Re: Replacing hd query


"pjp" <pjpoirier_is_located_at_@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eRcanA%23rIHA.3940@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It appears primary hard disk is in danger of imminent failure as pc had
hard
time booting today. It was hanging at BIOS screen showing IDE channel
probing at primary channel ide 1 (of 1 & 2). When I took away power to
primary hard disk it passed where it was hanging on boot, going on to
indicate it saw secondary hard disk on ide1 and cd burner and dvd burner
on
ide2. As expected, it stopped booting instead asking for an OS to boot
from
"somewhere" :) I reconnected power cable to primary hard disk and
thankfully
it came alive and all "seems" well. Funny S.M.A.R.T. shows no indication
even using WD's own software?

Given the above, keep pc running and get new hard disk pronto. After
checking local prices I prefer a WD250 gig as believe pc will support it
(2.8Gz, XP-SP2 Pro).

It's likely I can put the new hard disk in as a swap for one of the ide2
channel devices easily and get pc to boot again. Little risky but might
even be able to do a "hot swap" while pc is rebooting to insure primary
hard
disk stays recognized.

So, my question is?

What's best, easiest, cheapest. most reliable way to "clone" existing hard
disk onto new hard disk then take out old primary in ide1, put new hard
disk
on primary ide1 and reconnect ide2 device was temporarily used by new hard
disk?

It comes to mind booting with a Linux live cd such as new Ubuntu might
make
it easy to just drag and drop from old hard disk to new hard disk. Would
this work?

Old hard disk can go in another pc on Ethernet in house and assuming it
still will come alive, I'm willing to let it live out whatever days it has
left just being a catchall copy/backup/replaceable multi-media server disk




The best cloning utility (IMHO) is Acronis True Image


whatever you do though...do NOT try to hot swap anything on an IDE channel


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: NO ROM BASIC, System halted
    ... You can actually stop it from doing the ScanDisk on Boot Up (if you ... was that Message from the *BIOS* then? ... & which "SETUP" is it referring to? ... tried to Boot from the HDD (Hard Disk Drive) & couldn't & the Floppy ...
    (uk.people.silversurfers)
  • Re: Corrupted Partition and Continous Reboot problem
    ... I reboot the system (hard ... Then I get to the safe boot mode, ... > The priority to save the priceless data on the hard disk, ... > Asus A8N-SLI Premium MB ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Error Loading OS
    ... I take it that you have 4 IDE devices in there and that they are connected on 2 IDE controllers on the motherboard. ... The reason your computer doesn't boot when all the devices are attached to the motherboard is because the IDE chain is not correctly setup or that the Boot Order in the BIOS is set to pass the boot to the wrong drive. ... Then reset BIOS to boot from Hard Disk - I got the same Error LOading OS ... When you paste the contents of the file here also tell us how many drives and partitions you have in the computer. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Notice of intention to complain
    ... If you have a usb flash drive, insert it prior to booting from bartpe ... Boot sector viruses on the hard disk won't be activated if you don't ... All I want from Symantec is one of them to email me and give me instructions ...
    (alt.comp.anti-virus)
  • Re: Access Denied to Previous Version Installation of Win XP
    ... My compliments Jeffrey, ... It took me some hashing about but, I was able to boot the ... >>If not, have you tried booting into safe mode, logging on ... >>>installed another hard disk, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
Loading