Re: Replacing hd query

philo wrote:
"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



Well you can but I wouldn't recommend it. I did it a few years ago for a specific reason (I think it was me working on my XBox) and it didn't end quite how I wanted. The part for the IDE controller for me wasn't an issue. It was when I hooked up the power.

If you are not careful you can cause a short when you hook up the power. I was very lucky when I did that. The over voltage protection in my power supply kicked in and shut the system down before any damage occurred but the next person may not be. All I remember was a bright white light for about a second then the system kicking off real quick.

It would be very dangerous and foolish to attempt to hot swap any kind of hard drive or anything that has a power hookup directly to the power supply unit. You can damage the unit, damage the computer, or worse.

The last thing I want to read is something similar to the kid who wrapped his XBox 360 in plastic then dropped it into a aquarium full of water (while it was running) thinking it would cool his XBox down. That didn't end so well...

Oh and you can still damage your IDE controller too. That is the other reason why you shouldn't do it.

--
Robert Pendell
shinji@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"A perfect world is one of chaos."

Thawte Web of Trust Notary
CAcert Assurer
.

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