KenB

In that case it looks as if there was a fan-assisted heatsink there originally. That is what I was thinking too when I asked - the fact that the heatsink has been cut manually seems to confirm this. Also the plastic clip is broken. It looks as if he was able to get the other one out - but not the remaining one. I am now wondering if the sticky substance is thermal paste or glue ! There are thermal glues that you could use click here I would be inclined to try to get the broken plastic clip out. If that isn't possible then you will need to clean both surfaces and use the thermal glue. ( which I now suspect is what has been done before ) Is there a screw-thread in the hole opposite the plastic clip ? If there is ............ And if there is nothing to get hold of on the broken plastic ............. You could try this: Get a screwdriver and heat the tip as hot as you can get it. Carefully press the hot tip into the plastic. The idea is to create an indentation. DO NOT attempt to unscrew at this point. Let the plastic cool - then try to unscrew it. If you make a mess of it it doesn't really matter as you can't get it out anyway :)

Hi Before you do that identify which drive you have. Most external drives are 2.5 inch ( same as a laptop ) but if the enclosure is bigger it could be 3.5 inch. Also drives are mostly SATA these days but there are still some IDE ones about. Take your drive out and decide what you have - then buy an appropriate enclosure for it. This may help http://kenspchelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=76 Take a look here for examples of enclosures click here

They may need to if the plastic clips were broken off and they couldn't get the last one out. Does your board have Asus A8N SLi written on it? Does the cut-out on the underneath of the heat sink look as if it has been done manually ? Can you get the broken plastic clip out ?

Hi, On the home pc Connect the external drive Start > type in ......diskmgmt.msc .............ENTER Is the drive recognised in disk-management ? Do other USB devices work when you plug them in? ( especially a memory stick )

Hi, I was assuming that the slot was 2.0 it may well be 2.1. I cannot find any specific specs for the motherboard but PCIe 2.1 is backwards compatible with 2.0 So yes - it will work.

The motherboard in your latest pics is an Asus A8N SLi Can you see this on your motherboard ? Has your computer ever been anywhere for repair? If not - I don't understand how you could have a basic fin-type heatsink if it is supposed to be fan-assisted. This is an Acer board and if you look - there is a fin-type heatsink. http://extremetechsupport.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1421&d=1332835852&thumb=1

Hi No problem with the questions :) The 2 holes in the heatsink corners should line up with 2 in the motherboard. There should be 2 spring clips ( see my first picture ) to hold it down. The thermal paste will help hold the two together as to be able to take them apart there needs to be air between and the thermal paste helps exclude any air BUT - the heatsink does not just sit on top of the chip.................there needs to be some pressure there to force it to come into contact with the metal surface of the chip. Are there 2 holes that line up with the heatsink holes ? ( I think you just answered this in your last post ) Does this look broken ?

The purpose of a heat sink is to transfer heat away from the chip - which will get hot if this is not done efficiently. To do this the heatsink must be in contact with the surface of the chip. The surface may look smooth but when they are together there may be a very small gap. This is where the thermal paste comes in. This bridges the gap between the chip surface and the heatsink surface. To do this it must be capable of transferring heat - it is a good conductor. There only needs to be a very thin film of thermal paste to do the job. I would be inclined to try cleaning off the thermal paste with rubbing alcohol ( Isopropyl rubbing alcohol ) You need to clean both surfaces. Then apply a very thin layer to the chip surface and replace the heatsink. I am sure that this did not have a fan attached at any time. Once you have it connected again ( make sure the heatsink is not tilted when you fasten the clips ) try booting up. It is not worth investing in a "better" heatsink. This one was provided and should do the job OK.

You need to speak to the seller. Any clicking noises from a hard drive indicates a mechanical problem - even if it is intermittent. Do not tell the seller that you have had the hard drive out as this may void your warranty.

Hi and welcome to ExTS Are you saying that when you plug in this drive Windows freezes ? Do you get the same lack of response on both systems when the drive is plugged in ? It looks like a problem with the enclosure ( if it is an enclosure and not an adapter ). Can you take the drive out and try it in a different enclosure / adapter. It could be a problem with the connections and not the actual drive.

Hi, I have to agree with Synapse ..............it needs to go back under warranty. You are getting no errors with your S.M.A.R.T log - so presumably you can still boot up ? If you can I would advise you to recover all data off the drive that you want. When you return it the supplier will probably replace the drive - and you will lose anything on it. See here for an explanation as to what could be happening

Hi, As sure as I can be :) If you look at my labelled pic they are the same. Next to yours is a PCIe x1 ( small slot ) which is shown on my labelled pic also. They are usually next to each other.

Hi That chip is an nforce4 SLI It is specifically for media and communications. It is not the main CPU. The heatsink in the picture is not designed for a fan. The connection is there as an option - ( upgrade ). However - if the heatsink was loose it could cause the boot process to fail due to overheating. Is the surface of the chip sticky with the residue of thermal paste?

Hi again Is this the heat sink to which you refer ? http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/motherboards/biostar/tf4_u775/biostarfront.jpg

I am surprised! You can't say that you didn't try.

Hi, The slot I have put in a red box ( see attachment ) is the PCIe 2.0 slot that your video card would fit into. As already mentioned - your PSU would need upgrading to provide the power needed by your new Video Card. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1421[/ATTACH]

Hi Morgy and welcome to ExTS It may be possible to access your data using either a hard drive to USB adapter or an enclosure ( caddy ) that also connects to the USB port of your laptop. click here ( adapter ) click here ( enclosure ) Your hard drive is 3.5 inch if it is a desktop drive ( laptops are 2.5 inch ) Once you get the drive connected to your laptop you treat it as if it was a memory stick ( ignore the fact that it has an operating system on it ) You should be able to access it and retrieve your data. It is also possible to run a couple of checks on the drive from here too.

Thanks for drawing this to our attention Pete. I will just add that here in the UK no bank will email you asking for personal login details. If you get such an email - it will be phishing ( crooks ). Delete it immediately. You have no need to worry - the crooks do not know who you are, where you live or anything about you. (Unless of course you tell them :) )

As J-B says - still no mention of the PCIe 2.0 x 16 slot. I gave you a pic in my last post - take a look inside and let us know if the slot exists.

J-B ......I don't have a problem with this :) WelshWitch I think your best advice would be to start over. Format and create one or two partitions as required. If you have problems: Connect the drive to another pc - format the drive and create one or two partitions then install XP on the C: partition where it would expect to be located.

Hi, Did you format the drive from the XP Installation disk ? Have you tried a "Repair Installation" ? ( assuming XP )

Hi and welcome to ExTS I found these specs: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/gateway-dx-4860-ur20p/4507-3118_7-34747181.html If this is your machine - I was looking for PCIe 2.0 x 16 in the Expansion Slots available. It is not listed. ?? With 6 / 8 GB RAM I would have thought that the motherboard would have at least one PCIe 2.0 x 16 slot. Does your motherboard have one? http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/attachments/video-cards/5973d1244135398-tv-card-looks-wrong-pci-express-x16-slot-pci-slots.jpg

I agree with Nev I had my screen covered in icons until I tidied them up recently. No difference in operational speed - but as Nev says - it takes seconds longer to boot up.

Hi Ray If you take a look at the link in post #50 this explains. The outlay is the cost of an external hard drive - you can use DVD Disks but I don't like the idea of splitting the image. If things do go wrong there is a similar tutorial explaining how to recover the drive image. http://kenspchelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=191 You can use a spare hard drive ( if you have one ) as long as the drive is big enough to hold the image.

Hi Ray It depends on what goes wrong with the drive. There are basically 3 general areas that can cause a hard drive to be in a condition where it will not boot up. 1. Mechanical 2. Defective surface of the actual disk 3. Software ( the Operating System ) It is 50 - 50 if you can access the drive to retrieve your files / data if anything goes wrong. One thing you would not be able to retrieve is installed software. To access a dead drive you can either take it out and attach it to another system or use a CD with a Linux O/S on it. ( remember there are no guarantees ) It is also possible ( and very expensive ) to use a specialist recovery company.