E Machine Mod # T2885

[Haoleman]

Ijust experienced my first PSU failure and being the smart guy that I thought I was, I bought a new 350 watt PSU for it with lifetime warranty for $30.00.
First sign of failure was slow machine and then the burning smell but only for a second. The machine wouldn't shut down and the hard drive and 3.5" floppy drive continued to machine gun with the activity lights doing the same. I had to unplug the machine as the switch wouldn't shut it off. I know, you are all laughing as my MB is most likely bad. Yes, the PSU didn't get it back up and running. Same response. Now I really would not like to lose my data on my hard drive(backup? what's that!) and I am looking for info on a direct replacement MB or a suggestion on a replacement computer I can just install my hard drive into and be up and running again. The board is an Intel D845EPI/D845GVSR with an Intel 915 chipset and a Celeron 2.8 gig processor with a 478 socket. Any help would be really appreciated as I had just downloaded a bunch of photos from my camera of my now deceased cat buddy of 18 years and was going to transfer them to a disk when this happened. They were erased from my camera memory so it's a very sad day.

Thanks,
Terry

 

[Tmagic650]

It is going to be very hard to find a replacement motherboard the will fit your processor and memory. It looks like eMachines is no longer offering replacement parts. You could buy an external USB hard drive enclosure and connect it to another computer running XP, and recover your files that way

 

[BorisandBailey]

Those of us who love cats know that this is serious. Don't give up your hard drive or hand it over to anyone unless they understand that nothing, absolutely nothing, is to be erased. The hard drive enclosure is a very good idea...and they're inexpensive. I've never used one so I looked it up to read descriptions and see prices. You can find enclosures at Tiger Direct, Directron, Frys, New Egg, and so on. I like brands like Thermaltake and Ultra.

 

[raybay]

The eMachine T2885 is among the top five all time total failure boards since Windows XP came out. The other four are also eMachines computer.
There is no hope. You can buy a replacement board from eMachines for $179.95, but you will also need a power supply.
The motherboard destroyed the power supply, not the other way around.
You can buy a Vantec EIDE hard drive enclosue with a power adapter for about $30 at Newegg, Directron, and several others.
The hard drive, however, is good, as are the memory, CPU, CPU fan, etc.
Then once you buy a decent computer or build one, you can download all the files from the eMachines hard drive using the enclosure...
Or you can use the eMachines drive if you use another computer and a FULL VERSION of Windows XP Professional and install it in Repair mode.

 

[Tmagic650]

I love cats too... We have two. You won't loose those precious pictures if you follow our advice

 

[Haoleman]

Thanks for all your help. I just ordered a new socket 478 motherboard from Geeks.com along with a 2 gig memory stick. If my processor is bad also, my son has a good one he will give me. Also, I have a new install XP Pro that I bought awhile back to install. I will have help doing this as my son is an IP director for the BIA. Appreciate the advice on the convertor for the HD to USB. I'll try that before I further screw things up.

Thanks

 

[raybay]

I suspect you will be fine with that change. But it might be wise to change the power supply if it is still a Bestec 220, 240, 250, or 300 Watt unit.
Your processor should be perfect. Your cpu fan and heat sink may or may not fit, but a low cost if replacement is needed.

Good luck.

Please let us know how it goes, including the model of the board, because there are a great number of users with this same problem.

 

[Haoleman]

The board is a Biostar P4M900-M4 VIA P4M900 Socket
478 mATX MB w/VID SND LAN & RAID and was $50.00. I already bought a 350 watt power supply with a lifetime warranty that I got when the problem occurred.
As this is a backup computer, my intent was to just get it working. At some point I would like to build a more bullet proof system with more bells and whistles. I mainly use this machine for surfing. It came with our business.
I'll post my experience and detail the time I spent if we get it working.