tech help

[quesarah]

This morning, my computer gave me the following error:

PXE-EX1: Media test failure, check cable

PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM

Boot failure: System halted

As I understand it, this means my computer tried to boot (likely from the cd, then the floppy, then the hard drive, then the network) without success. Which probably means my hard drive is fried.

1. What are the appropriate tests I can do (in excrutiatingly precise detail, please) to verify if this is the case?

2. If this is the case, what can I do to salvage my data?

Bloody fuckin' A, man.

Comments

[heath-robinson.livejournal.com]

This might help:

Check all of your cable connections, firstly.

Try to reboot again. If that doesn't work, then take out the HD, get a 10lb sledgehammer, and beat the shit out of it.

::ducks and runs::

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Did 1 and 2a. Thinking seriously about 2b.

Dooooooode.

[madenglishbloke.livejournal.com]

any idea what the spec of your machine is??
and have any changes been made to it in the last few days? (new software, driver updates, new hardware)

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

No, I don't know the specs off the top of my head. It's a Gateway desktop about 4.5 years old and I've never had a lick of trouble with it. We moved it this weekend, set it up, everything was fine. Then this morning I get this error message.

le sigh

I'll write down the specifications this evening and post 'em tomorrow.

[prrrn.livejournal.com]

the only good thing that i know about dead hard drives is that they are easy to replace. jamie also said recently that the average life of a hard drive is 3-5 years. i have no idea if that's what's happening or how to tell or how to recover data, though i can ask him if other sources don't get to you first. oh. and he mentioned the other day in passing that often what dies in hard drives is the bearings and that if you smack it a bit, sometimes it helps. (ever so slightly less permanent than the sledgehammer approach! though far less satisfying...)

oh yeah. and moving computers disrupts the magical stability particles that surround them and keep the gnomes away. that's the most likely answer. you have an invasion of computer gnomes!

[madenglishbloke.livejournal.com]

oh yeah. and moving computers disrupts the magical stability particles that surround them and keep the gnomes away. that's the most likely answer. you have an invasion of computer gnomes!

its either that, or moving them can dislodge some of the iternal cables or unseat some of the add-in cards.
although i much prefer that version...

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Gateway helpdesk had me re-seat all the cables and connections inside the box. No luck. Running scandisk from a backup doesn't help either, as the application cannot find a hard drive.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

those darned gnomes!!

i want to gather some advice as to whether it's worth it to replace the hard drive on my computer. the chip is old and relatively slow too, so i'm wondering if i shouldn't save up until i can buy a new 'puter.

of course, at some point i will want to salvage my files off my old hard drive. jamie may get a call from me for tech support... ;)

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hey J, could you ask Jamie if he can help me try to rescue my data? I've tried installing the kaput hard drive on C's machine but the BIOS tells me it isn't readable. I need to call in the big guns, I think.

[madenglishbloke.livejournal.com]

the easiest way to salvage data in a case like this is to remove the hard drive, install it on another machine AS A SLAVE(!!) (installing it as a master will only cause you more grief), and transfer any important data accross to either another HD, or onto CD/DVD.
once your data is safe, then (and only then) should you consider the sledge-hammer option.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Good plan, which I likely will execute next week after my return from the homestead.

Then. Sledgehammer. GRAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!