My emachine is frozen. Can someone advise me?

[SweetestMorgan]

I have an emachine that will not boot to windows because it is froze on the BIOS page. It will not respond to the rebootable disc. It doesn't respond to control + alt + del. It doesn't respond to F8 or F2. It doesn't respond to the esc key or any other key. Any suggestions on how to reboot in safe mode or get the recover disc to run?

I picked up a trojan a few weeks ago and had to use the recover disc and I lost most of my information. I've since added a MyBook external hard drive and had just last week added a 7-port USB hub.

I had ran a program called Recuva to attempt to get some of my info back and did retrieve some. Everything seemed to be running just fine until tonight.

I did use the MyBook and back up the PC once so at least what I did have is on it if I do need to replace the hard drive.

I've added a picture of what the frozen screen looks like and my PC, in case that will help. I'm using an ancient laptop for now and desperately need to get the PC running again. This laptop only has one USB port and won't take a USB hub.

Any and all help, advice and encouragement will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. This is my first time using a forum like this, so please forgive any mistakes.

[caperjack]

Hi, first thing i would do is open the box ,and make sure all fans and
heat sync's are clear of dust ! also remove the external harddrive and the new usb hub and try booting

[SweetestMorgan]

I took everything extra off of it first thing. Just left keyboard and mouse. I've always kept it pretty dust free but I'll do as you suggest, too.

The fans sound as though they are turning really well, and I haven't noticed any difference in noise or pitch.

Could the usb have caused any problems? It's a new acquisition and I (unwisely, I'm sure) didn't spend much on it and it's from overseas. It's only been on a week.

I just have a horrible feeling the hard drive is gone and I don't understand how. It was running so well after the restore.

Thank you for your advice.

[caperjack]

I took everything extra off of it first thing. Just left keyboard and mouse. I've always kept it pretty dust free but I'll do as you suggest, too.

The fans sound as though they are turning really well, and I haven't noticed any difference in noise or pitch.

Could the usb have caused any problems? It's a new acquisition and I (unwisely, I'm sure) didn't spend much on it and it's from overseas. It's only been on a week.

I just have a horrible feeling the hard drive is gone and I don't understand how. It was running so well after the restore.

Thank you for your advice.

ok, open box and unplug hard drive ,see if it goes past the bios screen to another message like missing OS, also remove keyboard and mouse ,they can cause it to lock up,
not sure if usb device caused it ,shouldn't ,
notice you buy cheap ,[ overseas usb, E-machine ]cheap always leads to problems in my opinion ,

[SweetestMorgan]

Now's where it's going to get tricky. I can make them work, but I don't know what makes them work.

I've never opened a computer in my life. But I'm a willing learner. Is there a diagram here somewhere or is it pretty simple? I've seen it done and know it is, I'm just a bit timid.

I did unplug everything from the computer tonight and try to reboot and I also unplugged it from the wall and rebooted.

I knew I shouldn't have bought that usb when I did it. Dumb move. I've already trashed it.

[caperjack]

Now's where it's going to get tricky. I can make them work, but I don't know what makes them work.

I've never opened a computer in my life. But I'm a willing learner. Is there a diagram here somewhere or is it pretty simple? I've seen it done and know it is, I'm just a bit timid.

I did unplug everything from the computer tonight and try to reboot and I also unplugged it from the wall and rebooted.

I knew I shouldn't have bought that usb when I did it. Dumb move. I've already trashed it.

opening is easy should be 2 screws on the right hand side when looking from the back and side cover should just slide off with a bull towards the back ,all are different of course !

did you have any problem with the usb device when you first installed it .
open side case
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/remove-case-covers.htm

[SweetestMorgan]

Yay, I removed the side panel!

[SweetestMorgan]

opening is easy should be 2 screws on the right hand side when looking from the back and side cover should just slide off with a bull towards the back ,all are different of course !

did you have any problem with the usb device when you first installed it .
open side case
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/remove-case-covers.htm

I kept getting a message that said my virtual memory was low after about 2 hours after I attached the usb.

Wow, that's neat looking in there. I have no idea what any of it is. At the top behind what is I'm sure the hard drive there's a female plug that's not plugged into anything. But it looks like it never has been and then there's another one that is plpugged into what I believe is the hard drive?

[SweetestMorgan]

No, I'm wrong. It's the DV D/CD drive. Sheesh.

[SweetestMorgan]

Is the wide grey one the plug for the hard drive then? Or the smaller white plug below it? And do I just unplug it and plug it back in?

[SweetestMorgan]

Ok, with the white plug off the hard drive and the pc started I get a screen with a blinking cursor.

[caperjack]

Ok, with the white plug off the hard drive and the pc started I get a screen with a blinking cursor.

so that means it went past the big E screen and is blinking because it cant find the harddrive ,the wide gray one is data transfer cable ,remove it from the harddrive and the end going to the motherboard ,and plug it back in ,just to make sure its getting a good connection.
plug power back into hard drive and boot again

[caperjack]

I kept getting a message that said my virtual memory was low after about 2 hours after I attached the usb.?

virtual memory is setup by windows on the hardrive for the cpu to use when all the ram memory is being used ,virtuall memory is slower than Ram so for best results you really don't want to get into useing virtuall memory ,so increasing the amount of ram is best fix for this error ,
,the error message can be stopped by increasing the size of the virtual memory windows uses ,windows usually set this itself,but the size can be increased manually ,it may also indicate the hardrive is getting full

[SweetestMorgan]

so that means it went past the big E screen and is blinking because it cant find the harddrive ,the wide gray one is data transfer cable ,remove it from the harddrive and the end going to the motherboard ,and plug it back in ,just to make sure its getting a good connection.
plug power back into hard drive and boot again

Back to the big E again. It sounds so normal when it boots.

[SweetestMorgan]

virtual memory is setup by windows on the hardrive for the cpu to use when all the ram memory is being used ,virtuall memory is slower than Ram so for best results you really don't want to get into useing virtuall memory ,so increasing the amount of ram is best fix for this error ,
,the error message can be stopped by increasing the size of the virtual memory windows uses ,windows usually set this itself,but the size can be increased manually ,it may also indicate the hardrive is getting full

It's the RAM. This hard drive is a 160 and I didn't even have 40 used. It's only a 512 RAM. What ever ends up happening I'll have to increase that at some point I'm guessing then. The usb hub must have been pulling it down along with other programs.

[SweetestMorgan]

I use a lot of graphics.

[SweetestMorgan]

Thank you so much for all of the answers and help so far. I've been up all night stressing with this and I've got to sleep some or at least rest.

I'll check in again. If the hard drive's done for, I'll have to make the best of it and replace it quickly. A new pc's out of the question and I've got to have the operating power asap.

This laptop's too old and too limited to run anything except itself, but at least it's a great backup.

You truly have no idea how much I appreciate your help and attempts to get to the bottom of this. I have absolutely no idea of where to even begin and am thankful for this forum being here. Thank you.

[caperjack]

when inside the computer case make sure to un-plug it from the wall power source [should have mention this before ]
i suggest you remove hard drive and taking it with you when you go to buy one ,only 4 screws + the cables to do so ,usually 2 screws on either side ,you will need to remove other side of the case to get at the other 2 , or just take the tower to comp repair shop and have one installed .
it sounds like it a ATA 160 gig, i think the info is on that big sticker on the front of the tower

[SweetestMorgan]

when inside the computer case make sure to un-plug it from the wall power source [should have mention this before ]
i suggest you remove hard drive and taking it with you when you go to buy one ,only 4 screws + the cables to do so ,usually 2 screws on either side ,you will need to remove other side of the case to get at the other 2 , or just take the tower to comp repair shop and have one installed .
it sounds like it a ATA 160 gig, i think the info is on that big sticker on the front of the tower

Yes, it says ATA 160 and your instructions make removal easy. I'll have to get the drive online as I live in a very remote rural area and the big chain store would be my only source. Not sure that's a good idea.

[caperjack]

the big chain store would be my only source. Not sure that's a good idea.

if the model is a good one the price is right big box store are ok, I guess

[SweetestMorgan]

if the model is a good one the price is right big box store are ok, I guess

I should've read through the rules here closer as I don't want to post something I shouldn't. Guess I can post the specs, just won't post link.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 - hard drive - 80 GB - ATA-10

· Manufacturer Part Number: ST380215A

· Storage Capacity: 80GB

· Form Factor: 3.5" Internal

· Rotational Speed: 7200 rpm

· Interfaces/Ports: 1 x Ultra ATA/100 (ATA-6) IDE/EIDE

· Product Line: Barracuda

· Data Transfer Rate: 100MBps External Maximum Ultra ATA/100 (ATA-6)

· Buffer: 2MB

· Product Series: 7200.10

· Dimensions: 0.79" Height x 4" Width x 5.79" Depth

· Average Seek Time 11ms

· Spindle Speed 7200rpm

100% guarantee against defects, we will replace the item.

80 gigs is plenty big enough for me. $25? That seems just fine to me, too. And mine's a Seagate ATA, so I went with the same. I hope this will do. And they'll ship Priority within 2 days.

[caperjack]

sounds like a good drive ,and you could have posted the link to where you bought it

[SweetestMorgan]

sounds like a good drive ,and you could have posted the link to where you bought it

Thank you, just wasn't sure.

It just ended, lol. I ended up going a little higher. But not much. If it would've went higher I'd've watched for another.

HARD DRIVE