Hard drive About To Crash

[Guest bajazza@yahoo.com]

OK, my computer is giving me warning signs that its about to

croak....its running XP, about 3 years old. Compaq. What happens is

when its turned on, you'll get the Compaq screen, and nothing else.

You have to wait until it goes into standby mode (2 mins) then move

the mouse and it'll bring you to the Windows startup screen and

everythings OK from there. My question is how can I take EVERYTHING

thats on the HD and dupe it onto a new HD? Including the OS? Any help

would surely be appriciated!

Jay

[Guest John McGaw]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

bajazza@yahoo.com wrote:

> OK, my computer is giving me warning signs that its about to

> croak....its running XP, about 3 years old. Compaq. What happens is

> when its turned on, you'll get the Compaq screen, and nothing else.

> You have to wait until it goes into standby mode (2 mins) then move

> the mouse and it'll bring you to the Windows startup screen and

> everythings OK from there. My question is how can I take EVERYTHING

> thats on the HD and dupe it onto a new HD? Including the OS? Any help

> would surely be appriciated!

> Jay

 

That really doesn't sound like an HD problem to me but to make sure you

should run the proper diagnostic software from the HD's maker to verify

your suspicions. If it tells you that there really is a drive problem then

obtain a replacement HD and a piece of cloning software. There are a number

of options for the software but if you buy an HD made by some makers

(Seagate comes immediately to mind) you can download free cloning software

from their website. Install the HD on a secondary channel in the computer,

run the software, perform the cloning, remove the original HD and replace

it with the new HD. It is just about that difficult. There may be other

little things like jumpers and BIOS settings but with a fairly modern

computer using SATA this should be no problem.

 

John McGaw

http://johnmcgaw.com

[Guest ELW]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

 

"John McGaw" <nowhere@at.all> wrote in message

news:O0dlOia%23IHA.4780@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>

> That really doesn't sound like an HD problem to me but to make sure you

> should run the proper diagnostic software from the HD's maker to verify

> your suspicions. If it tells you that there really is a drive problem then

> obtain a replacement HD and a piece of cloning software. There are a

> number of options for the software but if you buy an HD made by some

> makers (Seagate comes immediately to mind) you can download free cloning

> software from their website. Install the HD on a secondary channel in the

> computer, run the software, perform the cloning, remove the original HD

> and replace it with the new HD. It is just about that difficult. There may

> be other little things like jumpers and BIOS settings but with a fairly

> modern computer using SATA this should be no problem.

>

> John McGaw

> http://johnmcgaw.com

 

I have a similar problem. My XP Pro system's drive is very old and I have

no installation CD. Can I purchase a hard drive (not new) and install as a

secondary, THEN somehow copy my current C: drive onto the other drive. What

command would I have to use? I understand I may have to (somehow) convince

XP to boot to my fresh drive when the old one fails, but how.

 

Many questions; hope you can shed some light. Thanks.

 

EW

[Guest Patrick Keenan]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

 

"ELW" <ewyatt__delme__@excite.com> wrote in message

news:g7ikld$asi$1@news.datemas.de...

>

> "John McGaw" <nowhere@at.all> wrote in message

> news:O0dlOia%23IHA.4780@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>

>> That really doesn't sound like an HD problem to me but to make sure you

>> should run the proper diagnostic software from the HD's maker to verify

>> your suspicions. If it tells you that there really is a drive problem

>> then obtain a replacement HD and a piece of cloning software. There are a

>> number of options for the software but if you buy an HD made by some

>> makers (Seagate comes immediately to mind) you can download free cloning

>> software from their website. Install the HD on a secondary channel in the

>> computer, run the software, perform the cloning, remove the original HD

>> and replace it with the new HD. It is just about that difficult. There

>> may be other little things like jumpers and BIOS settings but with a

>> fairly modern computer using SATA this should be no problem.

>>

>> John McGaw

>> http://johnmcgaw.com

>

> I have a similar problem. My XP Pro system's drive is very old and I have

> no installation CD. Can I purchase a hard drive (not new) and install as

> a secondary, THEN somehow copy my current C: drive onto the other drive.

> What command would I have to use?

 

You won't use any command available in XP. You need 3rd party software;

please see my reply to the OP (original poster).

 

> I understand I may have to (somehow) convince XP to boot to my fresh

> drive when the old one fails, but how.

 

It's actually very quick and easy if you have the tools available.

 

HTH

-pk

 

> Many questions; hope you can shed some light. Thanks.

>

> EW

>

>

[Guest John McGaw]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

ELW wrote:

> "John McGaw" <nowhere@at.all> wrote in message

> news:O0dlOia%23IHA.4780@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> That really doesn't sound like an HD problem to me but to make sure you

>> should run the proper diagnostic software from the HD's maker to verify

>> your suspicions. If it tells you that there really is a drive problem then

>> obtain a replacement HD and a piece of cloning software. There are a

>> number of options for the software but if you buy an HD made by some

>> makers (Seagate comes immediately to mind) you can download free cloning

>> software from their website. Install the HD on a secondary channel in the

>> computer, run the software, perform the cloning, remove the original HD

>> and replace it with the new HD. It is just about that difficult. There may

>> be other little things like jumpers and BIOS settings but with a fairly

>> modern computer using SATA this should be no problem.

>>

>> John McGaw

>> http://johnmcgaw.com

>

> I have a similar problem. My XP Pro system's drive is very old and I have

> no installation CD. Can I purchase a hard drive (not new) and install as a

> secondary, THEN somehow copy my current C: drive onto the other drive. What

> command would I have to use? I understand I may have to (somehow) convince

> XP to boot to my fresh drive when the old one fails, but how.

>

> Many questions; hope you can shed some light. Thanks.

>

> EW

>

>

 

 

Again, what you need is cloning software. Acronis True Image is one

example. If you are installing a Seagate or Maxtor drive (new or old

shouldn't matter) the company will _give_ you a limited version of Acronis

which will only work with their drives and this will allow you to make a

copy of your original drive to the new drive: operating system, programs,

settings, data -- everything. Given the price of new drives it seems

pointless to me for you to buy a used drive but that is certainly up to

you. If you obtain a larger drive as a replacement the software can

automatically scale up the drive partitions. I don't know if other drive

makers have similar software but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

 

"Convincing" the computer to boot from the new cloned drive should be no

problem. You clone the old drive and then disconnect it so that the

computer will have no confusion about where to boot from. If you go through

the procedure carefully it is quite easy as long as you have normal manual

dexterity, can follow instructions, and aren't prone to dropping drives

onto concrete floors.

 

John McGaw

http://johnmcgaw.com

[Guest Patrick Keenan]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

 

<bajazza@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:37b2c984-55d1-4483-bc15-0033c194871d@59g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

> OK, my computer is giving me warning signs that its about to

> croak....its running XP, about 3 years old. Compaq. What happens is

> when its turned on, you'll get the Compaq screen, and nothing else.

> You have to wait until it goes into standby mode (2 mins) then move

> the mouse and it'll bring you to the Windows startup screen and

> everythings OK from there. My question is how can I take EVERYTHING

> thats on the HD and dupe it onto a new HD? Including the OS? Any help

> would surely be appriciated!

> Jay

 

Absolutely you can, and it's easier now than ever before. Plus, you can

move it all to a much larger drive.

 

For the way I do this, which involves another system, what you need is:

 

- the new drive - one that matches the connector type of the old one (IDE

or SATA). IDE drives have a wide ribbon cable (nearly 2" wide). SATA

drives use a narrow cable, around 1/4" wide.

 

- another system with XP or Vista

 

- a way to connect both drives, the old and the new, to the other system

(the "host"). USB2 drive cases or adapters work great for this, or if the

system has extra drive connectors of the same type (IDE or SATA), you can

use those.

 

- cloning software, such as the free Acronis TrueImage trial. Some drives

come with cloning software, or you can download it from the manufacturer's

site; it's nearly the same size. You need a high-speed connection as the

installer will be over 100 meg.

 

Install the cloning software on the "host" system and reboot. Remove the

old drive from your system, and attach the two drives to the "host" system

by whatever means you chose. If you're using the host system's internal

cabling, you must power it OFF before doing this.

 

For IDE drives, you may have to adjust jumpers depending on the connection

method. For drive cases or adapters, it will likely be Master or no jumper

at all. If you opened the case and attached on the internal connectors, you

may have to adjust jumpers on all the drives. Make a note of the original

jumper settings!

 

Now, launch the cloning software. If it's the True Image trial, choose

Pick A Tool, Manage Hard Disks, Clone Disk. Choose the Manual mode if your

new drive is a different size than the old one. Step through the choices,

telling it to KEEP old data, and choose the Proportional method - this will

enlarge the partitions so that you will use all of the new larger disk.

 

Click OK till done, and let it go. When it's done, disconnect the drives,

reset the jumpers on the new drive as the original one was, and attach it to

the system.

 

Turn it on, and you're done. This whole process usually takes me about an

hour.

 

If error messages appear during this process, such as Disk Read Errors, you

may have other problems that have to be addressed differently. You can try

ignoring them - since you are doing nothing to the original drive, you can

come back for another try.

 

If you don't have access to another system, you can also just install the

cloning software on your PC as it is, then attach the new drive and clone to

it. However, if your PC is giving you problems, this may not be as

reliable as you want.

 

This said, the problem may not be with the hard disk, and this may not solve

the problem.

 

HTH

-pk

[Guest harvey]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

On Aug 8, 6:19 pm, baja...@yahoo.com wrote:

> OK, my computer is giving me warning signs that its about to

> croak....its running XP, about 3 years old. Compaq. What happens is

> when its turned on, you'll get the Compaq screen, and nothing else.

> You have to wait until it goes into standby mode (2 mins) then move

> the mouse and it'll bring you to the Windows startup screen and

> everythings OK from there. My question is how can I take EVERYTHING

> thats on the HD and dupe it onto a new HD? Including the OS? Any help

> would surely be appriciated!

> Jay

 

Take it to a local PC shop, where they should be able to " Ghost" an

image of your hard drive

and install it on another one, thence put the new one in your PC

[Guest HeyBub]

Re: Hard drive About To Crash

 

bajazza@yahoo.com wrote:

> OK, my computer is giving me warning signs that its about to

> croak....its running XP, about 3 years old. Compaq. What happens is

> when its turned on, you'll get the Compaq screen, and nothing else.

> You have to wait until it goes into standby mode (2 mins) then move

> the mouse and it'll bring you to the Windows startup screen and

> everythings OK from there. My question is how can I take EVERYTHING

> thats on the HD and dupe it onto a new HD? Including the OS? Any help

> would surely be appriciated!

 

It may not be a drive problem, but instead a HEAT problem.

 

That is, the computer won't work until it gets warm enough internally to

correct a cold solder joint or barely-connected cable.

 

Here's a test. After the machine has been running properly for an hour,

completely power down the computer. Then turn it back on. Does the symptom

you describe above repeat? If not, you may have a bad motherboard or cable

problem.