# Any way to resurrect an old computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940 "2005-02-08T03:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/1 "2005-02-08T03:44:53Z")
I have an old computer that I haven’t turned on in more than a year. I reconnected it yesterday and booted it up and it worked fine for about five minutes. (There are some files on it I want to copy and put onto my current computer.) After that it began crashing and now when it comes on the monitor just reads (in DOS) “Operating System Not Found”. I would _really_ like to get these files; after I get them the computer can die peacefully and enter ValHalla for all I care. Does anybody have any suggestions for how to breathe life into it one more time? Thanks j ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/2 "2005-02-08T03:57:54Z")
As a possibly easier idea, can you just stick the hard drive in the new computer and pull the files off it that way? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/3 "2005-02-08T04:00:57Z")
Can you tell us what the computer is? I agree that the best shot may be to take out the hard drive and plop it into your newer computer as a slave. That way, the operating system won’t be a problem but you still may have a bad hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/4 "2005-02-08T04:02:02Z")
Sounds like the hard drive has a problem. Maybe you can put it in another computer to retrieve the files. Assuming it’s some sort of MS system and the term IDE master is unclear: The cables that go to the CD reader are the same as those going to the hard drives. Extract the bad drive, go to a working system with anti-virus protection, pull the two larger cables off the CD drive and plug them into the defective drive. (Don’t mess with the tiny cable to the CD). It might work and it won’t hurt anything. If it doesn’t work, there’s a tiny chance that exchanging the tiny jumper from MS (master) to SL (slave) will help. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/5 "2005-02-08T04:43:10Z")
If you know or can find the exact path to the files you need ("C:\My Documents\*.\* etc.) and both this old computer and your current PC have floppy drives I would just go to Bootdisk.com, download an image of a floppy bootdisk (unless your old PC is Win XP or 2000 it’s hard drive will be FAT not NTFS so even a DOS bootdisk will work), create a bootdisk, boot up the old PC with it, get to the C:\ prompt and just find & copy the files manually via floppy. Of course I started in the old MS-DOS days, so this would be simply for me… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/6 "2005-02-08T06:35:00Z")
If it boots up ok, and dies after 10 minutes, it’s likely heat related. I’ve had good luck a few times putting the hard disk in a freezer for a half hour, then firing it up, and dumping stuff off it until it dies, then repeating. Also, I gotta mention a fave tool, SystemRescueCd ([http://www.sysresccd.org](http://www.sysresccd.org)). It’s a version of Linux that you boots on a CD-Rom and has a bunch of disk rescue tools. In this case, you could boot it, mount your hard disk file system, and ftp the files somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/7 "2005-02-08T09:18:54Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > If it boots up ok, and dies after 10 minutes, it’s likely heat related. I’ve had good luck a few times putting the hard disk in a freezer for a half hour, then firing it up, and dumping stuff off it until it dies, then repeating. Double-wrap it in ziploc bags before attempting this (obviously) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/8 "2005-02-08T13:13:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Double-wrap it in ziploc bags before attempting this (obviously) I’ve never seen a hard drive get freezer burn. What do you do this for? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/9 "2005-02-08T13:17:06Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’ve never seen a hard drive get freezer burn. What do you do this for? Particles of frost adhering to the drive will turn into water when they thaw. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/10 "2005-02-08T15:56:51Z")
Thanks for the advice. Question 2: my other computer (the one I use) is a laptop. Is it still possible to install a slave drive (i.e. is there enough room)? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/11 "2005-02-08T16:15:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Thanks for the advice. > > Question 2: my other computer (the one I use) is a laptop. Is it still possible to install a slave drive (i.e. is there enough room)? On almost all notebooks there is room for only one drive internally. You can get a 2.5 or 3.5 outboard drive case. Before doing all this I suspect there is a simpler solution 1: Open the case then turn on machine. Check to see if the power supply fan or the CPU fan has died . if so replace the PS or the CPU fan 2: If both fans are operating the (with power off of course) remove all PCI cards and memory modules. Blow all dust out the interior of the machine with an electric leaf blower or vacuum cleaner set to blow “out”. 3: Reseat and resocket all PCI cards and memory modules. 4: Leave the case of the machine open and direct a powerful fan into the interior centered on the CPU 5: Restart. Chances are better than even it should stay stable long enough for you to pull your files. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-resurrect-an-old-computer/288940/12 "2005-02-08T16:34:48Z")
- - - I’d second checking the fans, in particular the CPU fan, inclusing cleaning the fans and heatsinks out if they are dirty. Older computers (P III and earlier) will often run for up to a couple minutes even when the CPU fan is totally-dead, but they will overheat and freak out. ~