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General discussion

computer stops working after installing hard drive

Dec 1, 2003 12:03AM PST

I installed a hard drive over the thanksgiving weekend that I got from best buy (120gb). My system is an HP with a 1.3 gz athlon. 1 gb ram. I also have a cd rom, cd writer, 64mb nVidia graphics card, the 40gb hard drive that came with the system and a floppy drive. When I installed the hard drive the system started up, but it was alot louder than before. Before it was loud but this was slightly louder. The 120gb hard drive was replacing a 7gb hard drive I had.

Then I shut down the system and tried starting it back up again, but to no avail. I saw one of the fans moving slow, so I unhooked the new hard drive and it seemed faster. I couldn't get the computer to load with the nVidia card, only go to the windows xp home loading screen and then the monitor would go blank. Turning the monitor off and back on gave me a message that said no input was being received. So I put the monitor on the original port that came with the computer and that got me to the windows desktop, but everything was bigger and no taskbar, I think it was still loading. I restarted and no all I can get is to the loading screen again, but then it goes blank after that, the monitor stays on though but still blank.

I got a 300 watt power supply, and it was the right height and width but too long. The one that came with the system was small and attached to something to make it fit width and height wise. I had to take it back. I unhooked the cd rom, the new hard drive and the floppy drive, but it still won't work. I have no idea what could be the problem unless it really was the power supply at first and the low power damaged something. If anyone knows what might be wrong let me know. Also if I take it to a computer shop to get it fixed, how much should I expect to spend? This will help me determine if it would be better just to buy a new computer.

Discussion is locked

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Please tell us a lot more, What operating system, where is
Dec 1, 2003 2:44AM PST

the operating system at this time? Is it on the same drive that it was originally???

Your 120 GB drive is probably a 7200 RPM unit thus some more noise [not such as you describe though].

Did your BIOS actually see the new 120 GB drive??? Very possible that it won't see a drive that large.

The large screen icons are probably simply that the system installed the default MS VGA drivers. This can be resolved after we get the drive issues cleared up.

What make is the hard drive??? What IDE port is it on?? Is it jumpered properly for the port and its position [Master or slave]?

You probably have a restore disk from HP. Why not start by taking the 120 GB drive out and see if you can get the system working in its original configuration???

Keep all of your answers in this thread so that everyone can see what has been advised, what youm have tried and the results. The thread will percolate to the top of the list whenever a new entry is made.

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Re:Please tell us a lot more, What operating system, where is
Dec 1, 2003 4:12AM PST

I tried to reply, but it said error 414 URL too long

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Re:Please tell us a lot more, What operating system, where is
Dec 1, 2003 4:12AM PST

the os is windows xp home edition
it's on the same 40gb drive that it was originally on
yes it's a 7200 gb maxtor drive that was on sell at best buy over the holiday weekend
the bios saw the drive, the OS did not
I do not have an HP restore disk, it's all on a partition on the main 40gb drive
I unhooked everything from the drive, I just didn't take it out of the bay
It was on the 2nd IDE port, and the jumpers may not have been set correctly the first time, but I unhooked everything anyways

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[NT] Did the BIOS see the correct drive size???
Dec 1, 2003 5:47AM PST

.

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Re:[NT] Did the BIOS see the correct drive size???
Dec 1, 2003 5:49AM PST

I'll have to check later, but my main concern right now is getting the computer working again w/o the new drive.

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Re:Please tell us a lot more, What operating system, where is
Dec 1, 2003 4:12AM PST

I tried to get the system working again, but like I said, all I get is a blank screen after the windows xp loading screen comes up.

The power supply I had said maximun output 157 watts, 200 - 240 v. If I get a 300 watt micro atx power supply might this help? I'm not sure if somehow the low power (if it was lower power) damaged anything in the system.

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Algo, With All That Hardware, Plus Two Drives...
Dec 1, 2003 5:39AM PST

...I'd recommend a power supply that's even larger. A 400 watt would be better. Hopefully, the power drain from the new larger hard drive didn't do any serious damage to anything other than the power supply. But it's clear that 150 watts won't cut it.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Re:Algo, With All That Hardware, Plus Two Drives...
Dec 1, 2003 5:51AM PST

I think the largest i've seen for a micro ATX is 350 watts. I'll get what I can I suppose. Hopefully that's all that's wrong with it.

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Algo, Sorry, I Missed the 'Micro' ATX Designation, But
Dec 1, 2003 6:30AM PST

...the point still is important. Installing a much larger power supply should help the situation.

Hope this helps, too.

Grif

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Let's explore your Power Supply statement 200-240 v !!!!
Dec 1, 2003 5:45AM PST

If you are in the US the normal line voltage is 120VAC rms. [Yes most people call it 110 and 220 but it has been standarized at 120 and 240 for many years].

If you have a switch on the rear of the supply for 110 or 220 it must be set to 110 if you are plugged into the standard power outlets. If you are plugged into 120 and the supply is set to 220 the supply cannot put out the correct voltages and may die trying. [the power switching devices will be on almost full time, still not supply enough power and burn out from overtemp.]

Some supplies can handle 90 to 230 automatically but if it has a switch it must be set to 110.

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Re:Let's explore your Power Supply statement 200-240 v !!!!
Dec 1, 2003 5:50AM PST

I was just typing what I saw on the label on the power supply. It had alot of other stuff, I just didn't know if any of it other than the wattage was useful. The power supply worked fine before, although it might have been overworked.

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You may have missed my point! If you are in the US and
Dec 1, 2003 6:00AM PST

in a normal house or apartment your line voltage should be 120 volts. If the supply really only takes 220 to 240 it would be amazing that it worked at all.

Can you please read everuything on the nameplate carefully. Also IS THERE a switch on the rear of the supply???

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I totally agree with Grif's statement. 300 watt supplies were standard
Dec 1, 2003 5:56AM PST

back when competion was causing many really poor 300 watt supplies to flood the market. So even if your load was only 300 watts, the typical supply wouldnt handle it well.

In, general those in the 400 watt range seem to have fewer crappy ones [and besides they would have more margin for the load that you actually need if it is about 375 watts]. Many power supply mfrs offer two supplies in the same wattage , one model is called "true Power" or some such name. They are the better ones. [also more expensive]

I hope that HP does not use proprietary power supply connections. Dell does and they can be a disaster because they use the same mobo connector but wire it differently. [DELL should be excommunicated for this]

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Good point Ray..
Dec 1, 2003 6:46AM PST

I am pretty sure that a normal HP, or Compaq system, will be equipped with the smallest power supply that will do the job.
Any additional hardware is "iffy".
Since I am just guessing that his system did not come with 1 Gig RAM, then guessing again that added another 35, or 40 watts to the power load.
Then adding another HDD may have been the last straw.
And a known problem, at least for Compaq systems, you probably HAVE to buy their power supply. Standard supplies won't fit.

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Re:computer stops working after installing hard drive
Dec 1, 2003 3:51AM PST

Had you ensured that your system was upgradable? Perhaps the HD is not good with your BIOS or chipset? Different systems can or cannot handle certain updrades. You may want to get your system's specifications to be sure that this upgrade is possible.

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Re:computer stops working after installing hard drive
Dec 2, 2003 4:53AM PST

I got a 300 watt micro ATX power supply at a local shop and had to do a non-destructive hp system recovery, but it seems to have done the trick. Also everything is alot quieter now. The only problem is it doesn't have all the connectors I need, so i'll have to probably order a better supply online. A guy in one shop I went to told me they don't make micro ATX supplies in 300 watts, only 250 (true power), however online I saw 300 watt true power at some places. He told me pricewatch lies 9 out of 10 times so I left.

I'll try to find a replacement HIPRO power supply (that's all I can remember about the make/model right now) and get 300 or more watts.

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(NT) Algo, Good Job & Glad You've Got Things Up and Running
Dec 2, 2003 5:44AM PST

.

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That's good news. If you don't have enough cables/connectors how
Dec 2, 2003 7:22AM PST

did you get the power supply fully loaded to see that 300 watt was adequate???


You can buy "cable expander" type items to add as many and any type connector that you need for the power supply. Try www.cyberguys.com or
www.computergeeks.com