Disk mirroring vs. recovery cd's

[Guest]

I have my main hard drive going bad (I assume this is the problem - system
slow, chkdsk gives unscannable errors). So I purchased a new hard drive, and
some disk mirroring software. I have attempted to backup everything to a
second hard drive. Now my question is that if there is a problem with the
hard drive that has the system software and I mirror it to the new hard drive
won't I still have system software problems when I install the new drive as
the system drive? I don't have recovery cd's but I can create them. Would
that be the better solution to use? Just install the new hard drive and use
recovery cd's to reinstall the system software?

Thanks for any insight you can give.

Andrew H.

 

[Guest]

I would mirror the existing image and back it up to external media if at all
possible. Yes, this image would have all the software problems of the
original but until you know you have been successfull at creating a recovery
CD (or some other method of recovery), it's all you've got.

Good luck

Mark

 

[Ted Zieglar]

The better way to backup your hard disk is with disk imaging software. Look
at Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost or Image for Windows (by Terabyte
Unlimited.)

I would not replace a hard disk that I suspected was damaged without first
running the disk manufacturer's diagnostics and then discussing the results
with the manufacturer.

 

[Guest]

Ted,

Thanks, I do have Acronis True Image. I am more concerned that the mirror
image will be flawed. I have already spoken with the manufacturer of the
computer and they stated that the hard drive is probably going bad. The
computer is 4 years old and on constantly. I needed more drive space so I
went with a larger hard drive.

I am just trying to decide if I should just mirror the drive or install the
operating system from the recovery cd's.

Thanks

 

[Kerry Brown]

You are confusing the terminology which is getting you conflicting answers.
Disk mirroring is something very different from disk cloning or imaging.
Disk mirroring is done in real time. Two disks are updated simutaneously all
the time when the computer is running. Disk imaging or cloning is what True
Image does. It takes a one time snapshot of a disk which can then be
restored at a later time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks

 

[Guest]

Imaging software will re-create every wart and pimple of your existing
software system. So, IF* your existing software has problems, those problems
will be duplicated on the new drive.

I am always in favor of a fresh, clean install for a new hard drive.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Kerry for the clarifiication. You are in charge of all my vocabulary
from now on. : )

 

[Kerry Brown]

I normally don't care about grammar etc. In this case using the wrong
terminology may get the OP incorrect answers.

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone. It is as I feared, that simply cloning the drive may not
solve my problems. I need to reinstall from scratch.

Andrew

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Next time, instead of 'assuming' the problem and purchasing a new hard disk
on the basis of your 'assumption' - even though hard disks are real cheap
these days - why not find out for sure seeing as it's free and easy?

 

[Guest]

Yes, how true!! I have come to enjoy this forum in the short time I have
been posting; there is great advice here and exposure to the jargon has been
helpful too.

Thanks to you all

Mark

 

[Guest]

Ted,

Not that I mentioned this earlier, but I did spend some time with HP support
and their conclusion was that the hard drive was about to crash and I should
do a system restore back to the original restore point. I did not want to do
that and since this is a media center pc that is used to record many gigs of
television and I am getting ready to start putting several tapes worth of
home video, I needed a new, larger hard drive. And as you said, they are
getting very cheap now.

Thanks again for the assistance.

Andrew

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Something doesn't sound right about HP's advice...If your hard drive was
"about to crash" there is no point to doing "a system restore back to the
original restore point."

 

[Andrew]

Ted,

I agree, the restore option was the first thing given to me, before I
gave the support person the exact error message I was getting. After I
gave the error she started giving me details on creating recovery cd's
and such.

Thanks again
Andrew