How do I recover files off NT formatted drive?

[submix8c]

According to this, it's an "MSI 7145" -

http://web.archive.org/web/20080301100810/http://e4allupgraders.info/dir1/motherboards/socket754/msi7145.shtml

Picture is missing on archive, but here's one -

http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/motherboards_d/MSI/RS482M-IL%2B%2528MS-7145%2BV2.1%2529/

It appears to be the same as your photo.

Close but...

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/RS482MF_L_FI_IL.html

More specifically (RS480M-IL) -

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/RS480M.html#/?div=Manual

Edited March 16, 2014 by submix8c

[ROTS]

1. Download Ubunto Desktop, earlier the version the better. All of them should work. You need at least 1gig of ram. Run from CD, get a CD-rom drive or whatever.

A. The UBUNTO should be able to read the NTFS, and the FAT32. Later versions of the Ubunto disallows probing the full NTFS for some reason???? Read or use USB, etc.

2. If the Hard drive is working, inside UBUNTO, you should be able to disable the lock, that prevents you from using the NT OS on another computer. That Hard Drive should then read off another computer. I don't know how to do this, but their are guides. I can pull out my 9X and it runs on almost any computer. XP just gives me the error screen and tells me to reinstall.

Edited March 16, 2014 by ROTS

[ZortMcGort11]

To be honest it looks like caked dust clinging to the adhesive, but I can't be sure.

It may not be the capacitors after all. I think Charlotte is right. I started scraping them with my thumbnail and removed some of that built up "gunk." Underneath they didn't look that bad, nor were they bulging either (thank you Jaclaz for the pictures of bad capacitors). And no visible leakage at top or bottom.

Sorry for giving you guys the wrong impression.

I still suspect that either the motherboard, power supply, or CPU is ruined. Here are the reasons why:

- when turning the computer on, there are no beeps or other booting noises which are part of the normal process

- no error messages (just a total blank screen) when turning it on

- I can't get into the BIOS at all, pressing the F1 - F10 keys does nothing (I tried hitting all sorts of keys out of desperation)

- no signal to any monitors I've tried, they just power down automatically or go to sleep (at first I thought his monitor was broke)

- I tried installing a different hard drive (with Windows 2000 on it) and got the same exact results as above.

- when trying to read HIS hard drive using my Windows ME computer, the NTFS reader couldn't access the drive, although it did report its existence and gave me the size in GB

I really wish his computer had a floppy drive.... since that is my preferred way of running computer diagnostics and fixing things when stuff goes haywire. His CD Rom drive has no little hole thingy in front to open it manually either. Otherwise, I would pop in my FreeDOS bootable CD, just to see if his computer would work :-(

I also looked around for any unsecure cables, but everything appeared to be tightened.

I think the USB hard drive reader is the best option at this point. It sounds like the easiest way to recover his files. I can simply plug it into my Ubuntu computer and hopefully that's all it will require. And by doing so, I can determine whether his hard drive is functional or not.

Edited March 16, 2014 by LostInSpace2012

[Tommy]

How true it is, I don't know but I've read that it's literally impossible to kill a CPU unless you break the pins or it overheats to the point it destroys it. At this point, I wouldn't junk anything except the motherboard. I'd keep all the parts. As for the capacitors, it's not always that visible but they still could've leaked. I'm not saying that I'm right but how would the stuff end up on the capacitors like that unless it came from them to begin with? If you're still trying to get it going, have you removed everything except the PSU, CPU, and RAM from the computer? Having all drives and extras removed helps zero in on the issue. If all that is gone and it still doesn't work, more than likely the board is dead. Or...it could be the PSU on a rare case. I had a PSU that was a 20 pin and a board that was 24 pin, and the board's manual said a 20 pin connector would work. It did not. It turned on but there was no beeps or anything, just power. A 24 pin one did work. So it's possible the PSU could be giving you trouble. So that would be the one last thing I would try. good luck!

Edited March 16, 2014 by Tommy

[jumper]

Another thing I noticed when his computer is turned on, is that I can't even open the DVD Rom drive. I was going to put my Windows ME install CD in there, just to see if that would boot.

The power supply is dead. I've had several go out over the years. If any case fans are attached directly to the psu, that would confirm it.

[ZortMcGort11]

If any case fans are attached directly to the psu, that would confirm it.

The fans are the only things that do anything, all 3 are spinning.

The hard drive light is a permanent yellow/amber color, never blinks. Turn the computer on, the fans come on, the hard drive light is a solid yellow... never blinks.

Computer doesn't read the CD-Rom during boot process, I don't think. Well I can't open it anyway.

[rloew]

Remove all of the RAM.

You should get multiple beeps.

[ZortMcGort11]

All RAM removed, zero beeps. No difference thanb before.

[Tommy]

If you can, please try a different PSU if you haven't already because as I outlined in my last post in here, this sounds exactly like what my board did when I needed a different PSU, the hard drive light stayed lit for me too.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Tommy

[ZortMcGort11]

I don't have any spare power supply units.

If that's all that's wrong with it, it could still be salvageable you think?

[Tommy]

It seriously wouldn't hurt to try at a later date. And honestly, they're not all that expensive. You can get a decent one for about $40 at your local computer shop and even if it's not the problem, it's ALWAYS good to have a spare PSU on hand.

[rloew]

All RAM removed, zero beeps. No difference thanb before.

That eliminates a lot.

Only the following remain:

1. PSU

2. Reseat Power cable.

3. Motherboard

4. CPU

5. CMOS Battery.

6. CMOS Settings, try resettting it.

7. Beeper/Buzzer missing or disconnected (if removable).

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I don't have any spare power supply units. If that's all that's wrong with it, it could still be salvageable you think?

I would test with a known working Power Supply now. It's good to have spares lying around for just this type of situation. As mentioned above, $40 should get you a 400 W minimum, NewEgg often his medium quality 500-600 W for that same price. There is always at least one on sale that is worth having on the shelf.

ADDED: don't forget to clean that well with air. Also do all the chips on the motherboard.

Edited March 22, 2014 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[jaclaz]

I would test with a known working Power Supply now. It's good to have spares lying around for just this type of situation. As mentioned above, $40 should get you a 400 W minimum, NewEgg often his medium quality 500-600 W for that same price. There is always at least one on sale that is worth having on the shelf.

Sure , but if you go to *any* PC servicing shop, if you ask nicely you can have a "good enough spare for tests" for a few bucks or even for free, and of course you can ask friends for any PC they are going to throw away, a "bare" motherboard should be able to power on (and beep) with *any* sized PSU, considering that the smallest one you can find in a desktop which is not really ancient is 250 W or more.

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

I have a board which is now completely dead (internal short on ATX12V socket which I can't pinpoint). Previously, on two occasions, I had replaced a set of capacitors on it, 14 in all. Not that badly leaking as the ones in your pictures but bad enough to cause the board malfunction. It worked just fine until last week.

Therefore a good electronics technician could attempt to revive the board if so desired. The hard drive, however, I believe to be dead. The grinding noise and the clicking are definite signs of internal damage. I've had a couple drives go clicking, in time, which brought me near a heart attack each time as I had no backup of the current work. I lost everything then. So you may wanna prepare your friend for the bad news. Chances are slim that a specialized technician would recover the data, but if it's that important then you/your friend may try to go to a local repairs/recovery store. Attempting to recover the data yourself in this situation by repeatedly connecting and powering up the drive might destroy it even further, taking the recovery chances down rapidly, so I'd strongly advise against it.

EDIT:

Well, replies have added up since I started typing.

If the fans are running, that means the +12V is present. However the PSU could lack any of the other important voltages, such as the +5V or the +3.3V. Or they could all be lower than minimum accepted, due to... dry/leaking/gonflated capacitors inside the PSU. It's worth a check. A multimeter would be enough to prove the PSU voltages. Find the ATX pinout at http://pinouts.ru . Make sure there is the +5V SB (the so-called 'power good' voltage) - no board would start up without it.

Another thing drawing attention is the apparently non-functional optical drive. I'd disconnect it completely (IDE cable and power cable), at least to eliminate the possibility of a faulty drive taking down the PSU.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Drugwash