when was hdd fitted

[Shenan Stanley]

I am running xp pro fully updated. my hd is a seagate st340810a 40
gig. I would like to know if it is possible to find out on system
or bios when the drive was fitted. I have reinstalled xp twice and
before that I was using windows me.

What do *you* mean by "when the drive was fitted", please expand on
your needs.

(Formatted? Windows XP installed? Put in the machine? Manufactured?
etc... What is it you are looking for? Why would be
useful as well...)

Uhhh, "fitted" means when it was originally installed into the
machine for the first time, She.

No, clothes are fitted. Hardware is NOT "fitted" it is installed.
To be "fitted" one would have to make alterations or modifications
specifically to allow something to work in their intended
envirnment.
It was a poor choice of words and leaves the objective open to
misinterpretation and speculation.

You never had to alter a piece of hardware to make it fit somewhere?

if I take my car to the garage to have four new tyres, I have tyres
fitted, not installed

Semantics...
Thus my questions.

To me - fitted infers modification in order to make something able to go
in/on something else. When I buy inexpensive shoes, I just pick the size,
put them on and leave. If I buy more expensive shoes, they may measure my
foot and fit the shoe design I desire to my foot size. Some for a suit, an
inexpensive (relatively) one 'off the rack' is already sized - only if I pay
extra is it 'fitted'.

So, I would say you have the tires put on your car, not fitted. Unless you
have a very expensive and unique car where the tires are specially made and
change every time you buy them (beyond balancing...) In which case - you
shouldn't be worrying about any of this unless you are just that bored - as
I am sure you have people to look into these things for you. ;-)

Plus - if the hard disk drive (or the computer case) had to be altered in
order for them to be used together, I would think the date would be
documented by you someplace - if even just in your mind for having done the
work.

Again - it all comes back to the question I asked, the reason I asked it and
thus - the specific way I asked it.

I asked, "... What do *you* mean by "when the drive was fitted" ..."
(directed towards "Perky".) Their meaning may have been 100% clear to them
and even those who they were discussing it with merely moments/days before.
However, in the newsgroups (here) where the majority of those responding
were not involved in the conversation nor can read Perky's mind - the exact
meaning of that may be unclear and open to interpretation.

To be honest - I first thought it might have been a mistake in that Perky
meant formatted, but the word came out 'fitted' in some way.

*shrug*

In any case, I have to assume Perky has received what was needed by now and
this conversation is just continuing on because of having taken own a
tangent about semantics and what Perky meant.

 

[Lil' Dave]

I am running xp pro fully updated. my hd is a seagate st340810a 40 gig. I
would like to know if it is possible to find out on system or bios when
the
drive was fitted. I have reinstalled xp twice and before that I was using
windows me.
thank you in advance
perky

The bios does not record dates in any fashion.

The best you're going to do is the last installation date of XP, where you
will find the oldest file creation date for some XP system files is that
installation date. Bear in mind a service pack install may write over some
system files, and as a result, some files will have newer creation dates.
If you installed XP over ME, same partition, there may be some older files
from the ME system still residing.

After the hard drive manufacture date is the soonest you could have
installed said hard drive in a PC.
--
Dave

CDOs are how we got here.
A modified version, new taxes in the future, is how Congress will get us
out?

 

[Unknown]

Don't the British and Scots use the term fitted rather than installed?
Anyway, Perky's post is from Scotland.

 

[Onsokumaru]

Good grief, are people that stupid!
It was fitted to the chassis. Where does "fitted" mean, forced bashed or
mangled?

"The parts fit together.", quite common English.

To the OP. You will not be able to determine when the HDD was first
installed through software, not after two XP installs over an ME install
anyway.

There will be a date of manufacture on the HDD itself. There may be a
sticker on the PC somewhere which will tell you the date it was assembled,
maybe inside the cover, it depends on where the machine originated.

 

[Frank Slootweg]

To the audience:

Are there any time-stamps in the boot-record or/and primary partition
table or/and extended partition table(s)?

If so, and these can be (somewhat easily) reported and the HDD was
physically installed/'fitted' *and* (high-level) formatted (i.e.
FDISK/FORMAT) on (about) the same date, that *may* be what the OP is
looking for.

 

[ksreek]

its right!

 

[Unknown]

No, they are not stupid. They sometimes don't think.

 

[Lil' Dave]

To the audience:

Are there any time-stamps in the boot-record or/and primary partition
table or/and extended partition table(s)?

If so, and these can be (somewhat easily) reported and the HDD was
physically installed/'fitted' *and* (high-level) formatted (i.e.
FDISK/FORMAT) on (about) the same date, that *may* be what the OP is
looking for.

Sounds like a hard drive forensics answer sought instead of XP/windows/dos
filesystem determination.

But even forensics concentrate on the file time stamp in reference to time,
not the partition table. So, if a forensics asset exists for that, it will
be hard to find on the internet. And, unlikely to be divulged by anyone
with that knowledge.
--
Dave

CDOs are how we got here.
A modified version, new taxes in the future, is how Congress will get us
out?

 

[Ray Luca]

No, they are not stupid. They sometimes don't think.

Same thing in my book.

 

[Lil' Dave]

if I take my car to the garage to have four new tyres, I have tyres
fitted, not installed
perky

Fitted in Great Britain means "installed" in the U.S. Most of the
participants are of U.S. origin, as are all the MVPs. It made me nervous
visiting England. I understood their words, but, I didn't always understand
their meaning. U.S. spells "tyres", tires.
--
Dave

CDOs are how we got here.
A modified version, new taxes in the future, is how Congress will get us
out?

 

[M.I.5¾]

I am running xp pro fully updated. my hd is a seagate st340810a 40 gig. I
would like to know if it is possible to find out on system or bios when
the
drive was fitted. I have reinstalled xp twice and before that I was using
windows me.
thank you in advance
perky

Most hard drives have a date on them (either a warranty expiry date or a
manufactured date). Allowing a couple of months or so for the drive to make
it from the factory to your PC should give you a date to within a month or
three.