The Computer Query Thread

[Frank Castle]

Hello folks,

Something strange has just happened to my laptop, and I have no idea what!

I was searching for a new wallpaper for my laptop (A Punisher one before you ask - no porn!). The phone rang, I went and answered it, 10 minutes later I came back to my computer, and found it making a clicking noise with the message on an otherwise black screen, saying "Error has occured - Hard Disk Drive not found. Press F1 to continue, or F5 to run an internal diagnostic."

I pressed F5 and the computer went through loads of scans, but said the only thing that was wrong was that it couldn't find the hard disk. After another few minutes of scans, it then said "Scan completed, no problems found, press OK to reboot"

I rebooted and everything is as it was before, with all my word docs and pics still there, with the only difference being when I opened Internet Explorer, it asked me to re sign in to Windows Live (which normally happens automatically), and all the messageboards and forums (such as this one) where I need a password. Curiously, my internet history is intact so I don't know what went wrong. No one else came into the room or touched the computer, so I was worried I might have had a virus or something? I hadn't actually downloaded a wallpaper or anything, the whole machine was just left on it's own.

Can anyone help please and do I need to do anything?

Thanks

Frank

MOD EDIT: As we do on occasion have threads of this nature popping up, thought it was high time we had one dedicated thread, so am converting this one to an all-purpose computer query related thread. - Paulky

[pmyumjr]

Hi frank.

From my experience a few possible reasons.

First off the logging in thing. Your browser cache has been cleared, in itself nothing to be overly concerned about, of a little worry that you didn't ask it to do it. Possibly just part of windows recovery settings on your pc.

Secondly the not able to find harddrive. So i see two main possibilities here

a) your connection has come loose, getting up you knocked it and disconnected in panicking to fix it you knocked it back in. Surprisingly common.

b) you have picked up a bios virus. Bad times.

c) I had a few pcs where the harddrive shuts off when it overheats. But you would normally get the blue screen of death at this point. not what you describe.

Either way i'd suggest taking it to a repair shop to have it seen to as a) will happen intermittently, b) is devilishly hard to fix and c) is a lot more difficult to fix with laptops (i ain't suggesting a method encase it brakes your pc and i get blamed).

[Frank Castle]

Originally Posted by pmyumjr

Hi frank.

From my experience a few possible reasons.

First off the logging in thing. Your browser cache has been cleared, in itself nothing to be overly concerned about, of a little worry that you didn't ask it to do it. Possibly just part of windows recovery settings on your pc.

Secondly the not able to find harddrive. So i see two main possibilities here

a) your connection has come loose, getting up you knocked it and disconnected in panicking to fix it you knocked it back in. Surprisingly common.

b) you have picked up a bios virus. Bad times.

c) I had a few pcs where the harddrive shuts off when it overheats. But you would normally get the blue screen of death at this point. not what you describe.

Either way i'd suggest taking it to a repair shop to have it seen to as a) will happen intermittently, b) is devilishly hard to fix and c) is a lot more difficult to fix with laptops (i ain't suggesting a method encase it brakes your pc and i get blamed).

Thanks for this, It seems to be working ok now. I have ran some scans etc and everything seems to be fine at the moment - I appreciate your help though.

[Impossibilium]

Clicking noise means your drive is about to fail.

Back up your content and buy a new hard drive.

[umopapisdn]

Originally Posted by Impossibilium

Clicking noise means your drive is about to fail.

Back up your content and buy a new hard drive.

This. Back up everything you really don't want to lose RIGHT NOW.

[PeteWhite2005]

Thirded, a clicking HD is an HD on its last legs, final breath etc...Being a laptop, they arent as straightfoward to replace as a desktop Hard drive, so might be worth seeking professional help before it spits its last breath at thee....

[Impossibilium]

Windows drive scans only identify bad data blocks, they cannot tell you if the mechanism or bearings are failing.

If you know the drive manufacturer you can download something like SeaTools (for Seagate drives) which will run additional tests to ID other drive issues, but any clicking from the drive is not something that can be fixed.

[Veela Magnet]

Glad there's a stickied thread like this, and it couldn't have come at a handier time:

Lately I've been having trouble ripping CDs. It occured a few times with some albums I'd bought from charity shops -- Morcheeba's Fragments of Freedom, and the soundtracks to Harry Potter and Dude Where's My Car. At first I assumed it was because they were old CDs, but when I looked at their underside they were absolutely pristine. Still, they were only a couple of quid so I thought nothing of it. However, my concern was raised just now, as I have just tried to rip my copy of Biffy Clyro's Puzzle (I'm converting all my bought CDs to a higher, more consistent bitrate with my Amazon/Play downloads of 256kbps while I'm back home for xmas).

Basically what happens is it rips at a ridiculously slow rate of 1.3x, and if you try to play the music from the CD, it juts out the music every couple of seconds or so. I tried using my supercomputer at work to rip them, and it appeared to work, but when I played them back, they had really bad static, like they were being played through an old radio.

I've googled the problem with some trouble, as it's a very weird, non-specific issue I'm having, but I've noticed someone mention that some CDs are put out now with some sort of ripping protection. Now this can't be true, I've ripped the Biffy Clyro one before (I'm just ripping it again so I can have it at a higher bitrate), so what could the problem be?

Oh, and I'm using Windows 7, iTunes's latest version, and I'm ripping the CDs at 256kbps mp3 files. On both computers, although my one at work is way more powerful and ultimately faster, the same problem is apparent, and I've tried using Windows Media Player, the same thing happens.

[EmScarlet]

We don't have a desktop, so I am pretty much reliant on my laptop, but when I took it out of its case I found that the double USB port has gone squiffy, so one port is too squished to fit a USB in, the other is gaping open so the USB doesn't connect properly. Is it possible to replace USB drives in laptops? Either by buying one and replacing it ourselves or by taking it to a shop (theres a very good laptop repair place near us)?

[umopapisdn]

Originally Posted by EmScarlet

We don't have a desktop, so I am pretty much reliant on my laptop, but when I took it out of its case I found that the double USB port has gone squiffy, so one port is too squished to fit a USB in, the other is gaping open so the USB doesn't connect properly. Is it possible to replace USB drives in laptops? Either by buying one and replacing it ourselves or by taking it to a shop (theres a very good laptop repair place near us)?

If it comes to fossicking about in a laptop better get an expert to do it. It's probably replaceable, but it'll depend on the model of laptop.