Computer won't start - how to transfer its data to a new motherboard

[Cherub721]

I hope this is the right forum to post this (if not, maybe a moderator could move it to the right place). Thanks in advance to anyone reading this.

My computer, which is about 3 years old and running Windows 2000/ME, won't boot up... I have a lot of files on it that I want to save, and I don't mind getting a new computer or just a new motherboard as long as there's a way for me to save the files. If someone can help me figure out how to at least boot up the computer, I will do that and try to burn what I need to CDs, then get rid of the motherboard.

Last time I used it, the computer was low on memory (about 1.5 GB I think), but I've run it on less, so I don't know if that was the problem. I left it on for a few days straight, occasionally rebooting it but not shutting it down completely. Eventually I came home to find the screen completely black - not a screensaver issue, because moving the mouse or pressing a button on the keyboard wouldn't do anything, nor would CTRL ALT DEL. I shut it off manually, and since then, I haven't been able to reboot. This happened Sunday evening.

About 99% of the time when I've tried turning it on, I just get that same black screen - essentially, it looks like the computer is off, but the light on the monitor is on. When that happens, the lights on the keyboard for NUM and CAPS lock don't flash, which they do whenever I boot up the computer, so I'm sure it's a failure of the computer to boot up, and not a moniter problem.

Sometimes (although I haven't had it happen within the last 24 hours), if I try a number of times, I can get the computer to at least load up. It seems that if I try turning off the monitor, then turning off the motherboard, then turning off the source where I've plugged in the computer, in that order, and then wait a second and turn the source back on, I can at least get Windows (I'm not sure if the order is important, but thought I'd mention it). The computer seems to start up in the normal way - I see the black screen with scrolling white writing, and no errors appear there, then the Windows welcome screen, then my wallpaper appears. At that point, one of two things happens:

A) I get the "you shut down your computer improperly" popup and it checks the C drive, but it only goes a little bit before it gets an error which I can't CTRL ALT DEL out of, so I end up manually shutting off the computer again.

B) It skips the "you shut down your computer improperly" screen, loads Windows, and I get my desktop and all my icons, but then as soon as I try to click anything, I get that same error.

The error is a blue screen with white writing that tells me I have an error V#### (I feel really stupid for not writing the numbers down; I will if I can ever get to this point again), and that I should try pressing any button to return to my computer, and if that doesn't work, I can restart by CTRL ALT DEL... and then I try both things, and nothing happens (ESC doesn't work either), so I shut off the computer manually... and the same cycle begins, where I'm lucky to even get anything but a blank black screen. I've seen this error on the blue screen before. It often happens when I try to watch a video on Windows Media Player, but in the past I've always been able to restart, either by CTRL ALT DEL or manually, with absolutely no problem.

The computer doesn't seem fixable to me, and before this happened it was on its last legs anyway (I was getting errors and having the computer freeze often; Internet Explorer would crash a lot too), so I'm fine with getting rid of it... I just want the files on it. Right now I figure I'll have to get a professional to physically put the memory from the old computer into the new one, but I'm paranoid that doing so will mean that I end up with the same errors on the new computer and the same inability to boot it up.

Basically. I want to either find a way to boot my computer so I can at least get in and burn CDs, or find a safe way to transfer the files. Can I put the files from my old computer onto a second hard drive or zip drive without being able to boot the computer up (I assume no)? I've seen the kits where you connect two computers with a cable, but I think you need to run a CD Rom to do that, and I can't since my CD drive won't even open if the computer won't boot up, obviously.

I would enter in Safe Mode so I could try to burn the CDs, but I can't manage that either. I read that to get to Safe Mode on Windows ME, I'd have to click F8 while the computer loads up, but since I can't even get it to load up in the last 24 hours, I can't do that (I'm not even sure whether you can burn CDs in Safe Mode... but maybe I could delete some files to conserve memory, or something).

Someone suggested to me that the CPU might have become overloaded and fried. That makes sense given that I'd left the computer on waaaay too long - is there any chance it may "cool down" after a few days, so I can at least get to the point where my computer is workable? Am I just making the problem worse by continually trying to restart it? And if I do somehow get it to boot, should I keep it on because it may not start up ever again, or should I shut it off properly to avoid more problems?

Thanks very, very, very much for any advice. I'm sorry for the long post... hopefully I've given all the important information necessary.

[ToyotaSupra]

If all you want is the data just switch the hard drives with a different computer

[Optimus Primal]

Hey cherub721, welcome to PCMECH

You got yourself quite a predicament there - But Im betting we can fix that

My first guess to this would be that you have failing RAM, or a failing VidCard. But we wont know for sure till we figure out the 1 and only thing you left out of your original post...and thats what kind of computer do you have?

Is it a store bought? If so, what kind? Dell? Gateway? Compaq?

Home built?

How long have you had your system?

It would be great if you could give us some model numbers, like if you have a dell it would be something like "Dell Demension 4275" or something like that...

[kissfan]

Try slaving your Hard Drive to another in another PC. It is the hard drive that your data is stored on and NOT the memory.

If it is the hard drive that has failed, you will be lucky if you can recover the data without sending it to a professional data recovery co. But it has been known, when successfully slaved to a good working PC, to be able to recover your data. I assume that you do not have back-ups of your data.

[Ryan2318]

yeah i was gonna recommend putting it as a slave on another computer.

btw i am pretty sure the numbers on a blue screen of death don't mean a thing really.

[kissfan]

The details on the Blue screens are pretty important in diagnosing problems with windoze. They often point to a driver or some other software that is acting up. They can also give you an indication of a dying Hard Drive or other potential hardware failure.

[piasabird]

My sons computer was crashing, so I ordered a new Asus A7N8X Deluxe for it. I pulled the CPU cooler apart and it was so full of dust it was amazing it acutally could still boot up. I probably could have just taken the CPU cooler off and cleaned it and then put it back together again. Oh Well, there you go.

[justplaingreg]

try switching graphics cards

[Cherub721]

I really appreciate all the replies. Thank you.

My first guess to this would be that you have failing RAM, or a failing VidCard. But we wont know for sure till we figure out the 1 and only thing you left out of your original post...and thats what kind of computer do you have?

Systemax... I don't know the model number. It was mail order, and not built specifically for me.

How long have you had your system?

Since Fall 2000.

Try slaving your Hard Drive to another in another PC. It is the hard drive that your data is stored on and NOT the memory.

I'm not really familiar with this... is this something a local mom and pop type computer shop would be able to do?

The details on the Blue screens are pretty important in diagnosing problems with windoze. They often point to a driver or some other software that is acting up. They can also give you an indication of a dying Hard Drive or other potential hardware failure.

I tried turning the computer on today, but I got just the black screen and nothing booted at all... so I haven't been able to get the error numbers.

My sons computer was crashing, so I ordered a new Asus A7N8X Deluxe for it. I pulled the CPU cooler apart and it was so full of dust it was amazing it acutally could still boot up. I probably could have just taken the CPU cooler off and cleaned it and then put it back together again. Oh Well, there you go.

try switching graphics cards

Thanks for the tips... I guess this isn't something I'm going to be able to handle myself... I'll try to find a computer shop that may be able to do these things for me.