Northerner
enthusiast
Reged: 23/01/2006
Posts: 341
Loc: Sydney, Oz (ex. Manchester)
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Well, after a couple years of faithful service one of my laptops has now got a failed (I think) hard drive. The other day it just would not start up - would not get past the initial Windows XP low res startup screed.
Eventually managed to get it started after a disk check (during which it truncated and removed various files), then re-started it again and seemed to load up OK (although taking 10 times longer than it should). I could see all my photos etc in the D drive (phew!) but was still running like a dog.
Tried system restore but it seems that one of the files removed during the disk check was the system restore file - so no option to restore.
Restarted again and needed another disk check - this check has now been running for 36hours and is 85% through... Lots of bad sectors are being found on C drive - I'm pretty sure that it's screwed.
SO! Next thing is - do I just replace the whole laptop (please say yes  ) with a nice 17" Dell hi-res thing (by the way - this is our main computer. Have toyed with getting a desktop (would much prefer it actually) but just so inconvenient having it tucked away in the office or wherever. Our laptops are always on and always in the kitchen/living area) or just buy a new hard drive?
Plan could be;
1. Remove existing hard drive and put in an external case
2. Buy new hard drive for laptop (current one is 80GB - can I go up to, say, 250GB without issues??)
3. Can I then just stick in the system recovery disk that came with the laptop to re-install XP on the new drive??
This sounds too easy - particularly the installing XP on a fresh drive bit - I can't quite see this happening. If this is a no-no, what do I do? Shell out for a new operating system to install on the new hard drive??
Sorry for the long post - I'm sure this can be sorted one way or another and I'm pretty certain the photos are ok on the disk (I have a back up of most anyway) so not too worried about that. Just weather I am lookong at new hard drive + new operating system or just get a new laptop? (I can effectively get about 45% off by buying through work)
Thanks for taking the time to read and I look forward to any assistance!!
Cheers,
Graham
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Nic and Graham's photo site...
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beejaybee
Marvin
Reged: 18/07/2007
Posts: 4241
Loc: Really Here In Name Only
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Quote:
1. Remove existing hard drive and put in an external case
2. Buy new hard drive for laptop (current one is 80GB - can I go up to, say, 250GB without issues??)
3. Can I then just stick in the system recovery disk that came with the laptop to re-install XP on the new drive??
This sounds too easy - particularly the installing XP on a fresh drive bit - I can't quite see this happening.
Should work fine. You will still spend ages reinstalling all the software you've added, applying updates & configuring the way you want it. And you will probably struggle to recover data from the failing hard disk.
But really this is the way to go....
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Rhys
Sasquatch
Reged: 15/01/2004
Posts: 2731
Loc: York (home of the speedbump)
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Maybe I'm being a bit thick but I've thought about getting another hard drive for mine (as my lappy drive is 20Gb and nearly full - but I do have an external as well to store pics/files on). Cannot the programme file folder be drag'n'dropped onto the new drive (assuming it isn't corrupted)?
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NRIPN (Officially Nuts..)
RGMP.co.uk (My Website.. well early stages anyway)
Benchinistas.org.uk The home of Benchism
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BigWill
Cupcake-Babykins- Creampuff
Reged: 08/09/2000
Posts: 33260
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Hopefully your system restore disk will install your OS back onto a new unformatted hard disk. (though I'm not sure about that, but fingers crossed!  ) I'd try and recover your picture files from the folder they're on in the old hard disk first and copy them to a flash disk/cd/dvd if you can. A new hard disk sounds the way to go (much cheaper than a new laptop!) but make sure you get the right type (check to see if it's SATA or IDE connection). If there are bad sectors on the old disk I'd just junk it as it will prove to be unreliable as data storage but hit it with a hammer first so that some unscrupulous person can't recover data from it should they hoke it out of your bin!
BigWill
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I'm sailing like a driftwood on a windy bay.
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SqueamishOssifrage
veteran
Reged: 13/09/2006
Posts: 1439
Loc: Ayia Anna, Hub of the Universe
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Quote:
Cannot the programme file folder be drag'n'dropped onto the new drive (assuming it isn't corrupted)?
It can be, but the programs won't run! I am afraid that all the programs will have to be reinstalled, after Windows is reinstalled. However, if you can get hold of Norton Ghost, or a similar program, I would suggest that you get a new, higher capacity hard drive, and an external USB drive case for it. Then you can 'Ghost' a drive image of your C: drive to the new drive over the USB connection, and then physically swap the drives over. All should work well - I do this fairly regularly, whenever I can upgrade to a larger drive (currently waiting on a pair of 320GB 7200rpm drives for my next upgrade  ).
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'You people, you think I know duck nothing; I tell you: I know duck all.'
Credited to Michael Curtiz by David Niven
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Norman
Reged: 23/09/2004
Posts: 1547
Loc: West London, UK
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A fine solution if his C: drive was working properly. Don't try to image the drive if it has corruption as that corruption will be replicated on the new drive.
As Will says, get all the data you can off your existing C: drive onto other storage then replace the drive and use your recovery disk to re-install the operating system. Then the big task of re-installing all your software and updating the OS.
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Regards,
Norman
www.photobox.org.uk
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the start of a new argument.
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Northerner
enthusiast
Reged: 23/01/2006
Posts: 341
Loc: Sydney, Oz (ex. Manchester)
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Thanks for the replies. Well the disk check has now finished and I am writing this from the laptop - seems almost as good as it was before! There are various programmes which won't work and the sound is shot though.
I ran the 'error check' on the c drive and it just came back saying 'check complete' - no info on if there were any bad sectors etc. Running defrag now but still don't really have any confidence in the drive.
I also can't find my repair cd - so I think I will get a new drive, up the RAM whilst I'm at it and just buy a new copy of XP and be done with it. Like you say will mean I have to spend a while re-installing everything but I really have no confidence in this hard drive now!
Weird that it seems to be working ok now though...
Anyway thanks for the advice so far.
Graham
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Nic and Graham's photo site...
Edited by Northerner (26/06/2008 10:42)
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BigWill
Cupcake-Babykins- Creampuff
Reged: 08/09/2000
Posts: 33260
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Quote:
Thanks for the replies. Well the disk check has now finished and I am writing this from the laptop - seems almost as good as it was before! There are various programmes which won't work and the sound is shot though.
I ran the 'error check' on the c drive and it just came back saying 'check complete' - no info on if there were any bad sectors etc. Running defrag now but still don't really have any confidence in the drive.
I also can't find my repair cd - so I think I will get a new drive, up the RAM whilst I'm at it and just buy a new copy of XP and be done with it. Like you say will mean I have to spend a while re-installing everything but I really have no confidence in this hard drive now!
Weird that it seems to be working ok now though...
Anyway thanks for the advice so far.
Graham
"chkdsk" does it's best to repair bad sectors on the hard disk which is why it's probably working now but it's usually an imminent sign of disk failure if you start getting bad clusters on the disk so I'd go ahead with the plan to replace the drive before it lets you down again.
BigWill
P.S. Try ebay for an OEM copy of windows, much cheaper than your local computer store and does the job just the same!
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I'm sailing like a driftwood on a windy bay.
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LargeFormat
old hand
Reged: 24/10/2006
Posts: 976
Loc: Buckinghamshire and Cumbria
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Buy a new hard drive. They are cheap as chips, a 250Gb 2.5" Western Digital Scorpio will set you back about £60.00. Remember you need an IDE drive. New computers use SATA. Delay and you might not be able to source IDEs. Reinstall your programs. The system recovery disk makes things much simpler and you shouldn't have the embarassing telephone conversation with Microsoft to get it accredited. A clean install will run much better than any attempts to rescue programs.
Put the old disk in an external case - you can get these for as little as a fiver although post will double that. Copy your data across remembering to include your Outlook .pst file. The chuck the old drive - it just isn't worth the risk.
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FujiSigmaNolta
veteran
Reged: 21/06/2005
Posts: 1310
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Hi,
I would do this:
- You can still buy the new HD and install it but put the old one in a HDD external case (around £15), run Ubuntu LiveCD (it is free and runs with no install from the CD/DVD drive,you just need to make sure your system boots from CD/DVD) and see if it can recover or read the files. More often than not, when you still get Windows trying to start, the good old penguin (Linux Ubuntu or any other) can still read some files and retrieve them. If it can read copy them over to another drive ( if you want to copy them to the new one make sure that Windows is pre-installed otherwise when you install Windows it will erase them). You can test if it can read even before you change to the new HDD by running the LiveCD.
-For your new drive to work properly, you will very likely need the recovery media for your specific system. Many manufacturers these days "tattoo" the drives and as such if you try to OEM or install Windows on its own it may not work. This tends to be an increasing trend particularly if your laptop is about 3-2 years old.
Windows restore is gone with the dogs with the old drive if the drive is really faulty and plus it tends to put back any other problems that OS had before(system restore is pretty much just a backup).
Complete System Recovery or Full Destructive Recovery is what you want for the new drive ( or the old one if it turns out that it's ok and you want to keep it but obviously this erases all your files and we don't want that without having backed them up with Ubuntu LiveCD).
You can download the Ubuntu LiveCD free or pick a copy or image buy buying Linux Magazine or Linux Format magazine. It can read,format,create partitions or repartition in any file system, NTFS,FAT32,FAT16,HFS,ext2,ext3....so on, so on.
But don't forget that if your old drive is really gone and you haven't created the recovery media, you will have to very likely order it from the manufacturer.
Long gone are the days that OEMing a PC was easy....
I hope this helps.
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Regards,
FujiSigmaNolta
My Flickr mess
My Blog
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Donkey
enthusiast
Reged: 31/05/2007
Posts: 201
Loc: Northants
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My Money would be on a nice shiny new lappy 
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IvorETower
Little Buttercup
Reged: 15/11/2006
Posts: 1629
Loc: Camberley, Surrey
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You said in your first post that the lappy is nearly always on....... in that case, replace it with a desktop. Lappys don't like being on for a long time, they are not designed for this use and will overheat given half a chance.
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FujiSigmaNolta
veteran
Reged: 21/06/2005
Posts: 1310
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I missed that bit, in that case it may be your motherboard going and HDD is ok.
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Regards,
FujiSigmaNolta
My Flickr mess
My Blog
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Northerner
enthusiast
Reged: 23/01/2006
Posts: 341
Loc: Sydney, Oz (ex. Manchester)
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Quote:
in that case it may be your motherboard going and HDD is ok.
Blimey! Really?! I think I will go the new hard drive route and see what happens, maybe it's time to seriously think about new lappy though...
With regards the desktop - I would prefer one really - if nothing else for a vastly superior screen and easier connection of additional storage etc. It's just that I don't think it will be used as much as it's in a separate room (oh and I can only buy laptops though work to get the big discount - not desktops).
Thanks for the advice,
Graham
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Nic and Graham's photo site...
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BigWill
Cupcake-Babykins- Creampuff
Reged: 08/09/2000
Posts: 33260
Loc: Northern Ireland
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Quote:
Quote:
in that case it may be your motherboard going and HDD is ok.
Blimey! Really?! I think I will go the new hard drive route and see what happens, maybe it's time to seriously think about new lappy though...
With regards the desktop - I would prefer one really - if nothing else for a vastly superior screen and easier connection of additional storage etc. It's just that I don't think it will be used as much as it's in a separate room (oh and I can only buy laptops though work to get the big discount - not desktops).
Thanks for the advice,
Graham
Unlikely to be the motherboard I reckon as this usually results in the sodding thing not starting at all. Stick to the new HD plan though I agree that a desktop is far easier to repair and upgrade........................it's just that it's a bug*er to carry around and you need a hell of a long extension lead! 
BigWill
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I'm sailing like a driftwood on a windy bay.
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FujiSigmaNolta
veteran
Reged: 21/06/2005
Posts: 1310
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Not necessarily, sometimes the system just blue screens right after the Windows logo(while loading) and some even startup give you a driver error and blue screen. Depends what is damaged on the mobo and to what extent.
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Regards,
FujiSigmaNolta
My Flickr mess
My Blog
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