Hard Drive/Nvidia PC Crash

[cascaderailroad]

Apparently my PC has finally bit the dust

It was giving the notice: "Nvidia driver has stopped responding and and has recovered"

Got a BSOD screen the other day

PC finally got: "Windows Starting"

Backed up all my PC stuff on External Hard Drives

Now the PC does not go beyond the pre-start: "HP Invent" screen ... and will not even go to the Boot screen of: "Windows Loading"

Can not press any KB commands: Esc boot menu ... F10=setup … F11=system recovery

CD/DVD drive tray opens to re-install Windows7 OS disc, but will not function, nor run the DVD

PC is now dead in the water

A $1300 desktop PC, that was at one time top of the line at Circuit City, bought in 2007 is now: "Dead In The Water"

=====================

After 30 min the "Starting Windows" screen final came up

"Preparing to configure Windows"

Now everything appears as normal ... ARGH

The PC is operating just fine … until the next PC lockup

Installed more RAM chips 1 year ago

Windows7
AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ 2.8GHz
64 Bit
1TB Hard Drive
8GB RAM
LiteOff® 300 watt powers supply
Nividia GT 430 video card

Can not install a higher wattage video card, unless I install a higher wattage Power Supply

Probably is not worth upgrading my present PC

Probably will reinstall Windows7 OS disc

Probably have virus and malware from going to bad sites

[WangHalen]

Does that mean you’ve officially lost the old JR F7?

[Vinnie264]

did you install the incorrect fonts? there is a virus on a comic sans font out there. praying for you!

[cascaderailroad]

Does that mean you’ve officially lost the old JR F7?

I really don't know … they aren't my highest priority … I have several external hard drives, and another disassembled laptop, that have thousands of CDP's and gazillions of TB's of data on them

It might be driver updates needed, or overheating, or need of a new HD or video card … IDK … PC's are a real PITA

[JCitron]

It sounds like a physical hard disk failure. If you can't even load up from a DVD it's hosed. Try replacing the hard disk, but is it worth it on a 12 year old computer?

The problem being an HP monster of that vintage, you'll run into HP-issues as well with BIOS, and other things that are really annoying because it's an HP machine.

[cascaderailroad]

The odd thing is that "Sometimes" if let sit un-responding for 20 min in the HP pre-boot screen … it magically comes back to life as if nothing was wrong in the first place

[PC_Ace]

Your venerable HP has done you proud over so many years.
This recent experience has at least got you thinking about a replacement, eventually.
And you now know, from many comments posted in these forums, just how important your choice of GPU now is if you are considering running either T:ANE or TRS19.
The right GPU - plus the right power supply to support it - makes for some blissful railroad operations in TRS19.

[pcas1986]

Can you get into the BIOS settings? Given its age the battery on the MoBo may have died. Used to be a frequent issue years ago.

The NVidia warning is not really an issue. I've had a few of those although not recently.

My brand new Aorus X299 Master MoBo still has a battery.

[cascaderailroad]

This recent experience has at least got you thinking about a replacement, eventually.

Yeah … All I lack now is the money

So the battery on the MoBo could be failed, or failing … and replacement of the battery might do something to the PC ?

And what BIOS settings changes would be useful ?

[pcas1986]

At 12 years old a dead battery is a possibility. Also the cheapest fix if it is the problem. Early PCs had batteries you could flip out and replace. Some I've seen had them soldered to the MoBo.

If you can get into the BIOS page it may give some indication of a hard disk problem. i.e. if it is dead then the BIOS may not show a HDD. I suggest finding someone who knows the insides of a PC.

[cascaderailroad]

I did some research online and learned that when you remove the CMOS battery it will reset certain things. But, exactly what this will reset and how to change it back (once you put the CMOS battery back in) to the "before removal state" can vary by computer. I learned that you should look in the user manual to see how to change the settings back after you remove the cmos battery. I looked in the user manual but it didn't seem to give this information.

====================

The EEPROM is not the copy of the BIOS used to boot the OS or effect
settings. THe EEPROM defaults get copied into CMOS memory (hence why it
is called the CMOS battery). It is the CMOS memory copy that gets used.
When you make changes to the BIOS settings, you are changing those in
the CMOS memory copy. Some boards allow users to copy back the changes
in CMOS into the EEPROM to make those the defaults or provide a
user-config table to load by selection instead of having to make all the
selections again; however, most copy from EEPROM into CMOS and it is the
CMOS copy that you edit and that gets settings used from there.

So if the CMOS battery is dead then there is nothing to energize the
CMOS chip to retain its values. That means on every boot you will get
the defaults loaded from EEPROM. If the defaults prompt for user input
than that's why you're getting the prompt.

CMOS batteries typically last 5 years before needing replacement. That
is from the date of *manufacture*, not from when you received a computer
with a CMOS battery that was sitting in someone's inventory for a couple
years or you bought off the shelf (get those only if they specified an
expiration date, not how many years they last since you don't know how
old is the battery that is dangling on the shelf). It's good
maintenance practice to replace the CMOS battery about every 3 years to
ensure it is strong enough in voltage to retain the CMOS settings. You
typically have about 1, or maybe 2, minutes to put in a new battery
after removing the old one before the charge drains off the CMOS chip.

A dead CMOS battery is also the cause of why your computer won't retain
the *BIOS* time and date. Your OS might sync later with an NTP server
to get back on time but it first takes the date and time from the BIOS.
The RTC (real-time clock) chip is usually the same chip as where is the
CMOS memory to hold the changed settings of the EEPROM copy.

====================

Before you change the battery, use your smart-phone to snap pictures of all the BIOS SETUP screens, to make a record of the current value of the settings. Or, "old-school" pencil-and-paper will work.
After you change the battery, use BIOS SETUP to change the settings to match the images on your smart-phone.

[pcas1986]

Most BIOS pages have a default set of values that should work for most. You probably should take it to a PC repair shop and get their opinion.

[cascaderailroad]

Last time I took my originally $1300 PC to the shop, they charged me another $600 diagnostics and labor, and I had to buy a new 1TB HD for $300, and a Windows7 OS disc for $250 … I got robbed

[JCitron]

The user-settings are kept in a special partition on the hard-disk unlike other brands which use the standard EEROM configuration. The only purpose for the battery then in an HP-machine is to keep the RTC operating. You could check that, but I think HP soldered them in, which is a pain. A friend of mine used to clip out the bad battery and solder some wire leads to the the old battery legs left in the circuit board. He would then attach a battery holder/socket to the extended leads.

If it is in fact the disk, as I have a hunch it is, you will need to the original, as in came with the computer, boot CD in order to recreate the hidden special system partition that holds all your settings.

HP computers are no friends of mine. I dealt with them both in the office and at home, and in all cases they were mean little 'tards to work on with their proprietary card-cage setups, specially encoded hard drives, non-off-the-shelf components, etc.

[pitkin]

with their proprietary card-cage setups, .

Like the sturdy, hinged card cages that swing out and allow access to the components underneath, plus easy removal of the drives therein
And the HP recovery partitions for those who "lost" their installation CD's