My computer died on me today. Not really that unusual nowadays but now it won't start at all.

I've dug around a bit and concluded that it cannot find windows, which led me to believe that it was a problem with my hard drive, but upon further investigation I have found that my video card builds up heat VERY fast.

The computer will power up but only gets to the boot menu or whatever you call it, then the monitor goes black and displays:

could not find operative system

By this time, my video card will be too hot to touch.

This is an old machine so this did not come as much of a shock, but I couldn't really afford new components at the moment so here I am, asking you for tips and tricks.

Kimpumomo said:
My computer died on me today. Not really that unusual nowadays but now it won't start at all.

I've dug around a bit and concluded that it cannot find windows, which led me to believe that it was a problem with my hard drive, but upon further investigation I have found that my video card builds up heat VERY fast.

The computer will power up but only gets to the boot menu or whatever you call it, then the monitor goes black and displays:

could not find operative system

By this time, my video card will be too hot to touch.

This is an old machine so this did not come as much of a shock, but I couldn't really afford new components at the moment so here I am, asking you for tips and tricks.

Buy a new video card for 100 USD, if yours is that old, even a new cheap one will likely be better.

not to seem ungrateful but, I don't really know whether it actually is the video card or something else. even if it was though, I still couldn't afford it.

thanks for the input though, I will look into that as soon as it fits my budget.

If the vent is too close to a wall then move the computer, maybe the cooling fan doesn't work as good as it should anymore.

furballs_dc said:
If the vent is too close to a wall then move the computer, maybe the cooling fan doesn't work as good as it should anymore.

I was just thinking that, though it is in th middle of the room so I have done what I can on that front.

does anyone know what to do in the case of my hard drive being the problem?

Back up your data, reformat, flash your bios to the newest version, download your video card's newest drivers, download all the other drivers that you need.

If there's still a problem, you'll need to start buying new parts.

null0010 said:
Back up your data, reformat, flash your bios to the newest version, download your video card's newest drivers, download all the other drivers that you need.

If there's still a problem, you'll need to start buying new parts.

what does it mean to flash my bios?

Kimpumomo said:
what does it mean to flash my bios?

To update your BIOS.

BIOS = The thing that first appears when you turn on your computer
And what null said

NotMeNotYou said:
To update your BIOS.

Proceed with caution though. If interrupted(like power outages/ect) bad things will happen.

Edit: Assuming there is an update available, depends on how old it is.

And that's why I keep an eye on updates on my drivers before shit happens.

NotMeNotYou said:
To update your BIOS.

ok, thanks :) I googled it as well so I think I get it.

I am contempt with this thread being locked now, unless there is more that can be said, that is.

if nothing else, I might be back in a while about malfunctioning hard drives xD

Thank you, fellow furrys! (furries?) I knew I could trust you :D

Yes, computers do, in fact, get hot. It's not your video card.

And if you can't boot into your OS, it's probably not out-of-date drivers.

Your hard drive is dead or dying, or is perfectly functional but was maliciously wiped of its data. Get someone in person who is capable of copying the data off, if you don't have any backups.

If it's really a problem with the hard drive it's important you not power it on until you're ready to copy data off, hard disk drives can only tolerate so many boot cycles, and when they die, they die quickly.

When was the last time you opened up your computer's case and blew out all the dust?

GreyMaria said:
When was the last time you opened up your computer's case and blew out all the dust?

quite recently, and I do it regularly but not as often as I should I think.

that was my first reaction to the problem. :)

ThenIThought said:
Yes, computers do, in fact, get hot. It's not your video card.

And if you can't boot into your OS, it's probably not out-of-date drivers.

Your hard drive is dead or dying, or is perfectly functional but was maliciously wiped of its data. Get someone in person who is capable of copying the data off, if you don't have any backups.

If it's really a problem with the hard drive it's important you not power it on until you're ready to copy data off, hard disk drives can only tolerate so many boot cycles, and when they die, they die quickly.

hm, not good news, but good to know.

I guess I'll have to du that then. :/

And of course heat decreases your computer components life span, I can say, a nice new cooling fan could help to prevent overheat on some of the components.

And also:

Hard drives do have a specific failure rate, about 6% to 8% of drives fail every year thanks to Google's research. "So there's no such thing as a 'lifespan' for a hard drive, it's more of a case of a hard drive being likely to fail." -sminlal from tomshardware.

Including that:

"Hard drives are indeed correlating to drive manufacture, model, and age and there is less correlation between drive temperature and failure rates than might have been expected, and drives that are cooled excessively actually fail more often than those running a little hot." - engadget

So get a cooling fan just for your video card if you want to and yeah, go by what ThenIThought says.

Wow even I learned something new today thanks guy's

Then perhaps the new thing that you shall learn today is:

- Thou shalt not necro-post (an act defined as creating a new post in a thread that has long since died) without having legitimate reason.

Maybe also a little grammar, too. Just a tip, hon, "guy's" is possessive; you wish to use "guys". Kudos on actually capitalizing your self-referential "I", though!

Though I am curious. What all was the outcome of this guy's computer problem?

GreyMaria said:
Then perhaps the new thing that you shall learn today is:

- Thou shalt not necro-post (an act defined as creating a new post in a thread that has long since died) without having legitimate reason.

Maybe also a little grammar, too. Just a tip, hon, "guy's" is possessive; you wish to use "guys". Kudos on actually capitalizing your self-referential "I", though!

Though I am curious. What all was the outcome of this guy's computer problem?

buying a new one :3

been saving up moneys and will be able to afford my machine after Christmas. :)

This is sort of late... But every once in a while, you may knock loose important cords from your motherboard. I've had it happen to me a few times while blowing the dust off the inside of my tower, which resulted in a few problems, such as the USB ports not responding, the power not coming on at all, or the hard-drive not being functional. This is a day late, but I would still like to leave this here for reference to anyone browsing this thread.

Just make sure all of the little wires are plugged in firmly and correctly. :3