Hey all,
Hardware+Me = ehhhh...
I've learned how to troubleshoot some stuff, but I've never been great with hardware. Which leads me to this problem.
I have a 3ish year old Compaq (no jokes or comments, please) that seems to be slowing down in the past year. (768mb Ram, AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor, 150 gb HD, XP Pro)
First, I thought maybe something made it's way onto my computer (as totally unlikely as it sounds), but all the scans I ran came back clean.
I decided I'd just wipe it and start fresh, but then I had to turn off my internet for awhile to try to get my finances built back up. During that point, I really didn't see a reason to be on the computer, so I really didn't bother with anything.
When I got my internet turned back on, once again, I noticed things were running sluggishly. So, after Christmas, I did the big reformat. Sadly enough, it didn't really help.
Then came yesterday. I was on WoW and kept getting disconnected. Since I hadn't done it in forever, I figured a restart might help.
And it stuck on the Compaq splash screen. After two minutes, I was downright freaked and hit the power button. After another two minutes, and nearly passing out, I figured I'd better go take a shower, if I was going to have to drive the 30 miles to the nearest Best Buy for a new hard drive. When I got out of the shower, the computer was at the log on screen.
So, disaster averted for now, let's start coming up with disaster recovery plans for when I'm ready for them. After I back up my WoW addons, I'll have everything backed up, woot for reformat.
So, all of that is to ask, what are the best diagnostic tests that I can run? Could it be my HD or could I be totally screwed?
I need this computer to last me a few more years, then once my CC debts are paid off, I'll be able to afford to replace it. Hopefully with a custom built (that way, I can get my offical geek card)
Hardware+Me = ehhhh...
I've learned how to troubleshoot some stuff, but I've never been great with hardware. Which leads me to this problem.
I have a 3ish year old Compaq (no jokes or comments, please) that seems to be slowing down in the past year. (768mb Ram, AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor, 150 gb HD, XP Pro)
First, I thought maybe something made it's way onto my computer (as totally unlikely as it sounds), but all the scans I ran came back clean.
I decided I'd just wipe it and start fresh, but then I had to turn off my internet for awhile to try to get my finances built back up. During that point, I really didn't see a reason to be on the computer, so I really didn't bother with anything.
When I got my internet turned back on, once again, I noticed things were running sluggishly. So, after Christmas, I did the big reformat. Sadly enough, it didn't really help.
Then came yesterday. I was on WoW and kept getting disconnected. Since I hadn't done it in forever, I figured a restart might help.
And it stuck on the Compaq splash screen. After two minutes, I was downright freaked and hit the power button. After another two minutes, and nearly passing out, I figured I'd better go take a shower, if I was going to have to drive the 30 miles to the nearest Best Buy for a new hard drive. When I got out of the shower, the computer was at the log on screen.
So, disaster averted for now, let's start coming up with disaster recovery plans for when I'm ready for them. After I back up my WoW addons, I'll have everything backed up, woot for reformat.
So, all of that is to ask, what are the best diagnostic tests that I can run? Could it be my HD or could I be totally screwed?
I need this computer to last me a few more years, then once my CC debts are paid off, I'll be able to afford to replace it. Hopefully with a custom built (that way, I can get my offical geek card)
Comment