Old HD to New...

HPNPilot1200

HPNPilot1200

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Jason
Hi,

My dad has a Dell Demension Desktop (4700)

The hard-drive failed tonight and I spoke with Dell, and they are replacing it.

1. Has anyone transferred files or had a specialist transfer files from a failed Hard-drive to the new

2. If you have, what was the cost?

Thanks,

Jason
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Thanks Mike. Has anyone tried putting an internal HD in an USB external hard drive enclosure case?
Click to expand...

Yep, works fine.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
$2000?!
Uh, scuze me I have to go make a backup or two.
Click to expand...

I'm right behind ya... (it's been a while)

A second hard drive as a dedicated backup works too. Of course that doesn't do anyone any good if the HD vapor locks first.
 
Pay me now or pay me later: Fram Oil Filter, and Hard Drive Data Backup Slogan.

Data storage is cheap like an oil filter. Data recovery is expensive like an engine rebuild.

But, that said...

HOW did the drive fail? Are you unable to read the drive at all? Or does it just not boot?

If you can read data from the drive but it doesn't boot (put it into another computer and test it) then you don't need a data recovery service. You need a new HD and the patience to root out and copy the data you can't replace.

OTOH if you can't access the drive at all... :(
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the responces. The HD failed when doing a defragment on the drive which tried to compress a corrupt Windows XP file. Dell is coming next week to plop in a new HD and I'll keep the old one and try to slurp some data out of it.

Jason
 
Ok so it sounds like windows simply fails to boot? Because if you've got the ability to talk to the drive (ie if you plop it into another computer and can see it) then a simple overlay install of Win XP should recover from that problem.

Defrag tried to compress a corrupt Win XP file... hmm. Defrag doesn't compress... defrag simply takes data that's scattered all over the drive and re-arranges it to be stored in order for faster reading. Was your dad doing this defrag or were you? Maybe you've just hit a bad sector or two in a really bad spot for it to happen... in which case you should be able to recover pretty much everything but which means a new drive is called for in any case.
 
I was defragging. I got an error which Microsoft and Dell both said to go to the repair module on the Windows XP disk and run chkdsk /p (or /r)

It fixed it and then said that "winsrv" could not be found.

My plan is to have the Dell technician replace the drive with a fresh start of XP SP2 installed after in the comp. and then keep the old drive. I can either buy an enclosure off ebay or try and find a spair slot in the chasos.
 
Sounds like a good plan. You should be able to recover your data and, assuming all your installed software is done all legal like, the process will be relatively painless. :)
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Hi,

My dad has a Dell Demension Desktop (4700)

The hard-drive failed tonight and I spoke with Dell, and they are replacing it.

1. Has anyone transferred files or had a specialist transfer files from a failed Hard-drive to the new

2. If you have, what was the cost?

Thanks,

Jason
Click to expand...
Jason, I fired Dell about five months ago when a top of the line box with a 7200 rpm drive failed on day 6. I was actually able to send it back although it was like pulling teeth.

Now, the Master, the Guru, the second poster in this string taught me to use a Unix utility (for thos of us that can't remember unix commands) and buy Acronis or Norton Ghost, which boots the computer on the CD drive (go into setup and make sure it hits the CD prior to the HD), Plug in an external HD appropriate for the HD size of the machine, and comman an image be made on the external drive.

Do NOT use any of the automatic backup commands. Have the discipline to do it once a week, when the system is working w/o spamware and w/o known viruses.

Then when it crashes, boot in Unix with the CD, command the image be rewritten to the HD.

Instant back to where you were last. Now doing this on Seven computers.

A public "Thank you, oh master" :). Thou hast saved my bacon twice since summer.

Bruce
 
Thanks for the advise Bruce. This is what I plan....Dell is replacing the hard drive and I can convert the old HD into an external case. Once I transfer the files onto the new HD I can just reformat the old, external case HD and use that as back-up. So I would have a new HD with an external one basically for free just add the cost of the external USB HD case.

I'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration,

Jason
 
Ship it to me and I'll see what I can recover for free. If you are interested - PM me.


S.
 
The "secret" that Bruce knows is that you can avoid trying get a full backup of Windows with a Windows program - which is difficult to impossible - by not running Windows when you do the backup. If you boot from a CD then your Windows partition is cold, unchanging data that can be copied. If Windows is running all bets are off and you're only gonna get as good a backup as the backup software can kludge for you.

The key problem is Windows will not allow access to a file that's open. Good backup software like Dantz Retrospect runs in the background and makes a copy of the files as as they're being opened. That still makes me nervous.

Norton Ghost and better, Acronis True Image will do a disk image while running another OS from the CD. Norton runs Windows 3.1 runtime. EEEK.

Do your self a favor and click on this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681279691SF
RIGHT NOW and download a copy of Acronis True Image. Burn it to CD and make a backup to an external hard drive or multiple CDs. Pick up an external hard drive for another $100.
 
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Acronis makes a good product. I however take a slightly different approach to Bruce's method.

I like to setup my computer exactly how I want it. A fresh install of xp with all the updates, install all my programs, set my bookmarks, run it for a week or 2 till it is dialed in.

Then I make 1 image of my drive.

After that, I just have certain folders i maintain: i.e. c:\backup (just where i put things i don't want to loose) c:\development (my work stuff)

Then, every week, 2, month, whatever frequency you feel comfortable with, burn those directories to a CD or DVD so you have your files backed up.

My reason for doing it this way as opposed to making a new image, is that if your system is compromised with any spyware that hasn't been detected, virii, trojans, root kits, etc, .. all that will get saved to the image. It is not necessarily easy to know that you don't have any of these things on your computer.

If my system fails, or I suspect there may be some bad things on it that can not be removed, I can restore my image which I KNOW is clean. Then just copy the last CD backup I made and I'm all set.

Just my 2 cents on the subject =)
 
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...I recieved the new Hard-drive today and I installed Windows XP, updates, programs, etc, etc... I went to go plop the OLD hard-drive into another slot and found the connector there, but no power from the HD to the motherboard. The new hard-drive has two connectors (Maxtor HD) one with I believe 6 wires and the other was a blue insulated cable that went directly to the motherboard. I am assuming this is a Power cable. I plugged in the HD to the 2nd connector (off the 1st connector to the New HD) and nothing happened since I didn't have any source of power. What is the exact terminology/where to obtain another power cord for the HD? I saw on the mobo that there are indeed two slots for it; the primary and secondary.

I found a picture on the internet, it looks similar to this:
 
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HPNPilot1200 said:
...I recieved the new Hard-drive today and I installed Windows XP, updates, programs, etc, etc... I went to go plop the OLD hard-drive into another slot and found the connector there, but no power from the HD to the motherboard. The new hard-drive has two connectors (Maxtor HD) one with I believe 6 wires and the other was a blue insulated cable that went directly to the motherboard. I am assuming this is a Power cable. I plugged in the HD to the 2nd connector (off the 1st connector to the New HD) and nothing happened since I didn't have any source of power. What is the exact terminology/where to obtain another power cord for the HD? I saw on the mobo that there are indeed two slots for it; the primary and secondary.
Click to expand...


Two main plugs are on IDE drives. Power and data. Both are required.
(1) The power plug is 4 pins. Look for an extra plug that's available that will fit that comes directly from the power supply. You usually get power directly from the power supply, not the motherboard.
(2) The data cable is the big cable (ribbon cable or bundled round usually) that has a 40 pin connector. Watch your polarity when plugging this in. There is usually a mark on the cable that indicated pin 1 (different colored wire or an arrow mark on the plug) Match that with the markings on the drive. These cables will often plug in backwards if you don't look for the pin1 markings. Plug it in backwards and nothing happens.

It sounds like you have a 40 pin cable from the motherboard going to the new drive then there is an extra 40 pin plug on that cable you're plugging into the old hard drive? Correct?
If so, you have to change the jumper settings on the old hard drive to assign it as slave. There's usually a place near the other pins on the back with a small jumper block. Something like 6 pins (labeled MA SL and something else) with a jumper over two of them. Sometimes there are instructions on top of the case showing which pins to jumper across to select MAster or SLave. Your old HD was your original master, if you're plugging it in the same cable with the new HD, you essentially have two master drives which doesn't work. You have to move the jumper on the old HD to tell it that it's now the slave drive.

That should work.
 
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Basically, It's not even being connected by a ribbon cable. It is just a 6-wire cable (not sure if it's 40 pins, but I know it's not, since I know what one looks like) I'll try and post some pictures :-(
 
The 4 wire plug with red, black and yellow lines is the power. The flat, wide cable that goes directly to the motherboard is the IDE Connector cable.

You can pick up a new IDE connector cable at a Best Buy or Circuit City or other computer store, or if you're in a more remote area, from here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=187477&CatId=410

That link is for a 24" IDE cable - just the thing for installing 2 hard drives when you need a little extra slack. (I HATE those short dinky 12" cables they include...)

There are also photo instructions on this next link for how to install.
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm
 
Hey Chuck,

Funny thing is....the new hard drive (and the old) doesn't use those cables. Look at the picture I posted; there is no slot for the 4 wire-power plug.

Jason
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Hey Chuck,

Funny thing is....the new hard drive (and the old) doesn't use those cables. Look at the picture I posted; there is no slot for the 4 wire-power plug.

Jason
Click to expand...

Where's the picture? Only one I can find is the thou shalt not steal picture that didn't make any sense.

Could it be a USB drive?
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/MaxtorULTRA16300GB7200SATA-Liquid3D-7738.jpg
Click to expand...

That link is hosed. Something about stolen picture and 'thou shalt not steal' or at least my machines anti hostility software may be protecting me from that link for some reason. My problem not yours.

Poking around that site though...This it?
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=335

Still can't see that specific picture. Oh well. But from the others on that page it is weird and very nonstandard or new enough that I haven't seen it anywhere before. Any chance there is a second separate drive cable going to the motherboard that you can use? Probably not from the sound of this thread though.

The weird picture has text above it: "Below our Diamond Max 10 300GB SATA hard drive with its single SATA power connection, in this case note the absence of pins and jumpers since as a Serial ATA drive it is a proprietary unit."

"Proprietary"...hmmm....sorry...that word is out of my skill set for many various specific reasons. I don't do proprietary.

I'll just wander off in the corner with the dunce hat now and stay out of the way...
 
Are you missing the data cable? SATA uses a different cable than previous IDE drives.
 
AirBaker said:
Are you missing the data cable? SATA uses a different cable than previous IDE drives.
Click to expand...

I have the data and power cables for the new hard drive, but only one extra cable which I believe is the power coming from the PSU. I think the skinny blue cable going to the mobo is the data cable. That would make the datacable smaller than the power...Does this make sense? Or maybe I'm missing the power cable...... :dunno:
 
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Well, I recieved the cable a few days ago and had to go into my BIOS to enable the 2nd data port (for a HD) and I transferred all of my files. Now onto my second question......

**Let me first make a side-note/glossary note; HD1 refers to the NEW hard drive and HD2 refers to the OLD (Win. XP corrupt HD)**

HD1 is working great, and everything is installed :)

HD2 has ALL of the old files and they are all accessable, just that the Windows XP (Home SP2) that's installed on it is corrupt.

Now I have transferred ALL of the needed files from HD2 to HD1 and they are all okay.

My main question is: Since I have a HD with files I have transferred....can I

1. Disconnect HD1
2. Connect HD2 to the primary slot
3. Re-install Windows XP on it (Dell has the feature to press a few buttons and make it look factory default)
4. Disconnect HD2 and store it
5. Reconnect HD1 and boot it up

My question involves #5; if I re-install XP on one and disconnect it (HD2) and then plug in HD1, will all of my files be okay including Windows XP (I know it sounds stupid, but I want to make sure before I do ANYTHING :goofy:)

Thanks!
 
Since you have transferred everything, then yes, what you have listed can certainly be done. You're saying you want to set HD2, the old drive, as a backup, emergency drive to be dropped in as needed, and yes, that's perfectly ok. If you take out HD1 and install XP on HD2 and take HD2 out and put HD1 back in, HD1 will be unaffected.

Stating the obvious here, but just keep in mind that whatever you do when HD2 is the boot drive will only be reflected when HD2 is the boot drive. What you do when HD1 is the boot drive can be totally different.

I have on occasion even set up multiple hard drives with different OS's and used special software to let me choose which one will boot, so I could get into Windows if i hit one key and Linux if I hit another, with both drives attached.

Kind of like having one medula oblongata (cpu) but 4 interchangeable cerebral cortexes.
 
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