Pentium 3 Compaq Presario-monitor, keyboard, mouse not demonstrating connection

[mickmcc10]

I have a computer from 1998; I think it's a Pentium 3 (maybe 2; I don't remember). About a year ago, it started connecting to the monitor very sporadically. Eventually, it outright died. At the time, it seemed very likely that it had picked up a virus. We bought a new computer, but would like to drag some of the old stuff off of the Compaq, if I could get it up and working.

It beeps and clicks and whirls away happily...but the screen remains absolutely blank. It used to work if I switched monitors, but only temporarily. The keyboard does not seem to be receiving power, either. Hard to say with the mouse, since I'm getting nothing.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[WindsurferLA]

data recovery

Data Recovery

Check to see if the old computer's hard drive is compatible with a hard drive connection on your new machine. There are two issues, the type of connector and the speed settings.

Your old computer's hard drive is undoubtedly designed to mate with an IDE connector. Most computer mother boards with IDE connectors have at least two IDE connectors. If your new computers has IDE connectors, you may need to free up one by disconnecting a CD or zip drive. Configure your old computer's hard drive as a "slave," connect the power cable, and then connect the IDE ribbon cable. When you turn on your machine, if the drive is operational and compatible, you should be able to read the contents of the files. I am not an expert, but I believe the older slower ATA/100 hard drives will work with mother boards designed for faster ATA/133 hard drives, but of course the read / write speeds will be at the slower rate.

After finding that you can examine the file directory of the old computer's hard drive, but before opening any of the files, it is a good idea to have a virus search program, such as Norton or MacAfree, check the files for computer viruses. Once you are certain that the files you want are virus free, copy them across.

If your new computer does not have an IDE connector on its motherboard, perhaps because it uses one of the newer harddrives with a serial connector, search for someone that does have a computer to which you can connect the hard drive from your old machine.

 

[zephead]

sure, you could easily open up the compaq and hook it's hard drive up to your other box. but i would not reccomend using macaffee, as it is a generally bad AV software and usually misses a lot of things. NAV/NIS, AVG, are both examples of generally better AV softwares, the latter being freely available.