Swapping failing laptop hard drive

[sknight]

I believe my HD might be failing.

So what's the easiest way to run and HD exchange and get back up and running fast? I still have to determine if I have ATA or IDE.

So here's the quick and dirty:

1. Last year, on occasion, I get the windows blue screen of death upon startup, indicating the check disk. Check disk usually takes over an hour.

2. Checkdisk becomes more and more frequent.

3. Upon every startup, checkdisk activates.

4. Used the disk repair utility (under c: properties).

5. Defragged several times

6. Selected check disk.

Seemed to work, but only for a few days.

7. General operating instability is noted, as well as slow operation. Problems close citing errors and not being able to find components. Periodically, the computer "stops" and starts during use, meaning it gets slow and I can see a stall that lasts a fraction of a second. Takes a long time to access folders, start programs, and go into the control panel.

8. Ran the disk repair yesterday, then selected for a disk check upon startup. Disk check and verification lasted 14 hours. Terminal works fine, although it is perhaps a bit slower compared to my gf's computer (same brand, one processor up, more RAM, widescreen). Some pics (that have already been backed up are looking corrupted).

9. Damaged sectors is up from ~4444kb to ~12,000kb now.

I am being told to change my HD and I've found some Western Digitals at Newegg.com. They supposedly have very high shock resistance, good power consumption, and good access speeds. Prices are reasonable. I shall be upgrading from 80-->100 or 120 at this time. I won't go further because the larger ones seem to be defect prone.

Acer Model 4651, 80 gig HD, 2005 model.

So what's the easiest way to run this exchange and get back up and running fast? Do I need those installers that came with the programs?

Here's a link from Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Brand.asp?Brand=1306&name=Western-Digital).

[sknight]

Checked the driver properties and it looks like I have IDE. Not 100% sure, but that's what it looks like.

[mikepop]

I use an external drive to swap files quickly.

[sknight]

Was thinking about that. It's an option, although I have stacks of DVD RW's available.

I'm kind of interested in getting my programs up and running fast.

I guess when I start up with the new HD, I'll be reinstalling windows from the disc (XP PRO, don't remember if it was preinstalled), or would I simply be able to install from the mirror backup disc? Again, looking for the easiest and fastest way back up.

Also, I'm worried about having all the drivers.

[thelord68]

External cradle for the new drive via usb. Use a program called DriveImageXML from Runtime Software. Clones the existing drive to a new one. You may have to use a BartPE disk with DriveImage on it to do this. Good new.. all of the software is free.

Do this ASAP before the drive fails permanently.

Just upgraded my laptop in the last week this way. Do it all the time for clients.

[sknight]

Thanks a bunch. Sounds good. Now I also have a question about mirroring, as opposed to starting from scratch-

If I have corrupted or missing components in windows or my other programs, logic says they will be mirrored onto the new drive. Is there a way they "self-heal", or what do I do from there? As I previously mentioned, I have system instability. Works great right now, but who knows tomorrow.

Oh, and how much do those cradles cost and how much?

[thelord68]

You can do a repair or an in-place upgrade to fix the problems.

If you need an enclosure with an IDE interface, they can be under $10. Ones with SATA interfaces internally are around $30.

[sknight]

Gotcha. Exanimate is coaching me along, too. He simply thinks my computer has The Aids, which is entirely possible.

Now I know what you mean by cradle.

[sknight]

Under exanimate's recommendation, I'm thinking about backing all my data up to DVD's, then formatting the HD. Now when I back everything up, just format the c drive from windows, or should I do it from the run menu, etc?

What could I do for the best success and ease? How long does it take to format an 80 gig HD?

[Mindriot]

You should just get a new Drive and install Windows on it. Then, Slave your old drive and drag and drop the files you want to keep from the old drive in Windows Explorer. Then format the old drive in windows and use it as a backup. Sounds like your current drive is on the verge of totally crapping out anyway.

[sknight]

Gotcha. I'll go for a Western Digital. Probably up to a 100 or 120 gig from 80.

[sknight]

Ok, ordered a Western Digital 120gig HD. Supposedly, this model is one with ridiculous shock resistance. Got a 1394 enclosure for the old one, in case I can format it and fix it from there. I'll have 120 on hand, 80 for backup.

Gonna format my HD now, just to see if that helps during the interim. Then I'll reinstall. Wonderful.

[sknight]

Ok, ordered the new HD from newegg (gotta love them).

So under someone's recommendation, I actually went back to the initial configuration on the internal HD from the factory. So far, the computer seems to be running well, compared to before. Perhaps some virus or something corrupted the os sectors of the HD.

Now I have some more questions:

I would like to use the incoming 120gb hd as my new internal. The issue at hand will be that the discs I have for XP Pro are acer system discs, not XP dedicated discs. I'm wondering if I can do a full install with these things? When I reverted back to the original config, it seemed to not bother with a disc at all. One disc is the system and the other two are the recovery discs. I also used a utility donated by a friend to reveal the serial key from this preinstalled XP Pro.

My plan is to use the new 120gb hd, while the old one goes in an enclosure as a backup. It appears this recovery has saved it, even though I actually wanted to run a full format and a clean install. Now what the fuck do people do when their drives fail altogether and they have these discs? Are they able to install from scratch?

[thelord68]

The factory install image is probably in a hidden partition on the hard drive. This may or may not work if you clone the whole drive because it may be sized for the specific size of the original drive.

Also, the recovery disks should work. A lot of the manufacturers alter the standard windows install to include the proper drivers for your hardware during the install process.

[sknight]

Lord,

Thanks for all the help. It is sincerly appreciated. So I did the test and the HD does not go into disc check. In fact, I purposely shut down improperly to see what would happen and the disc check that came up lasted only one minute instead of 14 hours. Even when my drive was loaded, it shouldn't have taken more than an hour or two.

The bad sectors are no longer being reported.

So my idea when the new HD comes in is to remove the HD (computer off), then install that HD and try to set up windows using it. I'll go into the Acer OS to set the dvd drive to turn on first, I believe, throw the discs in, then see what happens. The contingency is to use the new drive with the enclosure as my external, but I don't trust this drive at this point, despite the fact the computer is working well. I don't think it's working optimally, however. So in a worst case scenario, if I can't set windows up with the new HD and the discs, I can always swap back or use the software you mentioned above (again, not optimal because I need to make sure the programs are not corrupt, something this recovery point does not do, as it didn't require a disc to do it).

This experience has also taught me to keep the installers for several programs I did not. Freeware or not, it does help to keep a disc of the installers.

[sknight]

Blue screen of death and a long disc check session is coming up.

Good thing I ordered the new HD. Still better stability since the reinstall.

[sknight]

So I let it go through the checkdisk and here is a screenshot of what was reported back:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a326/sknightx1/DSCF0981Medium.jpg

And for you metal fans out there, some gratuitous METAL:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a326/sknightx1/DSCF0988Medium.jpg

The incomparable Coroner (first and last album):
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a326/sknightx1/DSCF0990Medium.jpg

[sknight]

Update:

Still waiting on the new HD. Fucking UPS fucked me again. They didn't send my package by air, instead throwing it on a truck and being done with it. In the meantime, my recovered HD became unstable with corrupted files in the win32 sectors, along with my outboard wireless driver not being removable due to corruption, but it also overrides the internal wireless setup completely, despite being unusable. It might have been the .NET utility I installed, but it didn't work right. Fucked up my user accounts, too.

Tried doing a boot from the system AcerUtility/XP Pro boot disc after setting the dvd drive to boot first from the bios. Things went ok, until the second screen where it asked me to click ok to start the drive from the beginning. The problem is THERE IS NO FUCKING MOUSE POINTER TO MOVE AND CLICK. I did everything I could with the keyboard, but nothing.

I was finally able to fuck around with this by getting back into the BIOS and running the recovery once again. I think it's all good now. I still don't trust this drive, however.

So I looked at the FAQ after downloading DriveImageXML and it looks like I'll pretty much follow these instructions for the new HD, then plug it in:
DriveImage XML FAQ (http://www.runtime.org/driveimage_faq.htm)

Ideally, I would like to go in right from the beginning as a new, clean install, completely unrelated to the old drive that could be fucked up, but that not being able to click ok is turning me off. Wondering if I can plug a mouse in and have it work?