Buying hard drive?

aelfheah · 03-10-2009, 22:55

Where's the best local place to buy a hard drive for an IDE modem, maybe looking at 80 or 160gb, and what is a good price?

Her PC recently crashed -not blue screen but a weird repetitive 'ticking' sound and error message on black screen (we took the modem to bits and thoroughly cleaned it etc, the fan was clean and clear, no loose wires).

And what pitfalls should we look out for?

Thanks.

andyofborg · 03-10-2009, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by aelfheah

Where's the best local place to buy a hard drive for an IDE modem, maybe looking at 80 or 160gb, and what is a good price?

Her PC recently crashed -not blue screen but a weird repetitive 'ticking' sound and error message on black screen (we took the modem to bits and thoroughly cleaned it etc, the fan was clean and clear, no loose wires).

And what pitfalls should we look out for?

Thanks.

IDE modem?

aelfheah · 04-10-2009, 00:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyofborg

IDE modem?

I'm clearly no techie and I'm going on what I was told over the 'phone. It's a tower PC.

Bikertec · 04-10-2009, 01:25

Theres plenty of computer shops on London road that could help you.

gillybear · 04-10-2009, 09:03

It sounds like it's the Hard Drive, that ticking sound is a very common sign.

First you'll need a new Hard Drive, 80Gb-160Gb IDE drive maybe hard to find but i'm sure someone local will have one (I do have a second Hand 80Gb if you're desperate)

Second you'll need to have your original OS disks to reinstall your Windows

Connect the HD exactly the way the one you're replacing is connected. (Remove the old drive, some of the data on the drive maybe recoverable)

Place your Windows disk into the CD/DVD Drive and Start the PC

If you system is setup as most are the Computer will Boot to the CD and you can follow on screen instructions from there.

Inmivan · 04-10-2009, 11:00

You need to find out whether or not you need IDE or SATA hard drive. It might be a good idea to have a google about and find out the difference in the sockets and then check inside your base unit/ tower/ CPU/ big box under the desk. It's not a modem, modems are used for turning sound into data and vice versa. How old is the PC and who made it?

aelfheah · 04-10-2009, 11:30

Thanks guys, invaluable info for a technophobe! I do have a techie smattering and indeed did take apart & look at the hard drive (IDE 30gb was in), as the PC keeps closing down after an hour or so each time, we're struggling to back up the files that still aren't done (we did alot ages ago).

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by gillybear

It sounds like it's the Hard Drive, that ticking sound is a very common sign.

First you'll need a new Hard Drive, 80Gb-160Gb IDE drive maybe hard to find but i'm sure someone local will have one (I do have a second Hand 80Gb if you're desperate)

Second you'll need to have your original OS disks to reinstall your Windows

Connect the HD exactly the way the one you're replacing is connected. (Remove the old drive, some of the data on the drive maybe recoverable)

Place your Windows disk into the CD/DVD Drive and Start the PC

If you system is setup as most are the Computer will Boot to the CD and you can follow on screen instructions from there.

neeeeeeeeeek · 04-10-2009, 11:34

PC shuttting down is not likely to be the drive. does it just go off? are the fans inside clean and spinning freely? The drive could well be shagged but it won't usually cause the thing to shut down. Why are you struggling to back up files? what stops you?

pcmick · 05-10-2009, 06:59

160 Gb ide hardrives around £40