New HD Suggestions?

[Navyguy]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP SP3, with DSL connection. I have
Avira free antivirus version, Windows firewall, Spybot and Hive
Cleanup. All of these have run well together and I have had no
problems.

For several months I have had HD problems that I have been unable to
resolve despite generous help from several people. I've decided that
the best and easiest solution would be to just buy another, larger,
more reliable HD. I intially replaced the original HD with a 160GB
Seagate PATA100 which came with a one time use Acronis software to
enable me to transfer files frome one HD to another. I've looked on
Newegg but I couldn't find anything but perhaps it was just me. So can
anyone recommend a good HD which includes instructions for
installation and appropriate software for transferring files and where
to purchase it?


Thanks,

Robert

 

[HeyBub]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP SP3, with DSL connection. I have
Avira free antivirus version, Windows firewall, Spybot and Hive
Cleanup. All of these have run well together and I have had no
problems.

For several months I have had HD problems that I have been unable to
resolve despite generous help from several people. I've decided that
the best and easiest solution would be to just buy another, larger,
more reliable HD. I intially replaced the original HD with a 160GB
Seagate PATA100 which came with a one time use Acronis software to
enable me to transfer files frome one HD to another. I've looked on
Newegg but I couldn't find anything but perhaps it was just me. So can
anyone recommend a good HD which includes instructions for
installation and appropriate software for transferring files and where
to purchase it?

Hard drives from virtuall all main-stream manufacturers (Western Digital,
Seagate, Hitachi, etc.) will have free utilities available to clone your
existing drive to their replacement. You can check on the potential drive's
website to make sure you'll be able to transfer your stuff with a program
they provide.

 

[Paul]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP SP3, with DSL connection. I have
Avira free antivirus version, Windows firewall, Spybot and Hive
Cleanup. All of these have run well together and I have had no
problems.

For several months I have had HD problems that I have been unable to
resolve despite generous help from several people. I've decided that
the best and easiest solution would be to just buy another, larger,
more reliable HD. I intially replaced the original HD with a 160GB
Seagate PATA100 which came with a one time use Acronis software to
enable me to transfer files frome one HD to another. I've looked on
Newegg but I couldn't find anything but perhaps it was just me. So can
anyone recommend a good HD which includes instructions for
installation and appropriate software for transferring files and where
to purchase it?


Thanks,

Robert

You should realize, that PATA drives will soon be discontinued. I've noticed
the selection of products is disappearing. My local supplier mentioned
they're getting harder to find (and he stocks a lot of different stuff,
including SCSI). It is just possible they're no longer making them at
the factory, and the currently available stock, is draining from
warehouses.

I'm curious as to whether this development, will result in the
junk makers, cranking out more adapter boards. For example, this is
an adapter, for converting a SATA drive to IDE motherboard. It plugs
into the back of the SATA disk drive. The SATA disk drive must have
the standard SATA data (7 pin) and adjacent SATA power (15 pin) connectors.
(Otherwise, you'll need extender cables, to fit it, which would be
a mess.)

http://www.startech.com/item/IDE2SAT-IDE-to-SATA-Drive-Mounted-Adapter.aspx

That adds a tiny bit, to the length of the drive, and in some cases, that
might be a problem, depending on how tight everything fits.

(A so-called user manual for the product.)
http://www.startech.com/Data/ProductManuals/IDE2SAT.pdf

The adapter board comes with a Master/Slave jumper, so it is possible
to designate the "converted" drive, to be an IDE master or an IDE
slave. You might still need to scratch your head a little bit, to
make that play nice with the second device already connected to
the ribbon cable.

In any case, don't panic. At the current time, you'll be able to find
some IDE drive. But when the IDE drives are scarce, or expensive,
having one of those adapters handy, would be a good idea. A number
of companies make adapters like that. Reading the reviews on Newegg
for each one, will help identify compatibility issues with them.

I see in the list here, the largest drive is a 500GB. IDE have been made,
in as large as 750GB size (I never saw one at 1TB).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014 1035907789

The Seagate site has software. Discwizard.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=d9fd4a3cdde5c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

(Manual)
http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf

And this is an example of something Western Digital offers (Data Lifeguard Tools).
I've never used this.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=502&sid=1&lang=en

There are some disk companies which offer... *nothing*.
That is why you must check the web site, before you buy.
Half the fun, is discovering who those companies are.

Paul

 

[Navyguy]

You should realize, that PATA drives will soon be discontinued. I've noticed
the selection of products is disappearing. My local supplier mentioned
they're getting harder to find (and he stocks a lot of different stuff,
including SCSI). It is just possible they're no longer making them at
the factory, and the currently available stock, is draining from
warehouses.

I'm curious as to whether this development, will result in the
junk makers, cranking out more adapter boards. For example, this is
an adapter, for converting a SATA drive to IDE motherboard. It plugs
into the back of the SATA disk drive. The SATA disk drive must have
the standard SATA data (7 pin) and adjacent SATA power (15 pin) connectors.
(Otherwise, you'll need extender cables, to fit it, which would be
a mess.)

http://www.startech.com/item/IDE2SAT-IDE-to-SATA-Drive-Mounted-Adapte...

That adds a tiny bit, to the length of the drive, and in some cases, that
might be a problem, depending on how tight everything fits.

(A so-called user manual for the product.)http://www.startech.com/Data/ProductManuals/IDE2SAT.pdf

The adapter board comes with a Master/Slave jumper, so it is possible
to designate the "converted" drive, to be an IDE master or an IDE
slave. You might still need to scratch your head a little bit, to
make that play nice with the second device already connected to
the ribbon cable.

In any case, don't panic. At the current time, you'll be able to find
some IDE drive. But when the IDE drives are scarce, or expensive,
having one of those adapters handy, would be a good idea. A number
of companies make adapters like that. Reading the reviews on Newegg
for each one, will help identify compatibility issues with them.

I see in the list here, the largest drive is a 500GB. IDE have been made,
in as large as 750GB size (I never saw one at 1TB).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=201015001....

The Seagate site has software. Discwizard.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=DiscWizard&vg....

(Manual)http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf

And this is an example of something Western Digital offers (Data Lifeguard Tools).
I've never used this.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=502&sid=1&lang=en

There are some disk companies which offer... *nothing*.
That is why you must check the web site, before you buy.
Half the fun, is discovering who those companies are.

    Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If I am understanding you and Philo correctly an IDE ATA-100 is the
same as a PATA-100 HD? Also, from what you say it might be prudent to
buy two HD's so that I have a spare, just in case. I also seem to
remember something about setting the jumpers for cable but that these
were already set by default at the factory, true? If the above is true
then I was going to select the Seagate ST3500641A 500GB HD but there
are no reviews on it, but on looking them over maybe I should choose
the ST3160515A 160GB HD which is similar to what I presently have
which is the ST3160815A and I'm familiar with Seagate and like their
software to tranfer files. I've never heard of Western Digital.


Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

 

[Paul]

If I am understanding you and Philo correctly an IDE ATA-100 is the
same as a PATA-100 HD? Also, from what you say it might be prudent to
buy two HD's so that I have a spare, just in case. I also seem to
remember something about setting the jumpers for cable but that these
were already set by default at the factory, true? If the above is true
then I was going to select the Seagate ST3500641A 500GB HD but there
are no reviews on it, but on looking them over maybe I should choose
the ST3160515A 160GB HD which is similar to what I presently have
which is the ST3160815A and I'm familiar with Seagate and like their
software to tranfer files. I've never heard of Western Digital.


Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

If there are zero reviews on Newegg, I switch to Amazon. There are
12 reviews, with some "unhappy campers". Apparently, what is in the
box, has a different part number in this particular case. The
picture on Amazon, resembles a "retail boxed product", and I suppose
in this case, leaves room for substitution.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST350...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243656053&sr=8-1

It kind of reminds me of some disks I saw at a local computer store.
They were packed in transparent plastic shells, with no part number
visible. Just the capacity and RPMs showing. Antistatic bag inside
(presumably to help hide the label on the drive itself). Still
worked fine, but the thing is, you don't know what generation of
drive you're getting. They turned out fine however.

I'm pretty sloppy with my terminology. If I suspect someone doesn't
understand, I talk about "ribbon cable drives". EIDE, IDE, PATA
are some acronyms I might use for the ribbon cable devices. PATA
stands for Parallel ATA, as the ribbon cable has a parallel data
interface.

SATA on the other hand, is serial, and all the data travels on a
very high speed pair of wires. That is called a differential
interface - when one wire has a 1, the other has a 0, and that
is used to give bigger signal amplitude and quality detection
at the other end of the cable. That is why the SATA cable is
thinner, since there is only a transmit serial and receive
serial interface, plus some ground wires for shielding. (Even DVI
cables and monitors use this idea, of differential interfaces
and super high speed serial digital transmission.)

There are two jumpering schemes. In a Dell/HP/Gateway/Acer, they'll
use Cable Select or CS. If one or two drives are present on the
cable, they can be "CS". That means assembly of computers at the
factory, is easy. Everything is CS, just plug it in. To use
CS, you should use an 80 wire cable (new cables are likely to
support CS). How the cable is special, is described here ("pin 28").

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCS-c.html

Before jumpering the new drive, you verify what is already
on the cable, and that it is CS. Then you know using CS
on the new drive, as the second drive on the cable, will work.

An alternative, is the usage of master/slave. One drive is master,
the other is slave. Western Digital drives have the notion of
"master only", and perhaps "master (with slave)", while other
brands might have a simple "master" jumper notion (so WD offers
two choices). On a high speed ribbon cable, if only one drive
is present, you connect it to the end connector. So that tends
to suggest the master or MA drive, will be on the end of the
cable, for the single drive case.

So, with two drives, you could use CS-CS or Master-Slave.
On the first boot of the machine, stop in the BIOS and
see if both drives showed up. (Press <del> or F2 or whatever
key the computer manual says to use, to get into the BIOS.)
I'd want the drives to be IDed by their name string, before
I'd boot any further. I'd turn off the computer, if there
seemed to be a problem. If they all ID OK, you can exit from
the BIOS without saving changes.

Also, if you want something to boot the first time, and
you have a Seagate drive, there is always "Seatools for DOS",
to give you something to test with. Since they provide FreeDOS
as part of the download software, the floppy you make is
ready to boot without further effort. You can even verify
it works with your current drive, before making any changes
to your computer. Not only is it available for floppy, there
is also an ISO so you can burn a CD. Some computers no
longer have a floppy, so they provide CD for those customers.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

HTH,
Paul

 

[Richard Urban]

Please, be aware!

If your original HD was having many problems as you stated I would certainly
NOT clone that drive to the new drive. I would start fresh with the new
drive.

The reason for this is that you have absolutely no idea as to what type of
file/folder/data corruption exists on the old drive. Cloning to a new drive
will be a recipe for immediate or future disaster. Three months from now you
may have problems with a seldom used program and you will be tearing your
hair out trying to find the cause.

You clone a "known good" drive to a known good drive.

 

[Navyguy]

If there are zero reviews on Newegg, I switch to Amazon. There are
12 reviews, with some "unhappy campers". Apparently, what is in the
box, has a different part number in this particular case. The
picture on Amazon, resembles a "retail boxed product", and I suppose
in this case, leaves room for substitution.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST3500641A-RK-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Intern...

It kind of reminds me of some disks I saw at a local computer store.
They were packed in transparent plastic shells, with no part number
visible. Just the capacity and RPMs showing. Antistatic bag inside
(presumably to help hide the label on the drive itself). Still
worked fine, but the thing is, you don't know what generation of
drive you're getting. They turned out fine however.

I'm pretty sloppy with my terminology. If I suspect someone doesn't
understand, I talk about "ribbon cable drives". EIDE, IDE, PATA
are some acronyms I might use for the ribbon cable devices. PATA
stands for Parallel ATA, as the ribbon cable has a parallel data
interface.

SATA on the other hand, is serial, and all the data travels on a
very high speed pair of wires. That is called a differential
interface - when one wire has a 1, the other has a 0, and that
is used to give bigger signal amplitude and quality detection
at the other end of the cable. That is why the SATA cable is
thinner, since there is only a transmit serial and receive
serial interface, plus some ground wires for shielding. (Even DVI
cables and monitors use this idea, of differential interfaces
and super high speed serial digital transmission.)

There are two jumpering schemes. In a Dell/HP/Gateway/Acer, they'll
use Cable Select or CS. If one or two drives are present on the
cable, they can be "CS". That means assembly of computers at the
factory, is easy. Everything is CS, just plug it in. To use
CS, you should use an 80 wire cable (new cables are likely to
support CS). How the cable is special, is described here ("pin 28").

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCS-c.html

Before jumpering the new drive, you verify what is already
on the cable, and that it is CS. Then you know using CS
on the new drive, as the second drive on the cable, will work.

An alternative, is the usage of master/slave. One drive is master,
the other is slave. Western Digital drives have the notion of
"master only", and perhaps "master (with slave)", while other
brands might have a simple "master" jumper notion (so WD offers
two choices). On a high speed ribbon cable, if only one drive
is present, you connect it to the end connector. So that tends
to suggest the master or MA drive, will be on the end of the
cable, for the single drive case.

So, with two drives, you could use CS-CS or Master-Slave.
On the first boot of the machine, stop in the BIOS and
see if both drives showed up. (Press <del> or F2 or whatever
key the computer manual says to use, to get into the BIOS.)
I'd want the drives to be IDed by their name string, before
I'd boot any further. I'd turn off the computer, if there
seemed to be a problem. If they all ID OK, you can exit from
the BIOS without saving changes.

Also, if you want something to boot the first time, and
you have a Seagate drive, there is always "Seatools for DOS",
to give you something to test with. Since they provide FreeDOS
as part of the download software, the floppy you make is
ready to boot without further effort. You can even verify
it works with your current drive, before making any changes
to your computer. Not only is it available for floppy, there
is also an ISO so you can burn a CD. Some computers no
longer have a floppy, so they provide CD for those customers.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

HTH,
      Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The last time I bought the simlar Seagate HD on Newegg it did come in
a box. However another question has arisen in my mind that if I buy
the HD(s) maybe I should also replace the fan? I've upgraded my
memory, and replaced my old 3.5 disk drive with a CD/DVD-R drive, and
upgraded it from 40GB HD to a 160GB (which was fine until I
encountered this probelm which is too long and involved to go into
detail). However I the only thing I can make out through the grill is
Datech and some numbers. It has the kind where it housed in a green
enclosure that swings out. So do I need to open computer up and get
the model number or whatever or is there a standard fan for my type/
year? Also, are these play n play or do I have to do any soldering? I
would appreciate any help/advice.



Thanks,

Robert

 

[Bill in Co.]

If there are zero reviews on Newegg, I switch to Amazon. There are
12 reviews, with some "unhappy campers". Apparently, what is in the
box, has a different part number in this particular case. The
picture on Amazon, resembles a "retail boxed product", and I suppose
in this case, leaves room for substitution.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST350...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1243656053&sr=8-1

It kind of reminds me of some disks I saw at a local computer store.
They were packed in transparent plastic shells, with no part number
visible. Just the capacity and RPMs showing. Antistatic bag inside
(presumably to help hide the label on the drive itself). Still
worked fine, but the thing is, you don't know what generation of
drive you're getting. They turned out fine however.

I'm pretty sloppy with my terminology. If I suspect someone doesn't
understand, I talk about "ribbon cable drives". EIDE, IDE, PATA
are some acronyms I might use for the ribbon cable devices. PATA
stands for Parallel ATA, as the ribbon cable has a parallel data
interface.

SATA on the other hand, is serial, and all the data travels on a
very high speed pair of wires. That is called a differential
interface - when one wire has a 1, the other has a 0, and that
is used to give bigger signal amplitude and quality detection
at the other end of the cable.

Technically, the reason differential signaling is better than single ended
(which is defined with respect to ground) is due to its inherent common mode
rejection, which allows for higher bitrates than a single ended cable can do
(and even using lower voltages).

Also, it's a bit misleading to say when one line is a "1", the other is a
"0", as the cable only has a *differential voltage* across its conductors,
meaning that one line is either more positive or more negative with respect
to the other line at any point in time. IOW, differential signaling
involves the use of the relative polarities of the signal between the two
conductors at any time (and not voltages with respect to ground).

 

[Paul]

The last time I bought the simlar Seagate HD on Newegg it did come in
a box. However another question has arisen in my mind that if I buy
the HD(s) maybe I should also replace the fan? I've upgraded my
memory, and replaced my old 3.5 disk drive with a CD/DVD-R drive, and
upgraded it from 40GB HD to a 160GB (which was fine until I
encountered this probelm which is too long and involved to go into
detail). However I the only thing I can make out through the grill is
Datech and some numbers. It has the kind where it housed in a green
enclosure that swings out. So do I need to open computer up and get
the model number or whatever or is there a standard fan for my type/
year? Also, are these play n play or do I have to do any soldering? I
would appreciate any help/advice.



Thanks,

Robert

For fans, you start at the connector.

Does the fan use a Molex disk drive power connector ?
Does it plug into the motherboard with a three or four pin small connector ?
Does the cable have two, three, or four wires ?

That helps define a basic feature set and type for the fan.

In terms of size, fans come in standard sizes, like 40, 60, 70, 80, 92, 120mm square.
They also come in different thicknesses. You might see mainly 25mm thick
fans for the larger ones, but I have, I think, a 37.5 mm thick fan in
one computer.

http://www.circuittest.com/English/Content/Divisions/Div_37_120.asp

Once you've picked a size, the fans come in L,M,H,U, standing for
low, medium, high, and ultra. Low and medium are designed to not irritate
you too much, in terms of noise. High and Ultra are best left in the
server room.

You cannot cheat. If the heat output of the computer is very high, and the
original fan had a high capacity, then a high capacity fan must be used
as a replacement. Dropping the speed or CFM rating, only serves to
increase the internal case temperature.

In terms of the motherboard connector

1) Three pin with two wires, is for case cooling. Two wires provide power.
There is no RPM monitoring feature. Many case fans come this way.
2) Three pin with three wires, is for case cooling or CPU cooling. The
third wire may give an RPM signal. The signal pulses twice per
revolution of the fan. The monitor IC measures the time period between
pulses, and the inverse of that derives an RPM number.
3) Four pin fan with four wires, is for new CPU cooling. The fourth
wire carries a PWM signal (pulse width modulation). That signal
controls the fan speed, without the need for a power transistor
on the motherboard.

Some Dell computers have a monster fan. It has a five pin connector. It
is speed controlled. Most of the time, it runs relatively low.
If for any reason, it ramps up, it's a howler. Dell cools both
the CPU and the chassis with the same fan. Why the top capacity of
the fan is so high, remains a mystery. Maybe they expect it to cool
the computer, when it sits in a tropical rain forest.

The above short summary, is meant to indicate there are a lot of
different products out there. And a little bit to know about
selection.

Cable and connector type ?
Square dimensions and thickness (measure in mm) ?
L,M,H,U ?
Third wire = RPM or locked rotor (computers are usually RPM) ?
Roughly correct CFM rating (relates to L,M,H,U) ?

Sometimes, it takes more than one buying attempt, to get the
right product. I get some fans home, and they're just too
gross to use. They stink of chemicals. (I have a pile of fans
still sitting in their respective boxes.)

I would replace a fan, if there are signs of bearing wear, such
as several fans that "grumbled" for the first two minutes after
powerup. I get sick of that after a while, and out they go!
I'll clean a fan, but I have too many to be oiling them all
the time.

Good luck,
Paul

 

[Paul]

Technically, the reason differential signaling is better than single ended
(which is defined with respect to ground) is due to its inherent common mode
rejection, which allows for higher bitrates than a single ended cable can do
(and even using lower voltages).

Also, it's a bit misleading to say when one line is a "1", the other is a
"0", as the cable only has a *differential voltage* across its conductors,
meaning that one line is either more positive or more negative with respect
to the other line at any point in time. IOW, differential signaling
involves the use of the relative polarities of the signal between the two
conductors at any time (and not voltages with respect to ground).

Point taken.

There is an article here, with a picture.

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

Paul

 

[Twayne]

You should realize, that PATA drives will soon be discontinued. I've
noticed

....

PATA, or IDE/EIDE drives will be around for many years yet - the
installed base of non-SATA machines is still huge and there are still
many machines without SATA drivers and SCSI isn't usually for the
non-tekkies amongst us although I really like them. PATA drives
availability will outlast any computers being used today, regardless of
what some of the opposing technologists may have to say.
Not only that, but buying a PATA drive today has little to do with
what drive you might buy several years down the road from now. If they
do quit making them, who cares, as long as drives are still available
from reputable sources?

If you have a machine already set up for SATA, go ahead and try it
if you like. I have 5 physical drives in my machine and I do like the
cabling structure. My machine, 5 years old and running XP3 SP3+, was
SATA ready, so it's no problem replacing failed PATAs with SATAs up to
the limit of the connectors available. XP handles SATA natively and
does so well. That said, I have seen an unfair number of problems with
people who use PCI cards to get SATA controllers and the requisite
software needed to run it. IMO those people need to be sticking with
PATA.


The best advice is often to get as much disk drive as you can afford
from a brand you know about and trust if possible. Often a rule of
thumb if you're happy with your current drives, use the same brand for
new ones barring bad news appearing in the interim..
Warranty periods and forums are often another good source of
information. In the forums you only see people who have problems, but
.... if a certain problem pops up repeatedly, it's probably going to be a
characteristic of that drive.
There are as many opinions about the best drives as there are drives
and models - and they may or may not mean anything. Personally I have
experience with 3 brands and pick from those 3 when I'm looking for a
drive for myself or someone else with no preference.
I usually, not always, avoid the new ones that are too new to have a
sales history or an opinion history yet.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Navyguy]

Please, be aware!

If your original HD was having many problems as you stated I would certainly
NOT clone that drive to the new drive. I would start fresh with the new
drive.

The reason for this is that you have absolutely no idea as to what type of
file/folder/data corruption exists on the old drive. Cloning to a new drive
will be a recipe for immediate or future disaster. Three months from now you
may have problems with a seldom used program and you will be tearing your
hair out trying to find the cause.

You clone a "known good" drive to a known good drive.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience







- Show quoted text -

This is allot of good information all of you have given and I
certainly appreciate it. Although I have to delve into the links and
contents and admit that I'm not that computer literate although
probably more so than allot of people and if the directions are not
too technical I can follow them. I think however Richard has brought
up an important point. Let me just briefly explain the problems I am
having and have tried for months to resolve without success:
1. Initially my computer was infected with a trojan horse virus. The
trojan horse virus may or may not still be in the system. I have no
way of knowing but others have suggested that if I have deleted,
formatted and reinstalled XP it shouldn't be there. I have also
fomrmatted the drive as Linux using a Linux CD.
2.corrupted MFT files
3. When doing the chkdsk it found files errors and subsquently I'm
unable to complete a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r
4. The HD has separated into (2) partitions

I only have the (1) HD but it fragmented the first time I reinstalled
XP and did it on its own and I don't know why it did it. I've tried
numerous attempts to merge them back together but nothing works. In
any case the HD remains fragmented into:

Disk 0 Basic 149.05 GB (C127.99GB(NTFS)Healthy(System)21.06GB
Unallocated.

So it seems the best possible solution is to buy (2) Seagate 160HD's,
then install a fresh copy of XP, download all the updates etc. Now I
have my files backed up on CD's so is there a risk of using them the
same as copying from HD to HD? Otherwise how will I be able to move my
files to the new HD?

I only mentioned getting a new fan because of the age of the computer
although it still runs fine. I just thought that if I had the computer
open maybe it would be a good idea?



Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

 

[Motort]

This is allot of good information all of you have given and I
certainly appreciate it. Although I have to delve into the links and
contents and admit that I'm not that computer literate although
probably more so than allot of people and if the directions are not
too technical I can follow them. I think however Richard has brought
up an important point. Let me just briefly explain the problems I am
having and have tried for months to resolve without success:
1. Initially my computer was infected with a trojan horse virus. The
trojan horse virus may or may not still be in the system. I have no
way of knowing but others have suggested that if I have deleted,
formatted and reinstalled XP it shouldn't be there. I have also
fomrmatted the drive as Linux using a Linux CD.
2.corrupted MFT files
3. When doing the chkdsk it found files errors and subsquently I'm
unable to complete a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r
4. The HD has separated into (2) partitions

I only have the (1) HD but it fragmented the first time I reinstalled
XP and did it on its own and I don't know why it did it. I've tried
numerous attempts to merge them back together but nothing works. In
any case the HD remains fragmented into:

Disk 0 Basic 149.05 GB (C127.99GB(NTFS)Healthy(System)21.06GB
Unallocated.

So it seems the best possible solution is to buy (2) Seagate 160HD's,
then install a fresh copy of XP, download all the updates etc. Now I
have my files backed up on CD's so is there a risk of using them the
same as copying from HD to HD? Otherwise how will I be able to move my
files to the new HD?

I only mentioned getting a new fan because of the age of the computer
although it still runs fine. I just thought that if I had the computer
open maybe it would be a good idea?



Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

Put your new hard drives into the computer and reinstall the OS,
hardware(drivers), programs, all patches and updates. Buy a self
powered USB hard drive enclosure. Put your old HD into that. After you
are running the NEW windows, plug the HD enclosure into a USB port.
Open 'My Computer'. You should see the USB enclosure and all of its
files. You can copy files from here back to your new hard drive. HTH.

--
Ed Mc
Nam vet '66-'67


Semper Fi

 

[Motort]

This is allot of good information all of you have given and I
certainly appreciate it. Although I have to delve into the links and
contents and admit that I'm not that computer literate although
probably more so than allot of people and if the directions are not
too technical I can follow them. I think however Richard has brought
up an important point. Let me just briefly explain the problems I am
having and have tried for months to resolve without success:
1. Initially my computer was infected with a trojan horse virus. The
trojan horse virus may or may not still be in the system. I have no
way of knowing but others have suggested that if I have deleted,
formatted and reinstalled XP it shouldn't be there. I have also
fomrmatted the drive as Linux using a Linux CD.
2.corrupted MFT files
3. When doing the chkdsk it found files errors and subsquently I'm
unable to complete a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r
4. The HD has separated into (2) partitions

I only have the (1) HD but it fragmented the first time I reinstalled
XP and did it on its own and I don't know why it did it. I've tried
numerous attempts to merge them back together but nothing works. In
any case the HD remains fragmented into:

Disk 0 Basic 149.05 GB (C127.99GB(NTFS)Healthy(System)21.06GB
Unallocated.

So it seems the best possible solution is to buy (2) Seagate 160HD's,
then install a fresh copy of XP, download all the updates etc. Now I
have my files backed up on CD's so is there a risk of using them the
same as copying from HD to HD? Otherwise how will I be able to move my
files to the new HD?

I only mentioned getting a new fan because of the age of the computer
although it still runs fine. I just thought that if I had the computer
open maybe it would be a good idea?



Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

Put your new hard drives into the computer and reinstall the OS,
hardware(drivers), programs, all patches and updates. Buy a self
powered USB hard drive enclosure. Put your old HD into that. After you
are running the NEW windows, plug the HD enclosure into a USB port.
Open 'My Computer'. You should see the USB enclosure and all of its
files. You can copy files from here back to your new hard drive. HTH.

--
Ed Mc
Nam vet '66-'67


Semper Fi

 

[Richard Urban]

You are now going down the right path.

Good luck!

Come back if you have further questions.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

Please, be aware!

If your original HD was having many problems as you stated I would
certainly
NOT clone that drive to the new drive. I would start fresh with the new
drive.

The reason for this is that you have absolutely no idea as to what type of
file/folder/data corruption exists on the old drive. Cloning to a new
drive
will be a recipe for immediate or future disaster. Three months from now
you
may have problems with a seldom used program and you will be tearing your
hair out trying to find the cause.

You clone a "known good" drive to a known good drive.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience







- Show quoted text -

This is allot of good information all of you have given and I
certainly appreciate it. Although I have to delve into the links and
contents and admit that I'm not that computer literate although
probably more so than allot of people and if the directions are not
too technical I can follow them. I think however Richard has brought
up an important point. Let me just briefly explain the problems I am
having and have tried for months to resolve without success:
1. Initially my computer was infected with a trojan horse virus. The
trojan horse virus may or may not still be in the system. I have no
way of knowing but others have suggested that if I have deleted,
formatted and reinstalled XP it shouldn't be there. I have also
fomrmatted the drive as Linux using a Linux CD.
2.corrupted MFT files
3. When doing the chkdsk it found files errors and subsquently I'm
unable to complete a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r
4. The HD has separated into (2) partitions

I only have the (1) HD but it fragmented the first time I reinstalled
XP and did it on its own and I don't know why it did it. I've tried
numerous attempts to merge them back together but nothing works. In
any case the HD remains fragmented into:

Disk 0 Basic 149.05 GB (C127.99GB(NTFS)Healthy(System)21.06GB
Unallocated.

So it seems the best possible solution is to buy (2) Seagate 160HD's,
then install a fresh copy of XP, download all the updates etc. Now I
have my files backed up on CD's so is there a risk of using them the
same as copying from HD to HD? Otherwise how will I be able to move my
files to the new HD?

I only mentioned getting a new fan because of the age of the computer
although it still runs fine. I just thought that if I had the computer
open maybe it would be a good idea?



Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert

 

[Navyguy]

        Put your new hard drives into the computer and reinstall the OS,
hardware(drivers), programs, all patches and updates. Buy a self
powered USB hard drive enclosure. Put your old HD into that. After you
are running the NEW windows, plug the HD enclosure into a USB port.
Open 'My Computer'. You should see the USB enclosure and all of its
files. You can copy files from here back to your new hard drive. HTH.

--
Ed Mc
                                                     Nam vet '66-'67

Semper Fi- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

May I ask what's the difference in doing that and using the suppied
software from Seagate to copy from HD to HD?


Thanks,

Robert