Little while back opened the side of the desktop and the dust build up was massive. Cleaned inside the case with compressed air. Now the computer does not work, it starts ok but nothing on screen. The pc was about to be replaced as it was getting old. I need to get the stuff off the hard drive onto either my laptop or new desktop. Is this something i could do? Does the old pc need to be working? I am reasonably bright so could i do this with instruction or call in a pro? All we need off is the pictures of our new born twins, thats it really. Thankyou in advance.
Cleaned PC now it does not work!
- Thread starter tilerman
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Hi tilerman,
If all you want is to reterive files from the hard disk, I'd be tempted to go out and get a USB HDD enclosure. You will need one big enough to take a desktop HDD, so 3.5 inch rather than 2.5 inch, and with an interface to match your old hard disk. If it's coming from an older PC, this will probably be IDE rather than the newer SATA. If in doubt, take the disk out of the tower, and ask the shop for a USB caddy to fit it into.
Put the disk into the caddy, plug it into a USB port on your new machine, and you should be able to browse through for the files you want to copy to the new computer.
I hope this helps, post back if you need more info.
Best regards,
Colin
Edited to say, if you want the old machine working again, I'd start by removing and re-inserting the graphics card (if it has one seperate from the motherboard) and the memory module(s) - it can be easy to knock things so they don't make contact during a "spring clean".
If all you want is to reterive files from the hard disk, I'd be tempted to go out and get a USB HDD enclosure. You will need one big enough to take a desktop HDD, so 3.5 inch rather than 2.5 inch, and with an interface to match your old hard disk. If it's coming from an older PC, this will probably be IDE rather than the newer SATA. If in doubt, take the disk out of the tower, and ask the shop for a USB caddy to fit it into.
Put the disk into the caddy, plug it into a USB port on your new machine, and you should be able to browse through for the files you want to copy to the new computer.
I hope this helps, post back if you need more info.
Best regards,
Colin
Edited to say, if you want the old machine working again, I'd start by removing and re-inserting the graphics card (if it has one seperate from the motherboard) and the memory module(s) - it can be easy to knock things so they don't make contact during a "spring clean".
I would suspect a lose wire or cable somewhere after cleaning. You could have distrurbed a few wires.
Take the side off again, and ensure that all the connectors are pushed in firmly.
When you turn it on does it give the short beep to indicate it is booting up, because it could be just the monitor cables that are not in correctly. Do the fans run?
Take the side off again, and ensure that all the connectors are pushed in firmly.
When you turn it on does it give the short beep to indicate it is booting up, because it could be just the monitor cables that are not in correctly. Do the fans run?
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It's fairly unlikely that any data would be lost and as Dave said it's probably just a loose power connector if there is no activity when you press the power. It's very easy to knock the front panel connectors out too so you might want to check those if you get nothing when pressing the power button (located on the bottom right of the motherboard as a series of small 2 to 4pin connectors).
If you're not particularly bothered about getting this machine working again and just wish to transfer the files to a newer system then there's nothing wrong with buying a caddy, but really I would suggest just taking the hard drive from your old machine and install this in a new system temporarily to transfer files.
This would save you a little cash but depends on how technically competent you are, it's a fairly simple process and I or someone else on these forums could talk you through it.
If you're not particularly bothered about getting this machine working again and just wish to transfer the files to a newer system then there's nothing wrong with buying a caddy, but really I would suggest just taking the hard drive from your old machine and install this in a new system temporarily to transfer files.
This would save you a little cash but depends on how technically competent you are, it's a fairly simple process and I or someone else on these forums could talk you through it.
