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Post by meadowfae on Feb 1, 2007 4:26:41 GMT 1
Hi Nostra, Right now, I'm on an old penti II- 300 mghz cuz my Dell pc gave me the BSOD and I couldn't get into safe mode. My Dell techie says I may have to reformat using the XP bootup CD. He says I can do it without losing all my data. So here's my tech question: Do you know how I can reboot my XP without losing data? Whenever I try, it gives a message saying that installing Windows XP will erase all my previous data, including my MW save games. TIA for your time and help. ~m ps. my system is about 18 months old - a penti IV, 2.8 gig, 512 which worked perfectly for the first year until the warranty ran out. When it went down, it was running hot - about 61 C. I've since opened the panel and cleaned out dust. Is there still hope for this machine?
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Post by osiris on Feb 1, 2007 16:57:31 GMT 1
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 1, 2007 18:01:33 GMT 1
Thanks for the links Osiris. They are helpful but they assume that the operating system [XP] is working at the time of the install. Mine is not - and I can't even get into safe mode to back up files. My bootup CD won't even recognize my admin password which I know is the correct one. One good thing I learned from the articles is that not all Restore CDs are created equal and that I should probably use Dell's recovery bootup CD (vendor CD). They didn't give me one when I bought the computer so I called them and they are sending me one in the mail. I hope that their CD will work better and that I can recover my data. Thanks again for those links - they were informative and helpful. ~m
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Post by osiris on Feb 1, 2007 21:06:33 GMT 1
Thanks again for those links - they were informative and helpful. Nostra PMed me that he's actually out of country and he will be back in a week; however, here's a quote from his message: So, if you can resist for a week... However, i am here everyday so keep on talk about this; waiting foir Nostra, i will keep on googling possible solutions on the web.
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 2, 2007 4:20:15 GMT 1
Hi again Osiris, Thanks for your efforts. To Nostra's questions: yes, the beep happens and Windows does try to boot before the BSOD appears; no I didn't install any new hardware. The Blue Screen error keeps saying that I'm missing the 'hive file' and that it's 'uncorrectable.' As for reinstalling without losing data, I think I've found the answer to a non-destructive XP reinstall (repair) here: Langa 's XP Total Rebuild OptionHe even gives screenshots as he walks you through it. ;D Yay! I'm checking my box tomorrow for the boot CD -stay tuned! Here's hoping this meadowfae can do a complete healing spell on her pc. ~m
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Post by osiris on Feb 2, 2007 22:11:08 GMT 1
Here's hoping this meadowfae can do a complete healing spell on her pc. I hope that too! Let me know. Oh, and here's Nostra1's two new messages (... tell me the truth, have you ever found a board where folks helps you via PM as well? No, eh?). Are we good in take care of members, aren't we? Hoping that things are going better now, let me know meadowfae! Even because you need your PC, you can't take nice pics otherwise.
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 4, 2007 22:09:54 GMT 1
Thanks to you Os and to Nostra for all the good advice. You're right - it's rare to find so much help online - for sure. * I'm still waiting for the XP CD but if it doesn't arrive this week. The temp issue is real - the pc was idling at 61 C and went up to 74 C when running MW. Too hot I think - especially since I would usually game for 4-6 hours sometime. Oy! Have blown out the dust but didn't check to see if the fan is running. Will do that this week. Thanks again for your help and support. May the longtime MW sun shine upon you both (and Masser and Secunda too. ~m *Also want to mention that Toccatta has also been helpful anytime I've asked him. Btw, why isn't his Crafting mod in the top ten anymore??? Does anyone know?
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Post by osiris on Feb 4, 2007 22:49:00 GMT 1
Thanks for the kind words Meadowfae! We do our best. I hope that everything will work well soon. To blow out the dust sounds like a good idea indeed ( i will have to do that one day, too...), but why you don't buy a bigger fan or add another one? That should work, too. Maybe you're only running an old fan, and it needs to be changed. Btw, why isn't his Crafting mod in the top ten anymore??? Does anyone know? I haven't noticed that, but i hope he will be back in the top ten very soon; Crafting is a very good mod indeed.
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Post by Nostra1 on Feb 7, 2007 0:54:06 GMT 1
Hi Meadowfae, Osiris I am back home now. Came back on Saturday to find my cable internet provider had some issues. They finally got it running. Sorry I could not respond until now. I hope you got XP repaired without losing your files. Keep us informed. As for the temp, ouch. 61C idle is hot. I am glad you are not running the PC right now. If it turns out to be the fan not spinning, check the plug to see that it is plugged in (not sure why it would get unplugged but just in case). It should be plugged to a 3 pin connector on the motherboard someplace. If it came off, just plug it back in (the connector should be white on the motherboard and have three pins coming out). If the fan is plugged in and it is not spinning, you need to get a new fan. You can try calling Intel and seeing if they would send you a replacement fan for the heat sink. You will have to remove the old fan and replace it with the new one (usually just screwing in 4 screws on most fans). If the fan is spinning, check its rpm. It may be spinning slower than usual. I am not sure how fast Intel stock heat sink fans should spin but I would expect at least 2000 rpm. You may need to get a fan rpm monitoring program for this (I am not sure if speedfan does this and will check around). If the fan is spinning fine and its still hot then there are two possible errors. One is that the temperature reading is no longer accurate (calibration error), which is rare but can happen. This is a hard one to diagnose and usually is the last variable type of option when all else fails. The other possibility is that the heat sink is not working well. This usually means there is a bad thermal connection of the heat sink to the processor. This can be a pain to solve. You need to remove the heat sink and clean both the heat sink surface and the processor surface (it has a cover so you dont have to worry about damaging the processor). Then you need to apply some thermal interface material like Arctic Silver 5 and reseat the heat sink. Anyway, I hope things work well soon. Good luck.
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 8, 2007 0:14:06 GMT 1
Thanks sooooo much, Nostra. You are a tech angel! ^_^ I will save this thread and print it out for future reference. It's a keeper! Just got my XP CD from Dell plus some other apps and driver CDS - hooray! Will let you know if Langa's great article helps me save the data. [especially my MW save games!] Mil gracias y que Dios les bendiga! ~m
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Post by Nostra1 on Feb 14, 2007 9:40:33 GMT 1
Hope everything is working Meadowfae. Were you able to fix your hard drive so that you could run XP without getting a BSOD?
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 27, 2007 2:11:04 GMT 1
Nostra, Your advice is much appreciated as usual. Will try the BIOS and if that is a no go, then contact Creative re the drivers. Haven't touched the mobo. As for the overheating problem, SpeedFan registers my temp at 44C for the secondary and 53C for the main drive. The tower seems much cooler to the touch. All I did so far was blow out the dust w/air and slide open the side panel a bit - which is probably only a temp fix. Just got my printer running and will print out your fan instructions to check next...but I do think the CPU fan is OK. Again, thanks for your quick reply and helpful info. Will pass on the build and forum info to my son. Unfortunately he lives abroad so can't really do much about my computer woes. Anyway, it's good to learn some basic troubleshooting steps so I don't feel like such a techno-clutz. At least now, I feel confident enough to touch the entrails of my comp without taking out life insurance. ^_^ ~m
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Post by Nostra1 on Feb 27, 2007 3:45:06 GMT 1
Hi Meadowfae Sorry to have littered the other thread with tech talk. 44C for the processor sounds fine (though I cannot remember what the secondary temp was measuring for Speedfan). What is of course surprising is just how much cleaning dust from the case helps with the temperature, especially if the case has restricted airflow design. Some people have seen 20C reduction in the case temperature just by clearing dust. If your processor temp is 44C then I think your fan is probably working ok. Pentium 4's run quite hot so such temps are not uncommon. On the other hand, 53C for the main drive (which I presume means your hard drive which if I recall Speedfan shows as HD0) seems warm. Does your computer have a front fan and if so is it pointed at the hard drive? If not, is there a place that is possible to mount a front fan to blow air on the hard drive? Take a look at my worklog below in the photo I labeled "Inside Front" to see where the front fan is situated in my wife's rig as an example. Front fans usually fits at the bottom of the case (standard ATX design). www.xoxideforums.com/worklog-section/72021-cm-centurion-5-case.htmlAlso check out this thread to see the front fan arrangement of my rig (see the first photo marked "Interior" at the bottom of the thread) forums.elricm.com/emma/viewtopic.php?t=1584&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0If you don't have a place to mount a fan, then you may want to get a hard drive slot fan. This gets a bit more complicated but there are some fans that are arranged in a horizontal arrangement and blows air up. You can find them at some Staples, Circuit City and CompUSA and usually cost less than $10. Here are examples of them from NewEgg www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=577&name=Hard-Drive-CoolingYou can even lay them on the bottom of the case if you don't want to screw them down though they may be noisy if you don't hold it down somehow. You may at least want to put some of that foam tape stuff that they sell at Staples and Home Depot if you don't want to screw it down. You will have to connect it to a 4 pin Molex connection on your PC's power supply. Anyway, maybe I am going a bit overboard. If it's running fine, maybe it doesn't need tweaking. I am glad it is back to running once again. Make sure you back up your files.
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Post by meadowfae on Feb 27, 2007 3:54:08 GMT 1
We exalt thee to lucky eleven karma - Hail Sir Nostra of Stokaboka!
Will follow your wise counsel. Live long and prosper!
~m
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Post by Nostra1 on Feb 27, 2007 3:59:03 GMT 1
Sorry, one quick fix on my last post. Before you go buying fans, you may want to touch the top of your hard drive when it is running to feel how warm it is. Some hard drives do not have internal thermometers to read the temp and if so, then Speedfan may display some arbitrary number that may not have anything to do with the actual temp. If the hard drive only feels a bit warm then you probably are fine. If it feels quite hot, then you may want to get that fan.
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