photos for ever...

You run this risk regardless of who you bring it to.

unkel

beauf wrote: »

You run this risk regardless of who you bring it to.

A professional would have a slightly better chance to retrieve data compared to the OP who is, in his own words, incompetent

I know everybody is trying to help here but the OP clearly is not familiar with this kind of action and then for riclad to post something like post #4 here is just absurd. That's like explaining to a 90 year old female librarian (who never learnt how to drive a car) how to change a timing belt...

@OP - bring it to a professional. They will most likely get your data off for a small fee

mordeith

unkel wrote: »

A professional would have a slightly better chance to retrieve data compared to the OP who is, in his own words, incompetent

I know everybody is trying to help here but the OP clearly is not familiar with this kind of action and then for riclad to post something like post #4 here is just absurd. That's like explaining to a 90 year old female librarian (who never learnt how to drive a car) how to change a timing belt...

@OP - bring it to a professional. They will most likely get your data off for a small fee

I agree wholeheartedly about the riclad post. Having said that, there is every chance there is nothing wrong with the drive. As long as the OP goes to a reputable repair shop he should be looking at a cheap data transfer fee.
OP have you any family/friends who are comfortable opening up a PC case?

beauf

unkel wrote: »

A professional would have a slightly better chance to retrieve data compared to the OP who is, in his own words, incompetent ...

I think the point was not the OP having a go vs a "professional". But that its hard to know which repair shops are decent. Some the staff in some repair shops have pretty poor knowledge. Its worth going somewhere that someone you know has personal experience of.

My own point was that there's always a risk with any drive that is not recoverable. Regardless of who looks at it. I think it would be unlucky if the drive was damaged. But it can happen.

Night be worth looking for recommendations on the regional forums.

riclad

look on youtube.com
upgrade sata drive pc ,
install new sata drive,
the chances are drive is fine ,the power supply is dead.
buy a 8gig usb drive in argos .11 euro approx.

say you get acess to a working pc.
open pc case .
remove main power cable from pc first.switching off pc is not enough.
power go,es thru pc when pc is switched off.
remove power and data cables from pc dvd drive.
plug em into hardrive .place drive on stable dry clean surface close to the pc .eg table .
plug in the power cable .
turn on pc ,browse to drive e ,or d ,in my computer .
drive D ,copy files to a usb drive ,

plug in usb drive.
copy files to usb drive drive e or drive f.

Theres a shop about 20 yards from eddie rockets fast food shop.phibsboro shopping centre .
across the road near the corner , as you face away from city centre direction .
pc repairs ,Computer store .
sign in the window says pc repair, Data recovery ,


maybe go to them with the drive .

I don,t think you need to be a super techie to buy a usb sata/ide enclosure .
put drive in it.
turn on the power , plug into a pc or laptop .
click on external drive d, drive e external usb. browse to
windows user name ,docs, ,pictures

http://lifehacker.com/5951822/how-can-i-recover-data-from-a-dead-or-erased-hard-drive

maybe ask a friend techie to help you.

barsan

Many thanks to all of you for replying and your suggestions - I will ask around locally etc to get someone - Genuinely your replies are really appreciated

riclad

my Friend has dell pc 2400 ,
cpu 2.oghz ,i put 2 gig ram ddr2 into it .in 2011 .
still being used for web browsing
its easy to get parts for dell pcs from ebay or electronic recycling finglas .
even pentium4 dell pcs .
chances are 90 per cent plus the drive is ok,
All data is there if its connected to a pc ,or put inside a caddy.