Hardware

Ratonetwothreetwoone

<div class="IPBDescription">hard drive issue</div> hello, some of you may remember my thread about my hard drive dying, if not here it is <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=79049&hl' target='_blank'>http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/in...wtopic=79049&hl</a>
please dont bump it

since then i havent done anything about it because i havent really been getting any serious problems or anything, but i think i want to do something now

recently its been making some clicky sounds every so often, and i just defragged last and all ive done since that was play ns and mid game it restarted my comp, i got the usual "hardware monitor has found a problem enter power setup menu for details," i went on and when it started up i got the also usual "c: is 85% fragmented"

so my question is this, i have 2 hard drives, my d: is my backup and my c: is my primary, how can i switch the two roles. how can i install windows on the d: and not lose any of the backed up files i have on that hard drive? and change my c: to be my secondary..

Swiftspear

It WILL die very soon. Determine witch drive is ticking (boot with the slave unplugged and if you still get ticking it is you master), back up as much as possible onto your slave, and buy a new drive ASAP, because it won't be long before you current drive simply won't work at all, and at that point, data recovery can cost in excess of five hundred dollars

Perdition

Jesus, where do you shop at? When my computer died it cost me $350 to have most of my hard drive recovered, and have it repaired, with parts I already bought.

Swiftspear

Fair enough, I was quoting from memory... Anyways, the cost effective solution would be to back up your vital information, and by a new harddrive. A new HD costs signifigantly less than a dollar a gig, so rather than paying 350 for data recovery and a new drive, you need only pay aprox 67$ for data recovery and a new drive. But that only applies if you get to it quick.

Zel

when you install windows it prefers to wipe off the entire partition it is installing to. There is an option to tell it to leave the Current FileSystem intact, but that MAY cause problems down the road, since it was never installed clenly.

just unplug the ticking drive, make your backup into the master for the channel and start loading windows from the XP CD, being sure NOT to format.

cost of recovery:
My shop charges 50$ to copy data from a working/ticking drive to a cd.
We charge 100$ to copy formatted or deleted data from a working/ticking drive to a cd. (lost partition table or master file table too)
If youve got a friend who is good with PC repairs, he will do it for a case of b... soda.

If the motor breaks, the drive wont spin anymore, and the drive has to be dissected in a cleanroom to save the data. this requires shipping the drive out of state to a specialist, and they will charge 500 to 1000 dollars.

If the electronics break, the drive simply will not recognize in windows, and the circuit board must be replaced. this requires the same model harddrive in new condition and someone with microscopic soldering abilities. This also tends to require shipping the drive out of state and several hundred dollars.
---
Moral: get the data off that dieing drive before it's too late.

Ratonetwothreetwoone

1) the ticking drive IS the c:, im almost positve

2) i DID back up the files, i just wanna know that if, when it does break, i can install windows onto the drive i backed the files up on to without losing the files...

3) when, it does break i can just send it in and get a new one for whatever the shipping cost is...

so basically what i WANT to do is just have my d: with all the files i want to keep on it... then when i run the c: into the ground i want to replace it with the d: and just use that until i get my fresh drive... i was just asking if it would be bad to install windows onto a drive with files on it, thanks for that piece of information zel.. im not planning on really paying that much

Swiftspear

I wouldn't wait until it is too late before you try to install windows to your D: drive. If worst comes to worst and you lose all your files on D:, at least you still have your C: drive working and can rebackup the lost files. If your C: drive dies, and you lose all files on D: your just screwed.