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Laptop is falling apart (software and hardware), is it time for a new one?
Flushmonkii
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have a 4.5 year old Dell Inspiron 5150, running XP. The cd/dvd drive crapped out about a year ago but I never bothered to get it repaired since it was out of warranty and I always figured out a way to work around the problem. The power supply recently has been crapping out also and I have had the motherboard replaced once before to fix it and it was only a temporary fix as it is doing it again.
And to top it off, XP wont boot up. When I start my computer I get to this screen: "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully" screen and giving me a couple of prompts: safe mode(s), last known good configuration, start normally, etc. Whatever I pick leads me to the Windows XP loading screen then immediatly to a BSOD but only for a fraction of a second. Not nearly long enough to even read anything on the screen and then it restarts, starting the whole process over again. The only thing I can do is access the setup menu by pressing F2 or the Boot Menu by pressing F12. Even if I could locate my Windows XP CD, I wouldnt even be able to run it as my CD drive is broken.
Does anyone know if it the cost of getting everything replaced and fixed is worth it? Should I just go ahead and invest in a new computer? The computer itself runs fine when it's working, nothing is to slow for me...but that's when it use to work. If I do get a new computer, how would I go about getting some of the data off the hard drive? Ive looked into some data recovery services but that is way to expensive. The hard drive itself isnt broken so there should be a way, correct?
I just have no idea where to start.
And to top it off, XP wont boot up. When I start my computer I get to this screen: "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully" screen and giving me a couple of prompts: safe mode(s), last known good configuration, start normally, etc. Whatever I pick leads me to the Windows XP loading screen then immediatly to a BSOD but only for a fraction of a second. Not nearly long enough to even read anything on the screen and then it restarts, starting the whole process over again. The only thing I can do is access the setup menu by pressing F2 or the Boot Menu by pressing F12. Even if I could locate my Windows XP CD, I wouldnt even be able to run it as my CD drive is broken.
Does anyone know if it the cost of getting everything replaced and fixed is worth it? Should I just go ahead and invest in a new computer? The computer itself runs fine when it's working, nothing is to slow for me...but that's when it use to work. If I do get a new computer, how would I go about getting some of the data off the hard drive? Ive looked into some data recovery services but that is way to expensive. The hard drive itself isnt broken so there should be a way, correct?
I just have no idea where to start.
Flushmonkii on
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Be aware, laptop hard drives use a 44 pin connector (as opposed to standard IDE using 40 pins) because the power connector and data are integrated. You will have to buy or borrow a 40 pin IDE to 44pin adapter. Once the drive is installed in the desktop computer, it will probably be assigned an available drive letter, and you should be able to just go in and copy out whatever you want.
Another problem I am having isnt actually mine but my girlfriend's. Today she was just surfing the web and all of a sudden her laptop froze up and the harddrive started clicking like crazy. It made me kind of sick cause I knew the news wouldnt be good. Im pretty sure the hard drive is definitly really messed up cause the computer wont start up and it still makes the clicking noise. I advised her for the time being not to fiddle with it anymore. Is there any affordable way to salvage some of her files or is she SOL with a huge bill?
Let us see what we're talking about here (all prices quoted from an online retailer I've dealt with before and trust)...
Powersupply $50+$25
Motherboard $325
CD Drive $70
Plus shipping for a total of about $500 bucks to attempt to get the system up and running.
Buy a new notebook, you're about half-way to a bottom-line Velocity Micro machine already. If cash is an issue, 500 should get you a basic-but-in-this-century machine from one of major companies.
If you want the contact for the part retailer toss me a PM, but it really isn't worth it for a machine that old... or a Dell in general.
Click of death. I've yet to recover anything from a CoD drive. The only option (short of randomly shaking the drive and hoping that somehow magically fixes it) is professional data recovery.
Also, if you are so inclined, you could buy an external enclosure and use the old hard drive as an extra external hard drive. I did this when my IBM T23 got attacked by a misplaced glass of wine and it worked well; got my files and wiped the whole thing clear and use it now as an additional back up.
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