[PC] Ask The Experts Thread

[Bulovski]

Ummm so I managed to delete the win7 and Ubuntu bootloaders and now I can't boot. I ran Ubuntu through USB and can see the Win7 partition and the Ubuntu partition. Anyway I can get them back?

[Solitaire]

Ummm so I managed to delete the win7 and Ubuntu bootloaders and now I can't boot. I ran Ubuntu through USB and can see the Win7 partition and the Ubuntu partition. Anyway I can get them back?

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_4836283_repair-mbr-windows.html - make sure to read the comments section

 

Get your Windows 7 install DVD out gramps. You'll need it.

 

IF that doesn't work, try this -

http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+from+the+DVD

 

And read this too -

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/17521-how-fix-mbr-through-command-prompt.html

Edited September 28, 2010 by Gaurav - Solitaire

[RedLotus]

@ gramps .You still have both UB and Win7 partitions unmodified , i mean just the boot-loader is gone right?? if so you can reinstall GRUB that should give you your original load screen

Edited September 28, 2010 by logicmyfoot

[Bulovski]

ok reinstalled ubuntu on the same partition as before and it works. but the windows partition seems to be gone. in space of my 2 windows partitions now there's just one large partition with nothing on it. no f**king clue how or why. let me try to repair win7 and see what happens.

[Bird Bird Bird]

Ummm so I managed to delete the win7 and Ubuntu bootloaders and now I can't boot. I ran Ubuntu through USB and can see the Win7 partition and the Ubuntu partition. Anyway I can get them back?

Happened with me too the 1st time I tried Ubuntu. But a simple boot up in the recovery console & re-writing the MBR solved it !

And since as far as a repair is concerned, I don't think you have to do a full repair. The process starts with writing the MBR first, so even with 10-20% down the line, you can easily quit & will be good to go !

[Bulovski]

How will rewriting the MBR get back the partition? In Ubuntu the partition seems to be just one large block. 100gb of Steam games Will go home and check.

[Bird Bird Bird]

Guess it won't work now. You shouldn't have reinstalled Ubuntu again gramps. Should have restored the MBR using the recovery console.

Par ab

[Bulovski]

I tried reinstalling Ubuntu's MBR by using the liveUSB - but it couldn't even find grub I don't mind reinstalling - it's just downloading all those Steam games.

[Aftrunner]

Couple of questions guys -

 

1 Found an old 80 GB IDE HDD while I was cleaning up my room. Was wondering if its possible to put an IDE drive in a USB casing and use that has a Portable USB HDD? Also do those USB casings have a external power supply or internal?

 

2 I have a faulty logitech MX 518 mouse still under warranty. Have everything (box disc manual) but not the bill. Has anyone ever tried returning stuff to Logitech without bill? Preferably in Delhi? Can they work off a serial number?

[Zzombie]

1 Found an old 80 GB IDE HDD while I was cleaning up my room. Was wondering if its possible to put an IDE drive in a USB casing and use that has a Portable USB HDD? Also do those USB casings have a external power supply or internal?

 

Yes you can convert any old hard drive or optical drive in to an USB portable drive. You can buy those drive enclosures for like 300 rupees. They need external power supply either through an adapter or a second USB cable. Make sure you buy an enclosure which supports your old HDD interface (IDE/SATA). Some support both I think.

[Aftrunner]

Ah thanks. I guess a trip to Nehru Place is in order. Just wanted to be sure before I went down there.

[in-fi-ni-ty]

Ah thanks. I guess a trip to Nehru Place is in order. Just wanted to be sure before I went down there.

 

i too got a case for my old 30 gb laptop hdd . it was around 300 rs n it can be powered via USB . jus make sure the hdd is working/being detected in my computer.the shop owner could do it if u request him. i too got it checked before getting the casing.

[lithuvien]

Dell shows no sign of stocking up on its XPS models (the one with the i7s), so I thought maybe I could go for a nice desktop instead.

 

This is what I have come up with, sort of ..

 

Processor i7 920 14,990

HDD 750 GB SATA (Seagate) 6,000

Optical Drive DVD Writer Samsung SATA 1,145

Speakers Altec Lansing 3,200

Monitor About 20" 12,000

Graphics card ?? 10,000

Cabinet ?? 2,000

Motherboard ?? 9,000

RAM DDR3 6GB 4,500

Mouse + Keyboard 2,000

Ethernet Card ?? 1,000

Win7 Home 3,500

 

Now, the "??" indicates that I have no idea about that component and the price is an approximation. Help me out here pweej.

[in-fi-ni-ty]

^ u'll need a 3-5k supply also . y an extra ethernet card?? ucould get a sound card!!

[Bulovski]

Gfx card GTX 460 - don't settle for anything else. It will be between 12-13k.

[lithuvien]

what is this "supply" you talk off? And is ethernet card included with the motherboard / processor?

 

Also, do fill in teh ?? by giving some brands / models. I have no idea about motherboards.

[Zzombie]

^^ Few tips

 

- Go for a good 24" full HD gaming monitor as you won't be upgrading it very often. It will serve you well for the next five years.

- If you want to save some money drop the i7-920 and go for i5-750. i5-750 offers better performance per price.

- Like the above gentleman said go for at least GTX 460 1GB or Radeon 6850(if you can get one), if you are in to gaming. A bit cheaper option would be a Radeon 5830 1GB or a GTX 460 768MB.

- Most motherboards these days come with good Ethernet and Sound options. Unless you are an audiophile I would not recommend a sound card. You can always add one if you are not happy with the on-board sound. Asus P7P55D-E LX is a good motherboard if don't want dual graphics. Non LX version for dual graphics.

- Good power supply from a well know brand like Antec. 600W should be plenty for single graphics. Avoid low cost alternatives. Cheap ones die very often and in worst case take out your other components too. In 2000 a faulty SMPS took out my MB, graphics, and CPU.

- Finally a big cabinet with two or more fans for proper ventilation.

[Bulovski]

Do NOT buy the GTX 460 768 MB - they nerfed that card more than just cutting out the RAM. The i5-760 is very cheap and a quad core as well.

[Solitaire]

what is this "supply" you talk off? And is ethernet card included with the motherboard / processor?

 

 

Ethernet port is always on the motherboard these days.

 

The supply everyone's talking about here is the Power Supply Unit. The box with the fan at the top-back portion of the PC that powers the whole system. Usually has three rails atleast supplying different voltages around 3.3, 5, 12V if I remember correctly. Might be wrong in the decimal parts. Anyway, you can get a brand like Antec or CoolerMaster. My system actually works pretty well with a Coolermaster Extreme 500W power supply despite it having a power-hungry 8800GTX inside. So with all the power savings on cards and processors these days, you should be good to go with something like that.

[in-fi-ni-ty]

what is this "supply" you talk off? And is ethernet card included with the motherboard / processor?

 

Also, do fill in teh ?? by giving some brands / models. I have no idea about motherboards.

 

 

i am talking about the PSU . the PSU which comes with the cabinet are cheap and ineffctive for graphic cards even if they have high wattage rating.for graphic card, u can get nvidia instead of ati as it supports physx. so make sure u have atleast 550-600 watts psu. i have ati 4850 n i use 500 watts psu from cooler master . other good company is corsair.

u should get a sound card if u r going for 5.1 high end sound system . for 2.1 std speakers the onboard sound card is enough. ethernet is available onboard.

also if u r going for high end cpu and gfx card u should get a gaming cabinet of 3-4k . coolermaster is fine.