Probably gonna stay here for a while

Misterchowmusic

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4
Location
Australia
Hey guys, how you dewin? My name is Mr Chow, I'm a music guy and all that. That's not important right now what is important is that I wanna get to know computers and such. I went from Windows to Mac and now Windows again. I really do think I need to start getting into computers more.

What I want to know is the hardware. CPUs, processors, etc. I wanna buy (or build if you guys can help me) a custom computer mainly for gaming and media stuff (music, editing films for school, etc). I wanna know how to fix it, how to take care of it and all that good stuff.

Right now I have a crappy Acer laptops that's on the verge of dying so I hope you guys can help me with that aswell. Yeah, I'm not a really techy guy which is why I need to start. Anyways, hope you guys don't mind the newbie and have a nice day :)

Question: where do I start a thread where i want to know how to fix a laptop hard drive? haha
 
Welcome. What's wrong with your laptop HDD? What symptoms are you seeing?

Have you got bad sectors already?

HDD is one of those things that need to be replaced. If you are starting to see errors with your HDD, it is time to backup your data and scout for a new one (or a new desktop, since you are thinking about getting a rig set up for gaming, too).
 
Well I ahd a look inside and I think I've found the problem. The pin thingy that reads the HDD snapped off. I have some (crappy) pictures available if you're interested.

1zz47x2.jpg


See how there are three inputs the hard drive here?




alghfn.jpg


The wire that it connects to only has two. Plus, though you can't see it this picture, it looks snapped on the side. So i'm wondering if i can replace this wire somehow :l


And yes, I accidentally dropped it on the floor. :(

I also think I voided the warranty by opening it apart, I feel like a tard.
 
Oh wow, I did not expect this. Usually when people say their HDD is broken, they are losing integrity with the HDD itself, in which case the better idea is to replace the HDD.

Dropping the HDD is not a good thing, but unless you are seeing bad sectors, I would just be more careful next time and not too worried.

The connector can be replaced. What are the specifications of the HDD? and can you still access it for backup?
 
Well, I'm sure the HDD still works. There are no signs of it breaking (nothing shaking in it) and when it's still connected to the cable, it seems like it runs perfectly. but whenever i turn the laptop on, it's just this black screen with a dash on the top left.

I'm sure I can access it but I don't know how. As I said, it's the cable that's mostly broken NOT the HDD itself. So I'm wondering if theres a way to get the cable replaced. What's the cable called. Or if I were to get it fixed, how much would it cost.
 
Mr Chow, I am suspecting that your booting issue is not related to the HDD. Have you tried to boot with, say, a bootable USB thumb drive or a Windows installation disc?

(Replacing the cable is not expensive, but you have to find a shop for computer parts.)
 
Okay, then four morequestions.

1) how would I boot the laptop from a thumbdrive?

2) how would I access my HDD?without the cable, like is there a USB i can connect to the ports to access the file). The HDD says SATA on it, I know that's important.)

3) What's the cable called if i were to look for it?

4) Should I replace the cable myself or should I get a professional to do it?
 
Hey guys, how you dewin? My name is Mr Chow, I'm a music guy and all that. That's not important right now what is important is that I wanna get to know computers and such. I went from Windows to Mac and now Windows again. I really do think I need to start getting into computers more.

What I want to know is the hardware. CPUs, processors, etc. I wanna buy (or build if you guys can help me) a custom computer mainly for gaming and media stuff (music, editing films for school, etc). I wanna know how to fix it, how to take care of it and all that good stuff.

Right now I have a crappy Acer laptops that's on the verge of dying so I hope you guys can help me with that aswell. Yeah, I'm not a really techy guy which is why I need to start. Anyways, hope you guys don't mind the newbie and have a nice day :)

Question: where do I start a thread where i want to know how to fix a laptop hard drive? haha

Welcome to the forum!! :)
 
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