Author Topic: k this is like the mother of all help topics  (Read 4961 times)

dinnerroll

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k this is like the mother of all help topics
« on: August 19, 2008, 05:59:50 PM »
i really didnt want to put this in computers. so my main hard drive died the other day and after a lengthy and tiresome battle with both shitty retail services and my technological incompetence, i now have a new hard drive and power supply and i'm running off a clean slate windows xp, having lost everything on the old drive. the problem now, is i cant get the internet to run. i found one place that said i should install ethernet drivers. the thing is i have no idea what to look for as there are a ton of downloads on the intel site. i could use any and all information that would be useful to someone with a totally blank hard drive.
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Spectere

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2008, 06:58:58 PM »
If your system was made by a large company (i.e. Dell, HP, etc) look on the manufacturer's web site.  Going right to the driver's source -- especially in the case of Intel -- will only confuse you.  They usually have a field where you can input your system's serial number or model number.

If your system was custom built and has an integrated network card (the port would typically be right above two USB ports in that case), try to dig up what the model of your motherboard your system has and post it here.
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dinnerroll

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2008, 07:05:25 PM »
k so i got the internet up. now the challenge is figuring out how to salvage as much as possible, if anything at all, from my other hard drive.
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They kept pushing me around, and pushing soup and cheese on me, and laughing at me while I was freaking out.

Spectere

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2008, 07:10:20 PM »
o lawd

If you plug in the hard drive does the motor spin up*?  Does it show up as a drive?  When my 4.3GB drive died a while ago it didn't completely fail.  It stayed running for long enough for me to get my porn data off of it.  Whenever it would crash and refuse to work I would shut down, let it cool down, and try again.

*This doesn't sound safe but it really doesn't hurt anything. The best way to check that is to shut your system down, plug the drive into a free power connector (the ATA/SATA data cable isn't necessary), hold the drive in your hands by the sides (don't touch the circuit board!), and turn on the system.  You should be able to feel it when it spins up.  Alternative, you should be able to hear the drive spinning if you put your ear near it.

If it is completely DEAD dead (to the point where it won't even power on), I think your only choice would unfortunately be to send it to a professional, which is generally very expensive.
"This is a machine for making cows."

dinnerroll

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2008, 07:14:10 PM »
yeah. it was the boot drive with vista on it, so if i plug it in and it somehow did work, would the computer just read it as a storage drive and know to boot on the new drive?

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2008, 07:38:34 PM »
It depends on whether the hard drive is set up as the primary or secondary drive.  If it's set up as the secondary your system will still boot XP.  If the old drive is set as your primary it'll boot Vista (if the drive even lasts through the boot process).  If you want to try that, definitely set up the bad drive as a secondary.  The less reads you do on the drive before you copy the data, the better.

If the drive works enough for it to be recognized, plugging it in will assign it the next available letter, not counting A and B.  I've never seen Windows not automagically assign a new drive a letter.
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dinnerroll

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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2008, 08:09:36 PM »
so i managed to get it to boot on the new drive even though it was trying to use the old one, and it isn't recognizing the old broken drive under my computer. the drive does have movement. when the pc tries to boot it it makes this clicking noise like it's skipping or something.
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Re: k this is like the mother of all help topics
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2008, 08:37:32 PM »
That's a good sign.  There might still be hope.  Freezing your hard drive may very well be your ticket home (follow the instructions on that page carefully).  If that doesn't work, I don't know what else to tell you.
"This is a machine for making cows."