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Question

Sata Motherboard Question

May 22, 2017 7:17PM PDT

Hello! New to the forums here, couldn't find an answer to what I need help with on the net so I decided to ask here, and would appreciate any help with this Happy

Ok, so my parents have an HP a1330n desktop computer that stopped turning on about 5 years ago. They never really used it much besides surfing the Web or using it for photo storage but saved it to get it fixed eventually.

They never got around to it and I'm pretty much the tech guy (I use that term loosely lol) throughout the family, I decided to see if I could get it to boot up but all that would come on is the fan. I took it apart to see if there were any loose cables, or maybe some dust that might be preventing it from kicking back on.

Well, upon closer inspection of the motherboard there's several capacitors in rough shape, and one that's completely busted open.

I haven't messed with it since and figured since it ran good up until then it would be a good play computer for my niece and nephews that love to get on my parents all-in-one.

I'm curious if someone can point me to a good, cheap motherboard for this purpose. I also want to get all of their files off of the hard drive so it's a win-win hopefully.

Thank you for your time and any help you can give me Happy

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The first step is copying off the files.
May 22, 2017 7:28PM PDT

There are many kits from USB cases (you'll need a 3.5 inch model) and then for the motherboard many to choose from. HOWEVER the OS dies with the motherboard unless you replace it with the same make and model. This is unlikely since the BAD CAPS PLAGUE (google that) means the boards all have bad caps.

You'll replace the mainboard then start over with a new OS. Since that can add 100 bucks to the cost of recovery, most folk never fix such a PC.

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Thanks!
May 22, 2017 7:56PM PDT

That's exactly what I needed to know! Seems after reading on the caps plague and the info you provided I'll probably do what most folks do and leave it alone lol.

One last question Happy

What's the best and/or easiest USB to use to transfer the files from the drive? It'll probably only ever see one or two uses. I looked up a few of them and I'm not sure what I'd need since I'm new to this kind of computer stuff. Thank you Happy

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Enclosure
May 23, 2017 1:42AM PDT
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See Bob_B's fine answer.
May 23, 2017 7:44AM PDT