Re: Maxtor external hard drive no longer recognized by My Computer
- From: HartsVideo <HartsVideo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 10:35:02 -0800
"All Things Mopar" wrote:
Today =?Utf-8?B?SGFydHNWaWRlbw==?= commented courteously on
the subject at hand
[snip]
I have three 300G hard drives that are near capacity and
only a vcd ROM drive, an impossible task to back-up that
many files that way. I recently purchased a Seagate int hd
for additional space and to back-up the most important
files but the Maxtor crashed before I could install it.
One more week was all I needed . . .
(famous last words)
Denise, I have a Maxtor 300 gig identical to yours. I am sorry
to hear about your troubles. Fortunately for me, mine has been
running fine for months.
As to multiple backups to avoid the catastrophic data loss
you've suffered and the obvious lack of practicality in
keeping 300 gig up-to-date with DVDs (or, 900 gig in your
case, Egad!), here is what I did to increase overall security
for my 3 PCs.
I bought two more externals from a company I'd never heard of
- Hammer. They only cost $180 for 250gig and are performing
well. Performance and MTBF failure specs are the same as
Maxtor Western Digital, Seagate, and other popular brands,
they're just less expensive. I am using them as rotating off-
site backups in what IS/IT people call "grandfathering".
Basically, here's what I do:
I rented a larger safety deposit box at my local bank for
$67/year which will easily take a Hammer drive as well as my
important papers. Once a month, I copy /everything/ from all
the partitions of my PCs, including an Acronis True Image 9.0
full partition backup of my C:\Windows primary partition.
After one set of full backups is complete, I exchange the
Hammer I have in my home with the one at the bank, and repeat
the same scheme the following month.
My idea is to mitigate two main worries: 1) total loss of
everything in the event of a fire, tornado, or some otehr
natural disaster, and 2) a break-in where everything is
stolen. I hope I never need to "recover" from one of these
catastrophic disasters, but if I do, I am reasonably sure that
I won't lose more than a month's worth of data, as well as be
able to reload Windoze without the usual nuke and reinstall
mess.
Along the way, my triple whammy external solution, augmented
by CD-R and DVD-R, also theoretically protects me from any of
my HDs suddenly dying or any one of my 3 externals dying, as
yours have. So, the two Hammers rotate to the bank and my (so
far) working Maxtor is attached for everyday backups.
Sorry to be verbose, but if you have a few extra dollars, this
idea may help you as well. Plus, others lurking may pick up an
idea or two from both of us.
Good luck in getting your data back!
--
ATM, aka Jerry
"Whether You Think You CAN Or CAN'T, You're Right." – Henry Ford
Thanks for your input Jerry. Someone else here mentioned the triple whammy
also. I know I have to do something (it's the reason for the purchase of the
additional drive) but I was so busy trying to crank out the work that I let
backing it up go, always thinking that I'd do it properly when I had the
chance. For the past few days, I've been looking for cheaper external hd's
so I'll look into the Hammers. I've also been considering hot swapable
drives but it would mean a new case because I have a zip drive and the size
of the zip drive opening isn't large enough. My pc is old but it's a work
horse that takes a beating and has, so far, kept on processing, but I plan on
replacing it within the next year or so at the most. If it's still working
when I get the new pc, I'll use it for networking . . . while it burns to
disk, I'll be cranking out my work on the new one.
Shortly, I'm going to be looking into the feasibility of removing the case
from the failed Maxtor and connecting the drive internally.
Denise
.
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