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April 25th, 2017 06:00

Restart an Dell Dimension C521 from the dead

Tried to startup this computer but asking for startup disk which I have but nothings happening. How do I get it up and running to take files off of that hard drive. Want to donate it. Been down for 2 years

10 Elder

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44.3K Posts

April 25th, 2017 13:00

Dead motherboard battery? That may have allowed BIOS settings to revert to the defaults which may not suitable for your hardware.

Can you boot from a bootable CD by putting the disk in the drive and then pressing F12 after powering the system on? If so, create a bootable CD with DBAN (free) and use that to wipe the hard drive.

https://dban.org/

June 13th, 2017 03:00

Since it was an old computer, dead motherboard battery may be one of the reasons or the CD may be not in the working condition.

If you consider your data very critical and want to wipe it permanently, you may try for Bitraser tool for complete data removal. After that, you can donate your system without any risk.

9 Legend

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47K Posts

June 13th, 2017 06:00

A usb drive wire will allow the hard drive to be used as a gigantic flash drive.

Use a Drive wire to get the files off.
https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-CB-ISATAU2-Supports-2-5-Inch-5-25-Inch/dp/B000J01I1G/

 

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