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Thread: Building New Computer Question
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31st May 2020, 12:30 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Building New Computer Question
My PC is giving problems and has been for the last six months, sometimes it will boot, other times it won't or takes 10 mimutes to do so and yes I have minimised the start list, but that is not the problem. When it is turned on the computer stalls at the start screen that invites you to press DEL or F2 to enter the BIOS and sometimes if left long enough it will boot. Other times the mouse does not get started and other times if I go into the BIOS and then exit it will boot every time but sometimes I can't get into the BIOS at all. It has been stripped down to the bare case and re-assembled with no change in it behaviour so I am going to give the finger and build another one
I inherited this comtuter from Master P. and the board has to be 10 years old, some years back it got a new graphics card and that is the total sum of work done on it apart from internal cleaning and an SSD upgrade. It has three drives, the C being a SSD and no files on the any of the drives, I have an NAS for that. The 2 x 1 terrabyte spinny things hold some copies of files on the NAS and that's all. I have kept it this way because if it crashes I will shrug my shoulders and get another one and no tears will be shed.
I would like an NUC but I think they are a very expensive build so I have turned my thinking to something like this Mini-ITX Cases - PC Case Gear because just maybe I can use my existing drives but there is always a but. I don't need a big tower case and an all in one is a bit short on resolution being 1098 on the ones I have looked at.
I wonder if I can use the drives from this computer & particularly the C drive with a new main board, memory etc. but I suspect all the registry stuff will not play nice with a new board.
If not what is the deal with putting my registration for WIN10 on a new computer?
I would like an all in one because the spaghetti junction behing my desk would disappear so I haven't pulled the curtain down on that just yet. My main question is what happens if I use my present drives in a new build?CHRIS
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31st May 2020 12:30 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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31st May 2020, 02:16 PM #2
2 things...
Does this computer display any process progress during booting? Perhaps just a pair of numbers that change in the bottom right corner of the monitor?
That'd help identify where in the POST process it's getting stuck; IF you have the manual with POST code list for interpretation. Perhaps it's having trouble identifying one of the drives, a video card or flaky RAM, in which case it may be fixable.
Secondly, what type of HDD connections is it using? IDE or SATA? IDE drives probably won't go over to a new mobo unless you specifically hunt down one with an IDE port. SATA has become the new standard... SATA would go over, but it'd be a good idea to reformat them under a new system anyway. No loss if they're empties, right?
The C (System) drive would also be best treated as an empty and also re-formatted and Win re-installed. Otherwise you need to remove/replace all the old drivers and, frankly, that's just not worth the effort and headache. (Many 'Pro' fixes for sw problems are just that: reformat/re-install. )
While on that subject, I've also found that SATA cables are rather failure prone with age. If the 'puta is having trouble identifying the HDDs (hence 1st question) it may be due to a failing SATA lead.
I'd try removing the two 'empty' drives and then see how it goes with booting, trying all three SATA leads on the C drive to see if the problem persists.
Little things, but worth checking.
- Andy Mc
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31st May 2020, 03:55 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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There are no progress indicators at all and once booted it is perfectly behaved. We pulled it apart to clean all the connectors as I thought it might not been seeing the graphics card due to dirty connectors but no go on that one. I would imagine SATA for the drives, SSD on IDE, is that even possible? Good point on the drive cables, I might try some new ones.
CHRIS
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31st May 2020, 04:18 PM #4
Chris, does your mother board support win 10?
That's what caused all my issues, so new build was done and all issues gone, eventually!Pat
Work is a necessary evil to be avoided. Mark Twain
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31st May 2020, 05:25 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Pat, I installed WIN 10 when it was first released and it has been perfect from day one until six months ago I started having random problems which then came and went and then returned. Being intermittant I sort of knew the answer was going to be a new computer and I offered up sacrifices to the computer gods hoping it would go away but that didn't happen.
CHRIS
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31st May 2020, 05:35 PM #6Senior Member
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Have you ever replaced the bios back-up battery? You did not mention it in your first post. Could be worth a try.
Chas.
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31st May 2020, 06:01 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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Another good point I hadn't considered, I have never replaced one in any computer.
CHRIS
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2nd June 2020, 02:02 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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2nd June 2020, 04:14 PM #9
We (well me anyway) always assume that it is something terribly complex or technical that is causing this massive headache and frustration. It's usually something very simple like doing a reset or changing a battery.
Thanks Chas. I laboured under the impression that my keyboard was failing while playing a game recently. I struggled with jerky movement that I initially thought was lag. It took me quite a while to remember that it is a wireless keyboard and I should try changing the batteries. Yep...good as new.Those were the droids I was looking for.
https://autoblastgates.com.au
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