Some computer questions for the tech-savvy

[The Lone Gunman]

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

[Wales-Bales]

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

It sounds like the power supply gave up. 12 years is quite old for a computer, why don't you treat yourself to something a bit newer?

[LA Bluebird]

Even if you fix the PSU and that's all that is the issue and the motherboard itself isn't fried, something that old could have other stuff die at any moment. Given the randomly rebooting, it's probably a miracle it lasted as long as it did. Sounds like the data is what you really care about.

I'd strongly recommend doing the second way - get the data off the hard drive onto an external device or up into the cloud (think there are tons of places that will do this for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself), buy yourself something new and copy the data back. I haven't bought a computer in the UK in 30+ years but looks like entry level towers at Curry's start between 300-400 quid, if it's not just the PSU needs replacing you'll start to approach that fixing the old one in a hurry.

[The Lone Gunman]

It sounds like the power supply gave up. 12 years is quite old for a computer, why don't you treat yourself to something a bit newer?

I've tried a couple of times in the last couple of years, but the problem is PC towers with optical drives are few and far between and those that are available have very flimsy optical drives that are barely fit for purpose.

As I've said, I only really use the tower PC for recording and burning CDs. I bought a new one from John Lewis two years ago, but the optical drive proved hopeless within a few days, so it went back. About a year ago I bought a refurbished tower PC with an optical drive, but that was also hopeless. Despite me clearly stating in my communications with the sellers that the optical drive had to be robust and fully operational, when it arrived it was rubbish.

It's a tricky situation. I fully appreciate that CDs are considered old media now (just as vinyl was not so long ago...), but I have a huge collection and really enjoy setting the music quizzes, so I'm determined to find a solution.

[The Lone Gunman]

Even if you fix the PSU and that's all that is the issue and the motherboard itself isn't fried, something that old could have other stuff die at any moment. Given the randomly rebooting, it's probably a miracle it lasted as long as it did. Sounds like the data is what you really care about.

I'd strongly recommend doing the second way - get the data off the hard drive onto an external device or up into the cloud (think there are tons of places that will do this for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself), buy yourself something new and copy the data back. I haven't bought a computer in the UK in 30+ years but looks like entry level towers at Curry's start between 300-400 quid, if it's not just the PSU needs replacing you'll start to approach that fixing the old one in a hurry.

Yeah, after today's quote I'm fairly sure it's the only way to go. I'll just have to hope the data is recoverable. The annoying thing is that I have almost everything that is on the tower PC backed up on two external hard drives anyway, but I've been on a bit of a roll with the quiz stuff in the last couple of months and neglected to back up the new work I'd done. Not a complete disaster as most of it was already complete, so I'd burned the CDs and some of the other stuff is recoverable from e-mails I'd sent, but some decent stuff will be missing.

I've seen hard drive enclosures online, which may be a solution, and they're not expensive. Maybe they will work to recover what I've lost.

[Heathblue]

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

[Tuerto]

I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

[Heathblue]

I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

He'd struggle to press play and record at the same time

[Tuerto]

He'd struggle to press play and record at the same time

I'm shit with technology, i haven't touched the TV since we went digital, i'm an analogue man.

[PontBlue]

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

[The Lone Gunman]

I have a tower PC here, it's Dans he used to use it for his music stuff before he switched to macs, it's a decent PC an I7 but an early variant of the chip, you're quite welcome to it if you want it, he was going to smash it up, it's a big fkin case though 530 mm deep, 230 mm wide, 460 mm height. He would want to wipe it. Regarding the transfer of data from your HDD, i did buy a cable a while ago to get stuff of my old HDD's and it worked fine, but from 12 years ago there were a few different interfaces on SATA drives. and if the HDD doesn't spin under power thats a bigger problem.

I will be in touch. Thanks Chris.

[The Lone Gunman]

I offered him my portable Cassette player, still haven't had a response.......

Didn't I give you that to start with? One I found in the attic when I moved here? Or did I dream that?

[The Lone Gunman]

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping. My sister has thrown the subject of 'earthing' myself into the equation before I attempt to remove the hard drive from the old PC. I thought she was taking the piss, but she sent me an article and apparently it's a thing. This is a minefield...

[RichardM]

You could possibly reuse the optical drive from the knackered pc in a replacement

[The Lone Gunman]

You could possibly reuse the optical drive from the knackered pc in a replacement

I had thought of that, but the problem is the existing tower is quite wide and all the new towers seem to be thin. None that I've seen have a slot that would be big enough for the existing drive. Anyway, to be honest, the built-in drive also became a bit temperamental in terms of the disc writing a few years back, so I started using a small and flimsy external writer for that bit of the operation. The old drive is fine for reading and playing the discs, and the external drive is fine for burning, but neither can do both properly.

[Tuerto]

Didn't I give you that to start with? One I found in the attic when I moved here? Or did I dream that?

Yeah, i'm sure you gave me an old school 90s blaster type thing, although you told me that you bought it from ebay as a gift, not something a dead person had discarded, thanks mate......

[The Lone Gunman]

Yeah, i'm sure you gave me an old school 90s blaster type thing, although you told me that you bought it from ebay as a gift, not something a dead person had discarded, thanks mate......

I think there were three in the attic when I bought this place. And two old TVs. And a hole in the roof that was fixed by Mark who called himself the Alien on here if I recall correctly?

[Tuerto]

I think there were three in the attic when I bought this place. And two old TVs. And a hole in the roof that was fixed by Mark who called himself the Alien on here if I recall correctly?

Indeed, Mark was a diamond, i regularly called him up when i needed advice on roofing work.

[sneggyblubird]

The symptoms you quote are not uncommon and not difficult to fix. The reason your computer kept shutting down is because the fan is probably clogged with dust. A give away for this type of problem is you tend to hear the fans work harder much sooner than normal resulting in the PC shutting down through overheating. You may well have to get a new PSU but the problem may not go away until you've tackled the processor fan. Not a difficult job in a tower PC because there's lots of room to work in. AS it's an old PC the contact paste on the processor may have dried out somewhat and that paste can be bought on Ebay for buttons. That quote for £180 seems a little steep unless it includes parts . If it was my computer I would spend 50= 60(poss cheaper on Ebay and a glance on your broken PSU should tell you exactly what you need} on a new PSU, a couple of quid on contact paste and a can of air to blow out all the dust. Under no circumstances use a vacuum cleaner on it. Someone competent would do this in half an hour. I did have a similar problem on an old PC of mine about 20yrs ago and that's how I fixed it.

[LA Bluebird]

I'd be amazed if the hard drive is knackered. The psu may have taken out the motherboard but the other components should be fine.

Recovering the data should just be a matter of plugging the hard drive into another computer

I doubt the hard drive is knackered as you say, but anything that old could die at any time especially assuming it's old magnetic based storage. Also depending on age you might struggle getting an interface with a newer motherboard.

[Wales-Bales]

I've tried a couple of times in the last couple of years, but the problem is PC towers with optical drives are few and far between and those that are available have very flimsy optical drives that are barely fit for purpose.

As I've said, I only really use the tower PC for recording and burning CDs. I bought a new one from John Lewis two years ago, but the optical drive proved hopeless within a few days, so it went back. About a year ago I bought a refurbished tower PC with an optical drive, but that was also hopeless. Despite me clearly stating in my communications with the sellers that the optical drive had to be robust and fully operational, when it arrived it was rubbish.

It's a tricky situation. I fully appreciate that CDs are considered old media now (just as vinyl was not so long ago...), but I have a huge collection and really enjoy setting the music quizzes, so I'm determined to find a solution.

I would only use Asus optical drives and then back up everything online and offline.

[Tuerto]

Can i just say that i'm really impressed with the knowledge people have on here on various subjects, i learn so much. My input would have been to bang the **** out of the computer like we used to do with the TV back in the 80s, my old man was a craftsman when it came to lumping the TV.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

I replaced a psu on an old tower a few years back after the old one packed up and it cost prob less than £30. It was easy to do. I also used to put the hoover over the vents on pc's and laptops and you'd be amazed at the dust levels.

In terms of backing up data if the drivers support it you can buy usb pen drives for v little and I got a 64gb drive for under £10!

[FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead]

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive.

If that's literally the only thing you're looking to do, you can probably just use your phone (assuming you have a basic smartphone).

Download the song you want from YouTube using a free ripping website or app (there are hundreds of them, just Google "YouTube music rip android" or similar).

Then download a simple audio editing app to trim the song to 30 seconds. Again, there are hundreds of free ones available (your phone might already have one installed).

If you're just playing the first 30 seconds of the song (rather than a specific section), you don't even have to do that.

Almost all sound systems should have bluetooth or even a wired connection so that you can then play them during the quiz.

Might sound like a faff on the surface but it's far more efficient (and cheaper!) than the "old school" way.

[truthpaste]

Last week my 12 year-old HP tower PC went bang, literally. It’s been chugging away on Windows 8 for the last few years and had developed a habit of suddenly shutting itself down at random moments. Whenever that happened, I merely used to unplug it, give it a few seconds, plug it back in again and it would usually start back up after a short delay. However, when I tried that on Friday there was a loud bang, the electric in my flat tripped out and there was a brief smell of smoke from the back of the PC. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I think it might be knackered…..

I only use the PC for recording audio music quizzes. That involves ripping 30 to 40 second segments of songs from CDs to create WAV audio files and then burning compilation discs in the disc drive. I have a Chromebook I'm currently using for the internet and almost all of my document work, but it’s not possible to do the music quiz stuff on anything other than a tower PC. Unfortunately, all the external CD drives currently on the market are really flimsy and not designed for the type of frequent use I need while preparing a quiz.

My questions are these: do you think there is any realistic possibility that the old PC could be fixed? If so, do you reckon it would prove cost-effective (I've already been quoted approximately £180, and that's if it only needs a new power unit)? Failing that, do you reckon the small amount of data on the hard drive that I'd like to keep could be recovered and moved to an external hard drive so that I could eventually transfer it to a new PC tower? My guesses are possibly, probably not and quite likely but, as I’ve said, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

This TOWER comes in at £189.99 has a fast Intel i7 Processor, Windows 11, 8GB RAM and 1TB SSD memory.

The danger of running old operating systems is security, with mainstream support for Windows 8.1 ending on January 9, 2018, and extended support ended on January 10, 2023.

The above package is customizable - so give yourself a much easier time at the keyboard