OT - %^#$@& Damn Hard drive

[joe_collector]

PS, it's not 'selective'. An underpowered PSU will definitely cause erratic failure of devices. I know you like to be contrary on a range of comic issues, but this is something I actually know about

 

So you're saying that the odds are in favor of a PSU issue rather than a physical drive failure? I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, only that it's a very remote possibility.

 

I used to work IT support long ago and have never seen a PSU cause a HD to click-clack and not boot, yet work absolutely perfectly in another system. More recently, I put in some weekends of OT going though old equipment at a major financial institution. Of all the HDs that were automatically replaced, then shelved, over 99% of them had physical drive issues and had to be trashed - by far the worst result.

[He11blazer]

PS, it's not 'selective'. An underpowered PSU will definitely cause erratic failure of devices. I know you like to be contrary on a range of comic issues, but this is something I actually know about

 

So you're saying that the odds are in favor of a PSU issue rather than a physical drive failure? I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, only that it's a very remote possibility.

 

I used to work IT support long ago, and more recently, put in some weekends of OT going though old equipment at a major financial institution. Of all the HDs that were automatically replaced, then shelved, over 99% of them had physical drive issues and had to be trashed - by far the worst result.

 

Maybe it's just that the old Dell Optiplex 240/260/270 and 280's that formed the bulk of workstations where I work had PSU issues. Out of 150 comps I replaced at least a dozen PSU's in a year, and not a single HD.

 

I wasn't saying it was more likely, I was saying it was another possibility. Plus, I've been conditioned to blame the PSU first!

[Count]

Hello to all from my newly updated PC

 

I have the old HD on ice right now and can't wait to try it later. If I can get half of my files I would be a happy camper

 

Now to install my fav game. Unreal Tournament 99

[sd2416]

PS, it's not 'selective'. An underpowered PSU will definitely cause erratic failure of devices. I know you like to be contrary on a range of comic issues, but this is something I actually know about

 

So you're saying that the odds are in favor of a PSU issue rather than a physical drive failure? I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, only that it's a very remote possibility.

 

I used to work IT support long ago, and more recently, put in some weekends of OT going though old equipment at a major financial institution. Of all the HDs that were automatically replaced, then shelved, over 99% of them had physical drive issues and had to be trashed - by far the worst result.

 

Maybe it's just that the old Dell Optiplex 240/260/270 and 280's that formed the bulk of workstations where I work had PSU issues. Out of 150 comps I replaced at least a dozen PSU's in a year, and not a single HD.

 

I wasn't saying it was more likely, I was saying it was another possibility. Plus, I've been conditioned to blame the PSU first!

 

Those are the same models we have at work (being replaced with the 755's and 745's).

On those models, power supply replacements do outweigh hd replacements here as well, but we do replace a number of hard drives. There are about 10k machines on campus.

[joe_collector]

Maybe it's just that the old Dell Optiplex 240/260/270 and 280's that formed the bulk of workstations where I work had PSU issues. Out of 150 comps I replaced at least a dozen PSU's in a year, and not a single HD.

 

Now I understand, as specific lines always have individual issues.

[joeypost]

I turn on my computer this morning and the harddrive starts making this "clicking" sound.

 

I tried several times just to boot it and it's a no go, the harddrive is a gonner. There goes 40 gb worth of files

 

I normally copy most of my stuff onto my NAS server but of course I did not do this on a daily basis.

 

So I'm installing a new harddrive and a dvd burner this morning (old cd drive was dead).

 

Oh the joys of installing and configuring a new operating system....

 

The moral of this story??? BACK YOUR SHIET UP.

 

Most Windows OS have a built in Backup utility. Buy a USB portable hard drive. Create a backup folder on it and create a regular scheduled backup strategy.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Stick the HD in the freezer for a while then put it back in and try to start the computer. It could give you enough to get most or some of your files transfered.

 

 

Its an old trick, you have to make sure the drive is "frozen" so to speak and you only have one shot to get the info out.

 

I'll have to remember that one (thumbs u

 

I have had the solution for me me about once out of about ten tries.

[joe_collector]

Now to install my fav game. Unreal Tournament 99

 

That is the best PC game ever made, and no matter what new games I install, I keep going back for some UT goodness.

[Ringfinger]

Based on this topic, what is good back-up software (does it for you while you sleep, no worries) and what files do you back-up/choose?

[chromium]

Based on this topic, what is good back-up software (does it for you while you sleep, no worries) and what files do you back-up/choose?

 

I used Ghost for years to make a backup of my C-drive (which then could easily be placed on a new drive or on top of a corrupted OS) but have switched to True Image as it's a lot faster and lets you make a backup while you're working on the PC.

 

I always put the "my documents" folder on a different drive or partition then the one where the OS is located for safety and manually copy these files to a USB hard drive.

 

I backup my C-drive every month and back up my documents every week. Always keeping the three last backups and erasing the oldest every time I make a new one

[Ringfinger]

is this easily done with True Image?

 

What I have is all my I-Tunes on a hard drive in an external enclosure.

 

All my pictures are on the c-drive in my computer.

 

I copy and paste once a month to an external (WD notebook) harddrive and paste over the old back-up.

 

I guess there is a better way. I should have a ghost of my c-drive ( or what should I ghost from it? What is the most important to be able to get my computer back to where it was? I have a Dell and I am able to go back to a prior day as it has some sort of backup utility that saves stuff before you add software and the like),

a backup of pictures and a backup of I-Tunes and it should be done automatically.

 

Agree? If so, how do I make it happen, easily?

 

Lets just say my c drive takes a dump, how do I make sure I can restore from a back-up on an external drive so it is just like it was before it dumped? programs, settings and all.

 

 

[chromium]

is this easily done with True Image?

 

What I have is all my I-Tunes on a hard drive in an external enclosure.

 

All my pictures are on the c-drive in my computer.

 

I copy and paste once a month to an external (WD notebook) harddrive and paste over the old back-up.

 

I guess there is a better way. I should have a ghost of my c-drive ( or what should I ghost from it? What is the most important to be able to get my computer back to where it was? I have a Dell and I am able to go back to a prior day as it has some sort of backup utility that saves stuff before you add software and the like),

a backup of pictures and a backup of I-Tunes and it should be done automatically.

 

Agree? If so, how do I make it happen, easily?

 

Lets just say my c drive takes a dump, how do I make sure I can restore from a back-up on an external drive so it is just like it was before it dumped? programs, settings and all.

 

 

What you basically need to do is to make an image of your C-drive (a 10 minute 8-click step with True Image) and save this to a DVD or to an external drive.

Next time your C-drive craps out on you (not hardware related) you just boot up from DVD/CD/disc and start True Image, load the image from your external drive and let True Image restore your C-drive.

 

If Itunes and your pics are on your C-drive they will be backed up as well... if you change these folders a lot you'll need to make frequent backups. But like I said, it takes little time to do and you can do it while you're surfing the boards

 

hope this helps

 

[Ringfinger]

Yes, it does help. Where do I sign up? In other words, where can I get the software?

 

I would like to ghost my c-drive say once a week, and back-up my photos and music once a week or so. I think if I kepp multiple back-ups of my photos and misic it would take too much space. Can I exclude my docs from the ghost, and just back-up that and my misic weekly having the new back-up overwrite the old?

[chromium]

Yes, it does help. Where do I sign up? In other words, where can I get the software?

 

I would like to ghost my c-drive say once a week, and back-up my photos and music once a week or so. I think if I kepp multiple back-ups of my photos and misic it would take too much space. Can I exclude my docs from the ghost, and just back-up that and my misic weekly having the new back-up overwrite the old?

 

True Image

 

pics and music do take up a lot of space, why not exclude this folder from your C-drive image (backup) and backup (copy) these folders manually to an external drive. The first time will take the longest...and then you can manually copy the new pics and music from your folder to the backup folder each day/week and this will take a minute at most.

 

The True Image version I'm using is 3 years old, so I'm sure the newer versions will even have more features. I used Norton Ghost for 5-6 years but was blown away when I saw how much easier and flexible True Image was. I'm sure there are other top notch backup software progs around as well...but I have no experience with any other.

[Ringfinger]

Thanks. It can do incremental back-ups so it only addes the new stuff to my photo and pics folders? That would help. That is what I would like to do.

 

What about the back-up of the c drive sans the photos? How many back-ups do you keep and can you have it automatically write over the oldest back-up?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chromium]

Thanks. It can do incremental back-ups so it only addes the new stuff to my photo and pics folders? That would help. That is what I would like to do.

 

What about the back-up of the c drive sans the photos? How many back-ups do you keep and can you have it automatically write over the oldest back-up?

 

 

I keep three backups of every PC on an external HD...each backup takes up about 4 GB and that's with about 12 - 15 GB of data compressed.

 

True image also has the possibility to let the programme examine the previous backup and compare it to your current C-drive and then it will adjust the backup to make it up to date to all the changes you've made since the last backup.

I've never used this service as I like to take full backups as they hardly take up any time at all...once I make a new backup I just delete the oldest of the the three

[Silvers24]

Just be happy you didn't have a newly bought 1TB HDD format on it's own into a 32MB FAT HDD.

I lost about 200GB worth of stuff when that happend.

Not only but I nearly paniced.

 

Of course, having these back up programs, dont they copy everything?

If you have a virus, which is causing the crash, but you have a backup of the C drive

 

Install the new OS, then all you did was release that virus onto your new install.

 

 

I usually just do the old way, copy what I need, let the rest get deleted.

[chromium]

 

Of course, having these back up programs, dont they copy everything?

If you have a virus, which is causing the crash, but you have a backup of the C drive

 

Install the new OS, then all you did was release that virus onto your new install.

 

 

I usually just do the old way, copy what I need, let the rest get deleted.

 

that's why you keep multiple images. Once you discover you have a virus you just put the last image back which you know is safe and you get your PC like it was shortly before the virus came aboard.

 

My folk's PC had a very nasty trojan/worm combo which I really couldn't get rid off using a quick and nasty solution, so instead of messing around in DOS or combing through the register I just put an image back from a few months ago...they did loose some data (but very minimal) and have a good running PC again without the worm trouble and it took me less than half an hour to fix.

If they get infected again it'll be fairly easy to determine what the source was,; one of the new programs they installed after I put the image back.

 

[OldGuy]

Stick the HD in the freezer for a while then put it back in and try to start the computer. It could give you enough to get most or some of your files transfered.

 

 

Its an old trick, you have to make sure the drive is "frozen" so to speak and you only have one shot to get the info out.

 

Does it really work ? Or is it another urban legend ?...Is there anybody here who have really recovered data with this trick ?

 

I have tried this a dozen times or so and it worked twice. There are more reliable methods, but none easier. I always try the freazer trick first, and when that fails I move on to more conventional (and mre time consuming) methods.

[Count]

Stick the HD in the freezer for a while then put it back in and try to start the computer. It could give you enough to get most or some of your files transfered.

 

 

Its an old trick, you have to make sure the drive is "frozen" so to speak and you only have one shot to get the info out.

 

Does it really work ? Or is it another urban legend ?...Is there anybody here who have really recovered data with this trick ?

 

I have tried this a dozen times or so and it worked twice. There are more reliable methods, but none easier. I always try the freazer trick first, and when that fails I move on to more conventional (and mre time consuming) methods.

 

The Frozen HD myth does WORK... Woohoo.

 

Got my files back so now i can smash this old HD againt a rock to my hearts content.

 

:banana: