FA+
Shop
DESKTOP FAILURE [UPDATE]
8 years ago
So I'm pissed.
I was working on a picture this evening when my computer just...shut off. Everything went out.
This isn't the first time it's happened, so usually I can just reboot it and go back to drawing. I lose a few hours of work, but nothing terribly major.
This time, I decided to follow someone's advice and run a memory test on it (Memtest86).
That test didn't find anything wrong, but when I tried to go back tojust load windows, the computer BSoD'd and rebooted itself.
Now, it's stuck on the HP splash page you see when you first load it up. Windows does not load.
If I reboot it while it's doing this, it goes into "PREPARING AUTOMATIC REPAIR", then gives me a back screen with absolutely nothing happening.
So I have no way to access any work-in-progress commissions at the moment, no way to move them to my laptop, no way to finish them. That means I'm going to have to do stuff on paper, scan it, and finish things that way. Fuck. I can try installing the tablet onto my laptop and doing art on that, but ti's gonna be a couple days before that setup is working and comfortable.
I don't have the money to refund anyone, I don't have the money for a new PC, I don't have the money to pay for repairs, and I don't know what else I can do.
Clarification: I've got Windows 8 (not 8.1) and a UEFI BIOS.
[UPDATE]
My roommate believes the harddrive suffered a critical error when I was rebooting from running memtest86, and that is what was causing all the problems.
We tried running Linux from a USB, but somehow that pulled up a Windows 7 startup repair utility on a computer that was bought brand new with Windows 8 installed. Naturally, that didn't do anything.
So we ran Ubuntu from a USB, as many of you suggested (thank you guys), and pulled the files I hadn't backed up over to the working harddrive I was using for storing video games.
So once the files I needed were safe, we took out the offending harddrive and replaced it. Way back in May, I had a harddrive scare where one of my harddrives (probably this one) started clicking, but it stopped a couple days later. The scare was enough to make us buy a spare harddrive, though, just in case. So we had a spare harddrive on hand.
Then my roommate loaded Windows 10 onto it, so now I've got a brand new harddrive with a brand new OS in, and now the computer is working properly. However, I have to re-download all my drivers and my art programs, so today's probably not going to see any art either.
Still...at least the worst of the computer issues are behind us.
Funny note- Just as I was installing Windows 10, the power went out. It was like the universe went "Nope, you're not getting this computer back tonight." It was...odd. I suspect the cause, though, is that Denver is full of bad drivers.
I was working on a picture this evening when my computer just...shut off. Everything went out.
This isn't the first time it's happened, so usually I can just reboot it and go back to drawing. I lose a few hours of work, but nothing terribly major.
This time, I decided to follow someone's advice and run a memory test on it (Memtest86).
That test didn't find anything wrong, but when I tried to go back tojust load windows, the computer BSoD'd and rebooted itself.
Now, it's stuck on the HP splash page you see when you first load it up. Windows does not load.
If I reboot it while it's doing this, it goes into "PREPARING AUTOMATIC REPAIR", then gives me a back screen with absolutely nothing happening.
So I have no way to access any work-in-progress commissions at the moment, no way to move them to my laptop, no way to finish them. That means I'm going to have to do stuff on paper, scan it, and finish things that way. Fuck. I can try installing the tablet onto my laptop and doing art on that, but ti's gonna be a couple days before that setup is working and comfortable.
I don't have the money to refund anyone, I don't have the money for a new PC, I don't have the money to pay for repairs, and I don't know what else I can do.
Clarification: I've got Windows 8 (not 8.1) and a UEFI BIOS.
[UPDATE]
My roommate believes the harddrive suffered a critical error when I was rebooting from running memtest86, and that is what was causing all the problems.
We tried running Linux from a USB, but somehow that pulled up a Windows 7 startup repair utility on a computer that was bought brand new with Windows 8 installed. Naturally, that didn't do anything.
So we ran Ubuntu from a USB, as many of you suggested (thank you guys), and pulled the files I hadn't backed up over to the working harddrive I was using for storing video games.
So once the files I needed were safe, we took out the offending harddrive and replaced it. Way back in May, I had a harddrive scare where one of my harddrives (probably this one) started clicking, but it stopped a couple days later. The scare was enough to make us buy a spare harddrive, though, just in case. So we had a spare harddrive on hand.
Then my roommate loaded Windows 10 onto it, so now I've got a brand new harddrive with a brand new OS in, and now the computer is working properly. However, I have to re-download all my drivers and my art programs, so today's probably not going to see any art either.
Still...at least the worst of the computer issues are behind us.
Funny note- Just as I was installing Windows 10, the power went out. It was like the universe went "Nope, you're not getting this computer back tonight." It was...odd. I suspect the cause, though, is that Denver is full of bad drivers.
Speaking of windows, why aren't you using 8.1? Just curious.
Now I just need a 3.5 inch enclosure/dock for FULL sized hard drives, I have like...2.5 Terrabytes of storage just sitting in a box until I can get one. I wanna wipe the contents and put 500gb into the family PC.
I'm beginning to suspect a weird virus or something.
after it's done plug it into your machine and boot from it. boot menu should pop up when first turning the computer on and tapping (usually) F9-F12, Del, or Esc. it depends on the exact computer what key. it will give you a menu of what to boot from. select the flash drive and hit enter. it will eventually take you to a desktop that you can then use as a normal desktop to copy your files to a different flash drive
On the list of options should be a 'Last known good configuration'. Select that and see what happens.
Unless you have Windows 10... Then it's a little different.
But i'd also take a peek inside the case and see if any of the capacitors (little cylinders about the size of.. one of the joints on your pinky finger... aren't leaking/bulging... those can wreck havoc with the voltages inside your machine (they're meant to smooth over any voltage sags/surges in the power-busses and keep it moving smoothly..
Let's just say that I'm using my 2001 Compaq Presario C500 laptop now with 2 PC cooling fans blowing air beneath it at all times.
If you DO have around $30, at least go on Amazon and buy yourself a hard drive dock or external enclosure. There is a chance that the hard drive is still accessable but the motherboard/cpu is just gone. If that's the case, you can plug the hard drive into your laptop via USB and retrieve your work.
I wish you luck getting it repaired or replaced...Maybe your little turtleneck Spermid can help with the smaller bits. <3