41 replies to this topic

[nip]

Check the condition of your drive with SMART software. Your BIOS may be able to deliver a basic SMART message on boot when enabled. What type of drive is yours, IDE or SATA? Are you using correct IDE busmaster settings both in BIOS and Windows?

More on SMART

Freeware/Shareware tools
HD Tune
DriveSitter
HDD Health (bottom of page)

And don't worry too much about physically bad sectors. Every HDD has a hidden area with spare sectors. Whenever a sector becomes unusable the HDD management replaces it with a new one (see SMART's 'Reallocated Sector Count').

Edited by nipthecat, 18 April 2009 - 19:25.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

I had another one of those "disk boot failure" errors and restarted as normal, and what I presume to be the memtest thing popped up, here is the result of that. Presuming I am reading this right, it is one of my hard drives. If this is indeed the case, what is my best cause of action? Is it safe to back up all my stuff onto the second hard drive? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by Bob, 18 April 2009 - 23:01.

[Ion Cannon!]

That isn't memtest. Memtest is on a live CD. IE it boots and runs before windows does. The best course of action is to backup everything you want to another hard-drive and buy a new HD to replace the bad one. If your computer has been making wierd noises it may be that the HD has a mechanical fault.

[nip]

'Hard disk failure is imminent' is the worst message from SMART you can expect. Back up your data and replace the drive.

[G-sus]

well, from my experience with hdd failures (yeah i used to have lots of maxtor drives many years ago) all i can say is *try* to recover as much data as possible (copy it in small chunks), replace the hdd, and have as much destructive fun as you can get with the current one...

EDIT: since its a quite young hdd, try to figure out why it may have died. many times its because of a small case or such, so its gets too warm (>40°C). also, kicked your pc too hard maybe?

Edited by G-sus, 19 April 2009 - 00:23.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

OK, I am gonna try and save what I can.

For now, I have 2 main questions.

1. The OS, am I going to have to buy a new one/switch to linux/other... because I don't remember getting any disks when I bought this PC D;

2. I am guessing my second hard drive is fine... so how do i make this the main one? Do i need to physically swap them around, or does it not matter? If I do, how do I do this?

I have never really done anything hardware or OS related, so any info you can give will be a big help.

Edited by Bob, 19 April 2009 - 00:32.

[nip]

When you got all your important data saved and as long as your disk works you can try to use drive image software to copy your system partition onto your second drive making this HDD your boot disk. If you can't save your OS you need a new version, yes. After you did copy the partitions the HDD must be manually switched, when using IDE drives it must be connected to the primary IDE channel and the partition must be enabled to become bootable, I don't know about SATA. Some time ago I had installed '7Tools Partition Imager 2005 Demo' I just checked the software for later use, came with detailed help file as free demo version.

More infos later.

Edited by nipthecat, 19 April 2009 - 01:18.

[G-sus]

get winXP
well i think making an image would be kinda time consuming, so if it crashes you gotta start again ´n such.
so i´d suggest copying it manually, kinda folder for folder.
as for the disk swapping, depends. if its SATA you dont need to do anything.
if its IDE and there´s no other hardware on the cable its fine also.
if there is, switch them and put the jumper to MASTER position.
well u gotta pc with (yet ) vista and a 500GB hdd, so i´d say its very sure SATA anyway...

[Dauth]

If your drives are on cable select you're in luck and you only have to change the inputs from the IDE. Otherwise you have to play with the jumpers too.

If you were given a copy of Windows on your machine you can use a full copy to reinstall and then when you activate the product add your own OEM CD key in. Since you do own a copy of Windows tied to that system you are allowed to reactivate it on that system.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

 Dauth, on 19 Apr 2009, 9:11, said:

If your drives are on cable select you're in luck and you only have to change the inputs from the IDE. Otherwise you have to play with the jumpers too.

If you were given a copy of Windows on your machine you can use a full copy to reinstall and then when you activate the product add your own OEM CD key in. Since you do own a copy of Windows tied to that system you are allowed to reactivate it on that system.

It's good to know that this is possible.. even if I am still a little hazy on the how. By "full copy" do you litterally mean I transfer the OS to the new harddrive, or something else? And what is "OEM CD key" and how do I get it?

[Dauth]

If you paid for a box with Windows on it there will be an official sticker somewhere on it the key there will be your windows key. A full install is done from an off the shelf version of windows that can be used on any computer. Your OEM key can only be used on the computer it was supplied with.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

OK, found that, much appreciated.

I still have questions about this swapping harddrives business, but I think I'll leave them till I am actually ready to try this, I'll concentrate on backing up the rest of my stuff till then.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

It's taken me friggen ages, but I have finally backed up everything (except for one database, but should be done soon).

So I thought I may as well start this up again... Like I said, I have zero experience with this sort of thing, so to put it simply, where do I even start? What's the first thing I need to do?

[Dauth]

Well your old HDD is essentially now a very expensive paperweight.

Have you ever built a computer from parts? You'll need to open the case up and look for the IDE cables to the hdd. Remove the one in the faulty hdd and remove the hdd. You will also need to remove the power supply to the hdd and any other cables linked to it. Your new hdd should have a set of 10 pins in 2 rows of 5 on the back. There will be instructions to put the right jumpers in the right places to tell the hdd to be a master/slave/cable select. Its easiest to use cable select and plug it in to the same slot it was in before. This way it will behave like the old hdd. You will need to format the disc, and reinstall your os. Take your CD of choice, put it in the drive and follow the on screen instructions for installation.

Also wait for someone else to read this to make sure I've not left anything vital out.

[nip]

 Dauth, on 25 Apr 2009, 11:04, said:

Also wait for someone else to read this to make sure I've not left anything vital out.

Rule #1: Always plug off from main AC, even if you only switch a simple interior cable. Mainboards and other parts are having electrical potential on stand-by.

Your boot HDD belongs to the primary IDE channel that has a (usually) blue socket on the mainboard and is labeled IDE1 or so. The secondary IDE channel comes with a black socket on the mainboard. IDE cable connections (ignore the damaged disk mentioned in the pic). When everything is done you should check BIOS settings on start and adjust them if needed.

[BeefJeRKy]

Question, what if his HDD was connected by SATA and not IDE/PATA ?

[nip]

As far as I know master/slave is obsolete and one HDD on each SATA socket and socket #1 for the boot disk. I may be wrong, I don't use it.