P C .... ( poxy computer )

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Mc tool
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P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by Mc tool »

Not being all that computer savvy , 3 years ago I bought a Compaq CQ61 lap top , 9 months in it shit the hard drive ( apparently it flew to bits ).... new hard drive under warranty . lasted another 12 months and chundered again , this time I insist on a replacement and got a new CQ62 ( they wouldn't give me another brand ) and now , 3 years old I have had to replace the hard drive again , this time I had to pay so I got them to fit a HP solid state hard drive which even tho its much smaller ( the old one was 500gb and this one is only 120gb ) its much faster . I wasn't bothered about the smaller hard drive as I only ever used 77 gb on the old one and I have since chucked ( uninstalled ) out a lot of shit I didn't use. The tech that fixed it was not all that complimentary about Compaq but 3 hard drives in as many years ...... is this normal ?
I wish I was young again............Id be heaps smarter than last time
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by higgy »

Hard drives fail Hamish,if you place value on what you store on them you must plan for the day they will fail. Regular backups to another storage device(s) is the only way to prevent the total loss of data,pictures or whatever.

Rumor has it the digital devices are more stable and less prone to failure but backing up your stuff is still recomended

I currently use thumb drives and DVD for most of my backups and some online like pictures.

Compaq is one of the worst when it comes to reliability

I have found, just in my experience Lenovo( formerly IBM) to be very reliable but I am sure others would debate the issue. I will never buy HP products with the exception of a printer
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by paso750 »

Except to HP none of the companies named manufacture their own harddrives. They are all from Seagate (Maxtor), Samsung, Western Digital, Toshiba, ExcelStore (Conner) etc
Normally the lifespan of a 2,5" harddrive wouldn`t be different than a standard 3,5" hdd from a PC.
3 in 3 years is not normal. The most common reason harddrives in laptops die faster is overheating. Another one can be shock & vibration depending on how you treat your laptop.
Other than in a PC there`s no proper air circulation in a laptop and the only thing cooling things down is a small fan. Of course this also sucks in dust and that causes the parts to heat up even more.
You`ll notice that if the laptop`s fan starts going off as soon as you start it up or if the bottom of it gets so hot you have to take it from your lap. In that case it needs to be opened and cleaned.

Storing important files on an external hardrive or on DVDs is always recommended.
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Mc tool
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by Mc tool »

I have been backing stuff up since the 1st failure coz I lost everything , I have been using DVD-RW disc's . the only thing I lost this time was all my e-mail contacts and that's only because I cant figure out how to get them back in so they work ( whats a V-card ? ). I will never buy another Compaq anything . I wanted a normal ( box under the desk ) job but you cant get them any more . I would have gone for a Toshiba lap top but $390 to fix this one as opposed to $1700 for a touch screen Toshiba didn't take to much thinking about . Funny thing about the heat ..... now that its fixed ( poss the digital hard drive ) the fan hardly goes at all and the whole area where the fan is, is now not even warm ..... fingers crossed :)
I wish I was young again............Id be heaps smarter than last time
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paso750
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by paso750 »

I guess whoever replaced the hdd also cleaned your laptop. :thumbup:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlo ... A001112741

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlo ... C079000070

a V-card is a visting/business card
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by bmw851 »

Hi ya Hamish, find a mob like this one next time and build your own, we (Daughter, Son and I) have been doing our own builds for years, and what dickhead told you can't have an under desk tower, or any tower for that matter, they need a black dog up em.

There is nothing to putting one together but common sense, and not letting the blue smoke out of the wiring, it's a lot easier than working on a Ducati.

http://pccasegear.com/

My son's gaming PC has 2 Terra block hard drives, and water cooling for the graphics card, jesus on a stick nearly sounds like a 906 :lol:

And don't get me started on The "C" word.

Cheers

Peter
So long, and thanks for all the fish...............

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Mc tool
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by Mc tool »

I spent the 10 odd years ( and some were f--- odd :lol: ) working for a nation wide group and I still get stuff at cost + 5% ( and they sell everything ...................including friggin Compaq's ) but all they had were these "all in one " things where the whole deal is in the monitor and the tech guy reckoned they weren't much better than a laptop.
BMW851 , I guess pc's are like anything else in that once you know how to build/repair them they are simple but this laptop is the only thing in this house I aint had the back off for "looksee" and until this episode the only people I pay to fix things are the doctor and the dentist ( and the odd lawyer ..... and he was a usless see you next Tuesday ) . The only problem I have now is that Dianne is addicted to %ucking facebook and I can't get on the bloody PC :lol:
I wish I was young again............Id be heaps smarter than last time
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by 907pasonut »

my 3yr old hp laptop crashed about 6mts ago, I've lost everything inc photos, I've kept the old hard drive, I've been told that there is a way to retrieve the info if you get someone that knows what they're doing...is that fact or fiction?
Cheers Claude.

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paso750
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by paso750 »

It`s fact. You can also recover data from a harddrive that has been formatted.
There are numerous programs that can do that.
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by higgy »

Depends on the failure. G Some times you can replace the controller card and re-initialize the drive map and go on like nothing ever happened assuming you can get a replacement controller card. In reality there is no other simple process to recover your data. First thing to try to save yourself some bucks is put the drive in a sealed plastic bag and put it in the freezer for an hour. Take it out put it in your pc and if it works save all your data to another drive quickly as you can
Beyond these two tricks it is a complete crap shoot, possible but you need to understand drive allocation and mapping of the drive in question. It is very much like keeping your Paso alive. Takes time and effort, better to backup everything to a DVD or thumb drive and keep them in a fireproof box.
There are a few programs out there that will keep track of your hard drive condition and warn you in plenty of time to take action. Steve Gibson of Gibson research has one of the best you can get. There are also programs which can recover your drive from more mundane issues like a corrupted file allocation table a very common error on any windows system

Personally I use linux for my base system as it is more capable of recovering lost file issues and fixing the most common issues with windows based systems. Linux is not something you can learn overnight. I have been using it since 1992 and I still do not consider myself to be an expert just competent.
BTW building your own system these days is a total waste of time and money unless you just want to learn how to do it for your own enjoyment. You can go online and but a top of the line system for much much less. I built my first system way back in 91 from some surplus Digital Systems parts which I got from a service manager who worked for Digital back in their heyday FYI I had to do something after I crippled myself in 84 on an interceptor and computers became my substitute passion :beer: :beer: :beer:
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by paso750 »

so far all hdds I had here for data recovery which may have been a bit over a dozen all had shot MBRs, defect sectors and things like these which seem to be the most common prolbems. As long as the MFT wasn`t corrupted in most cases files could be recovered with programs like GetDataBack. None had a headcrash, defect motor or similar mechanical defect.
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by bmw851 »

I find it's more a question of upgrading the various components of what you have every few years to keep up with the technology as it changes, once you have your basic setup, the cost savings are enormous, as normally upgrades are done a bit at a time and as needed, the ubeaut package deals are great for someone who isn’t into it and just wants to surf the net, store and look at pictures, and run the basic Office Suite of programs, but if you know exactly what you want your machine to do, to me there is no other way but to spec it how you want it.

I’m in the fortunate position being able to usually plug a drive that’s dying or playing up into another machine as a slave drive and retrieving files and so on that way, then chucking it. (Bloody Seagate's never again)

At the end of the day, housekeeping is the key word, backup regularly onto any and every type of media available, I run 2 Tower style PC’s and a Lenovo laptop in the shed (all networked of course), with the 2nd Tower PC used for backup and pure storage, the main is used for sound recording and music editing as well as Autocad amongst other things, but more so both machines have a 2nd hard drive for storage and backup, why? hard learned lessons with crashed drives and lost forever data, music and photo’s.

And then being ocd I backup onto nerd sticks and the like.

Cheers

Peter
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paso750
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by paso750 »

haha, I had the same experience with a couple of Seagate hdds.
If you have more than one hdd in a computer they need to have enough distance from one another or heat will cause problems and eventually kill them. Sufficiant cooling is the the key. Since I put a fan before the hdd I never had any hdd problems again. (that`s in a PC of course)

As higgy mentioned Linux. Another good way to get to your files if Windows won`t start up anymore is to boot with a Knoppix CD. It`s Linux based and not diffcult to use. From there you can copy your files to an external media.
http://www.knoppix.org/
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by bmw851 »

Hamish, what G has written is really nails the issue and particulary with laptops, heat is the main issue pure and simple, and getting rid of it is the problem.

With your new machine, have a look in the main drop down menu in your email program, there should be some type of export facility for email addresses usually as a V Card or a WAB file, these are designed so you can export the addresses to another loaction for storage and import the back into your contacts list etc. via the same method, say if you were upgrading from XP to 7 this is one of the ways to save and retreive your email contacts, I've found it just not worth trying to save the actual emails unless absolutely needed.

Well put G.

Cheers

Peter
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Re: P C .... ( poxy computer )

Post by 907pasonut »

I'm a bit of a bonehead when it comes to computers...didn't know laptop harddrives were so delicate :(
lesson learnt, now also have external harddrive to back up photos, this too is a seagate 160gb...made in china too :shock:
Cheers Claude.

...long live the square framed duc!

'92 907...numero 2046
'92 851...in progress
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