Think I fried my hard drive

[comp1nub]

This is not a hypothytical question or my friend has a problem. I think a sent a static shock through my hard drive. I recently installed a new fan, a usb/firewire pci card and a hard driver cooler. The fan turns on just fine but my computer doesn't turn on. The disc drives light up but the beeping is no longer there and my monitor shows a no signal message.

Guess my real question is if the hard drive is fried is there a possibility if any that I can recover what I had in it. I hadn't run a back up in a long time and that was the only hard drive I had in the computer.

If you guys have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[acewarlock]

Unplug the HD and see if it will turn on then, if it still doesn't then you have another problem. I would plug the HD back in and try unplugging something else. I doubt that it is a HD problem, as I have never seen a bad HD keep the PC from at least going though the POST and displaying something on the screen.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[goombawaho]

Agreed - the BEEP is the BIOS of the computer and not associated with having/not having a good or bad hard drive connected to the system.

Disconnect everything non-essential and see if you can get the system to boot to where you can get into the BIOS.

Unplug hard drives/CD-ROM drives, any USB devices, etc. The only things you need are video card and memory installed.

 

[wahnula]

This is not a hypothytical question or my friend has a problem.

Bravo. Face your problems like a real person .

I think a sent a static shock through my hard drive

When you say Hard Drive, are you referring to the hard disk itself or the entire PC? I have heard many of my users refer to their PCs as "Hard Drives". Did you feel or see a static electricity spark or shock?

All the suggestions above are good ones. I would double-check all the connections from the power supply, especially the main power connection to the motherboard, the 4-pin power connection etc.

Another idea would be to unplug the PC from the wall, hold the power switch in for 30-60 seconds, and leave it unplugged for 30 minutes or so, then try again.

For the future, do your PC additions one at a time, or boot between improvements/changes just to make sure everything is kosher. By not taking this step between device install, you have no idea which of the improvements caused the error.

When I build PCs I (usually) follow this rule too, booting at CPU & RAM installation, before HDD installation, just to see if those two items are OK. I learned this when I totally built-out a PC and loaded Windows, only to have the card reader claim the C: drive letter and putting my OS on F:. Had to re-do the whole process. That's called "live and learn"...



Tony

"...an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" - M.L. King

 

[comp1nub]

Thanks guys. I was refering to the actual hard disc and I didn't see/feel a shock. I was just guessing cause I didn't have my anti-static strap on. I'll start by unplugging eveything first and take it from there. I would have normally booted up after each upgrade but I was impatient. "Live and Learn" right

 

[comp1nub]

Nothing so far. I've unplugged everything except the processor, memory and video card. I did notice that when ever the red light infront of the PC flickers, I hear a cick from the mother board speaker instead of a beep. I still have no display on the monitor.

 

[edfair]

Sounds like the M/B or processor is the guilty party. But try it with the video card out. They can short out the power supply. And if it is AGP they can migrate the tail of the card out of the I/O slot and fry themselves.

 

[wahnula]

Next step is to remove everything from the case and see if the behavior continues. Lay the mainboard on a towel or box, set the PSU on the table and see what happens. There might be an errant screw behind the MB assembly or something else shorting things out.

If you have a spare PSU try that.

Tony

"...an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" - M.L. King

 

[technome]

Seems rather odd a motherboard inconveniently dies just after a hardware upgrade. Rarely does static kill a motherboard, I have handled >1000 mobos over 25 years, no ground strap most of the time, discharging via the grounded case metal, no losses.
Perhaps you cracked the motherboard or a crack developed at a connector or a ground to one of the board traces developed. If possible remove the mobo, check for cracks, place it on an insulated surface, connect up the power. Agree with Ed, try it without the video card, before pulling the mobo.


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[goombawaho]

Do what Wahnula said and make sure you put the motherboard on a non-conductive surface such as a piece of wood or a tile floor. I had a motherboard fail to POST and I pulled it out - worked fine. Put it back in - worked fine. Must have been something touching something that shouldn't have been.

And try it removed from case with just Mobo/power supply/memory/video card.

 

[wahnula]

Agree with Ed, try it without the video card

Um...how would you know if anything was working??? Beeps?

I'd guess "replace video card with known working" would be a better option.

comp1nub,

Please post the specs for your gear. This helps a lot as many of us are familiar with your hardware, we just need to know what it is. Mainboard, CPU, HD's, GFX card, add-in cards, PSU type & wattage etc.

Tony

"...an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind" - M.L. King

 

[comp1nub]

Thanks guys. When I have some time I'll remove everything and run down a list of what they are. I was thinking of removing everything and rebuilding it as a "fresh" install and see if that works. This is the first PC I've built and still very new at this. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[edfair]

Tony,
With no video it should give an error beep. Multiples actually.

Just takes it one step further down the diagnostic trail.

 

[comp1nub]

Hi guys. Thanks for all the help. I simply removed everything in the case and rebuilt it like I did when I first bought the components. She's back up and running with all the new additions. I'll probably upgrade my power supply to be on the safe side cause of the hard drive cooler and the fan I installed.