[Nekoyasha]

Thanks. I have an external hard drive that I have some of my photos & other files on. I think once I can pick up a new hard drive, I'll back up those files on CD/DVD for a 2nd backup.
I was briefly checking some sites last night for hard drive prices. Office Max wants $300 for what I believe is the same model (couldn't find model # on OM site) 2 TB Western Digital HD, where Best Buy is only charging $179.99.
I'm considering getting a 1 TB - Best Buy has a Western Digital for $99.99 & a Seagate for $109.99.

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TigerDirect... 89.99 plus shipping

NewEgg... 84.99 plus shipping

[rshaffer61]

TigerDirect... 89.99 plus shipping

NewEgg... 84.99 plus shipping

[Nekoyasha]

UPDATE!

OK, big update! I took my tower to a friend that does some work on computers last night. He called me last night & this morning with good news......my drive runs perfectly on his computer!! He started backing up files last night & let it finish during the night. The drive has been on for about 12 hours now, and he has even rebooted twice, and had four programs running. He is going to do a virus scan on it later today.
No noises from the hard drive or anything. I am sooooo happy he was able to get my files!! Big sigh of relief!!!
He thinks it could be a problem with my motherboard. He said my cables seem good, he used my SATA cable in his tower, so that is OK.
He's going to check into more when he is home from work.
Guess I got lucky on that one, but yes, I have learned big time about backing up more often! I did find an older backup I did do of all/most of my photos (from April 09, I should be ashamed!!), but of course no backup of the photos or other files after that. So to say the least, I am very ecstatic!!!
Will post an update later....going to check around prices on motherboards in case that is the problem.

[rshaffer61]

Are you wanting to keep your present cpu and memory?
What types are they and i can check around for you also to see what kind of deal I can find.
Also what would your budget be in case you would have to replace mother, cpu and memory?

[trid2bnrml]

I used to have an old net gear external hard drive casing, since it was hot pluggable, I used it to access other hard drives as if they were external storage drives. I could usually get undamaged files off of unbootable hdds. It looks like you may have a damaged master boot record, but you don't need to boot an external "storage" drive to access it.
Good luck.

There is a pretty cheap item I'm looking to get for myself, perhaps you might get one of these (or find an old usb external drive and put your hdd in it) and try to salvage your files.

Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock
Features:
• Simple to Use Design; No Need to Add Enclosure or Open Case
• Install and Access Hard Drive in Seconds
• Add Storage to Any System with USB or eSATA
• Transfer Rates Up to 3Gb/s with SATA
• Compatible With Any 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA I/II Hard Drive up to 1.5TB

http://www.harddrive...Dock_White.html

[Nekoyasha]

Are you wanting to keep your present cpu and memory?
What types are they and i can check around for you also to see what kind of deal I can find.
Also what would your budget be in case you would have to replace mother, cpu and memory?

My original thoughts were to keep the CPU & just try replacing the motherboard. I know at some point I'd like to upgrade my ram as I tend to run into virtual memory when I'm running multiple art programs along with internet, etc.

My friend has this computer he can sell me - computer works perfectly fine, one year newer than mine. I'm planning to buy it, and have him move the motherboard from it to mine, and that other computer my dad will eventually build to make his own.
Just need to see if my card readers will fit into the other motherboard.
I have a new power supply in mine, sometime in mid-09 or so.

These are the specs on my computer:
http://h10025.www1.h...=reg_R1002_USEN

These are the specs on the one I'm thinking about taking the motherboard from:
http://h10025.www1.h...cname=c00674971

My computer was bought at Best Buy. When we ordered it, we upgraded the graphics card to an ATI Radeon X 800XL (256 MB GDDR3) and the Sound Board to Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. I have a question - since it does not seem I got any hard copies of XP, will they provide a copy if you have proof you bought it there? I'm sure not, but thought I'd ask.

[rshaffer61]

Best buy will not supply a XP for you.
You would have to purchase a XP to reload the system. The reason for this is if the motherboard is different then the XP installation on your existing system will not work on your friends system. The drivers loaded would be different. Being a branded system the OS is married to the motherboard it is originally installed to.

[Nekoyasha]

OK thanks. He was telling me that too.
The system he has is XP, so it is already loaded on that one.
He says he really likes Win 7, so maybe sometime later I will upgrade to that.
I tried looking at different sources online for a motherboard to replace mine, but with what he is asking for this computer, it's better off to just buy it and we can eventually build a 2nd computer down the road.

[rshaffer61]

I would agree and buying a upgrade to Win 7 would be cheaper then buying a full version. Before you do that make sure you go HERE using the new system and run the Win7 Upgrade Advisor to make sure if you will have any issues with the system.

[Nekoyasha]

OK great, thanks for the tip!!