Computer won't turn on with new HD

[wooohooo]

Hi,

My computer tends to run really slow so I was researching and perhaps it was due to my hard drive. I looked at the speed and it only runs at 5400. I want to test this and so I had a spare seagate 120 gb 7200 rpm harddrive laying around. I plug this in and the computer doesn't turn on. I thought this was weird, unplug the hard drive and the computer still doesn't turn on. However, I plug in the old hard drive (Western digital 1 tb Caviar green) and it turns on now. Could this be a problem with the power supply? But I'm not sure as the computer doesn't even turn on when no Hard drive is connected.

Thanks!

[Rathji]

What do you mean by won't turn on?

Is there any lights, beeping or other noise coming from the computer at all when you hit the power button? If so, then what else happens after that, a message on the screen perhaps?

Are you using the same power and SATA connectors for both drives?

Will it boot from a CD (such as a Windows/Linux install CD or repair CD) with the hard drives disconnected?

[FlameOn]

Do you mean the computer won't turn on at all? Or won't POST (i.e. go through the memory check screen and hard drive scan).

A lot of times the borked HDD will cause the computer to hang on POST, there is no way to fix this yourself other than to try to get a replacement hard drive controller board from an identical HDD model.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Hi,

My computer tends to run really slow so I was researching and perhaps it was due to my hard drive. I looked at the speed and it only runs at 5400. I want to test this and so I had a spare seagate 120 gb 7200 rpm harddrive laying around. I plug this in and the computer doesn't turn on. I thought this was weird, unplug the hard drive and the computer still doesn't turn on. However, I plug in the old hard drive (Western digital 1 tb Caviar green) and it turns on now. Could this be a problem with the power supply? But I'm not sure as the computer doesn't even turn on when no Hard drive is connected.

Thanks!

If it doesn't turn on with no HDDs connected it's highly unlikely it's a power supply issue.

IDE? SATA? If it's IDE there are a lot of things that could cause it. Try other cables/channels, etc.

Like the others said, you need to define "turns on". Do the fans come on? Does the monitor come on? Does it begin to POST?

Also if you are experiencing slowdown a 7200rpm drive isn't likely to make a huge difference.

[wooohooo]

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

What I mean is press the power button and nothing will turn on. I just figured out that with nothing plugged in or to my 5400 rpm HD, I have to wait for the power to discharge for a few seconds before I press again. However, it won't even turn on with the 7200 rpm hard drive. No power, no boot screen, no nothing.

So a 5400 upgrade to 7200 rpm won't make an upgrade in terms of speed at all? Dammit. I have no more ideas on why my computer is slow as hell. I've reformatted it multiple times, run every single possible anti-virus and malware scanner out there. Updated all my drivers and browsers. What the hell more can I do? I just figured it must be hardware now.

[Ashartus]

Is the hard drive your primary hard drive? If so, is the one you subbed in properly formatted and does it have an operating system on it?

How old is the computer, and how much RAM does it have? Often increasing the RAM can make a big difference in speed. Graphics cards can also make a difference for things like games. If it used to run faster and is slower now for the same programs, despite reformatting, then those probably aren't the problem though. Some anti-virus programs can also really slow down a computer - you said you'd run "every single possible" one - which one do you have on right now (hopefully only one - they often don't play nicely together)?

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

What I mean is press the power button and nothing will turn on. I just figured out that with nothing plugged in or to my 5400 rpm HD, I have to wait for the power to discharge for a few seconds before I press again. However, it won't even turn on with the 7200 rpm hard drive. No power, no boot screen, no nothing.

So a 5400 upgrade to 7200 rpm won't make an upgrade in terms of speed at all? Dammit. I have no more ideas on why my computer is slow as hell. I've reformatted it multiple times, run every single possible anti-virus and malware scanner out there. Updated all my drivers and browsers. What the hell more can I do? I just figured it must be hardware now.

No, I didn't say it won't be an upgrade at all. It will be an upgrade, but moving your OS to another drive and troubleshooting whatever the problem is with it is likely going to be more trouble than it's worth. Your boot time will be a couple seconds quicker, and app startup time will be marginally faster, but don't expect a huge performance boost.

Now if you were to install an SSD, you could expect a big performance boost.

But if the bottleneck in your system isn't your drive speed, you'll still have problems.

As Ashartus mentioned, RAM is usually the low-hanging fruit as far as PC upgrades go. Try that first. Some places accept returns with no questions asked, you could put in some RAM and even take it back if it doesn't have the impact you were hoping for.

Depending on your hardware, heat can be a problem too. Lots of CPUs scale down clock speed according to load and temperature. If your CPU fan isn't functioning well or has poor contact, your CPU might be throttling itself.

There are loads of benchmarking tools out there that can help you identify the bottleneck.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

Is the hard drive your primary hard drive? If so, is the one you subbed in properly formatted and does it have an operating system on it?

How old is the computer, and how much RAM does it have? Often increasing the RAM can make a big difference in speed. Graphics cards can also make a difference for things like games. If it used to run faster and is slower now for the same programs, despite reformatting, then those probably aren't the problem though. Some anti-virus programs can also really slow down a computer - you said you'd run "every single possible" one - which one do you have on right now (hopefully only one - they often don't play nicely together)?

The hard drive is my primary hard drive. My parents bought this computer last year (HP desktop) and it does have an OS on it. I would assume it is properly formatted. Anyway I can check that?

Here are the specs on the computer

AMD Phenom 9150e Quad-Core processor 1.80 GHz
7.00 GB
64-bit OS (Windows 7)

For the Windows experience index
Processor: 6.5
Memory: 7.1
Graphics: 3.4
Gaming Graphics: 5.1
Primary Hard disk: 5.9

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

No, I didn't say it won't be an upgrade at all. It will be an upgrade, but moving your OS to another drive and troubleshooting whatever the problem is with it is likely going to be more trouble than it's worth. Your boot time will be a couple seconds quicker, and app startup time will be marginally faster, but don't expect a huge performance boost.

Now if you were to install an SSD, you could expect a big performance boost.

But if the bottleneck in your system isn't your drive speed, you'll still have problems.

As Ashartus mentioned, RAM is usually the low-hanging fruit as far as PC upgrades go. Try that first. Some places accept returns with no questions asked, you could put in some RAM and even take it back if it doesn't have the impact you were hoping for.

Depending on your hardware, heat can be a problem too. Lots of CPUs scale down clock speed according to load and temperature. If your CPU fan isn't functioning well or has poor contact, your CPU might be throttling itself.

There are loads of benchmarking tools out there that can help you identify the bottleneck.

The computer is definitely not hot. And I'll try a SSD

[wooohooo]

I looked at SSD prices and they are a little hefty. However, this computer is for my mom and the most intensive program she uses is ones for her stocks. Is a SSD really necessary?

Also I looked at the Power Supply it's only 300W, it should be enough to power a new Hard drive? I can return the new one I just bought? Man I'm computer ######ed. Thanks a lot for the help guys.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I looked at SSD prices and they are a little hefty. However, this computer is for my mom and the most intensive program she uses is ones for her stocks. Is a SSD really necessary?

Also I looked at the Power Supply it's only 300W, it should be enough to power a new Hard drive? I can return the new one I just bought? Man I'm computer ######ed. Thanks a lot for the help guys.

300W should be fine. Your mom does not need an SSD. You do not need a new PSU. A 5400 RPM harddrive should even be okay although it will be slow booting up. A 7200 RPM harddrive can make a small difference but you need to buy the right one.

If the computer won't even turn on with the 7200RPM harddrive, you are plugging in something incorrectly and it's causing the PSU to ground out. That's the only thing I can think of.

If your mom just checks stocks and does basic web surfing she does not need a big harddrive. You can get like a 40GB SSD which costs the same as a decent 7200 RPM HDD (as you are not going to find any < 1TB these days really) and that's all you'll ever need.

[Rathji]

There is really no need for a SSD on that computer.

I don't see how the power supply would matter, but if you are concerned it might not be big enough, look up the draw from the motherboard and the video card. However, unless the video card is crazy (and the Windows index does not seem to indicate that it is) you are probably well within the range it can support.

I assume you wouldn't be asking if it was, but is it under warranty? Even if it isn't, this might be the time to bring it to a service place and get them to diagnose the problem. Unless you have a lot of free time, anything more than running a few benchmark programs or checking event logs will probably waste a lot of time.

edit: Actually, you could just open the Performance tab in Task Manager and check the Resource monitor and see if any of the basic system resources are being taxed.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I looked at SSD prices and they are a little hefty. However, this computer is for my mom and the most intensive program she uses is ones for her stocks. Is a SSD really necessary?

Also I looked at the Power Supply it's only 300W, it should be enough to power a new Hard drive? I can return the new one I just bought? Man I'm computer ######ed. Thanks a lot for the help guys.

The SSD isn't about how heavy-duty her apps are, it will just provide an all-around perceived performance boost.

It's only necessary as far as improving the computer's performance is necessary, which is what I thought the point of the thread is?

I'm going to disagree with Hack&Lube and say that a 300W power supply might be dicey. Technically it should be fine but it's one of the most common places you'll find cheap components and if it's not operating perfectly you might be taxing it with the 2nd HDD hooked up.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

The SSD isn't about how heavy-duty her apps are, it will just provide an all-around perceived performance boost.

It's only necessary as far as improving the computer's performance is necessary, which is what I thought the point of the thread is?

I'm going to disagree with Hack&Lube and say that a 300W power supply might be dicey. Technically it should be fine but it's one of the most common places you'll find cheap components and if it's not operating perfectly you might be taxing it with the 2nd HDD hooked up.

A 7200 RPM at the most will consume an additional 15-20 watts (usually 5-10 watts is the better estimate). If he just unplugged his 5400 RPM harddrive, it would have offset that completely.

His system is probably in the 220-250 watt range at load.

I've never seen a single harddrive be the tipping point for a system, even one with a crappy low end 300 watter.

Did you disconnect your old harddrive from power before plugging in the new one?

[wooohooo]

Yeah I disconnected the cables from the 5400 rpm hard drive onto the non-working 7200 rpm hard drive. I read some people having problems with the same hard drive, not sure if the same problems.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop/...s-Fix/m-p/6451

I might just go buy a cheap hard drive from memory express or best buy and test it out. Return it if not. Does cache really matter? I see there's 8, 16, and 32+.

As for buying hard drives does this one look okay?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...f3fef4714een02
or
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...31503(ME).aspx

[Hack&Lube]

Caviar Greens are their power saving line. They won't be fast. They are for storage and power efficiency. The fastest affordable desktop drive you should be looking at is the Caviar Blacks.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...Caviar%20Black

I recommend the 640GB version actually as I believe I read something back then about the dual 320GB platter version being faster than the 500GB or 1TB models.

There's also a 1TB model with 64MB cache on sale for $84.99

If you really want to see if the harddrive is the issue and you won't spring for an SSD, buy a Caviar Black.

Also, I would look into disabling automatic acoustic management on your harddrive (AAM) to improve performance.

[wooohooo]

Thanks for everything.

I went with the Caviar Black and it's awesome! My computer run like a normal computer!!!

Thanks so much guys I really appreciate it.