Hard Drive On Last Leg? [Hardware]

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From: Pokerskatershark on 4 May 2008 15:18

Hello All,

I have a feeling my hard drive is on its last leg. When I turn it on,
it makes a VERY loud grinding noise. I could be wrong, but it
certainly doesn't sound like it's too happy! It is almost two years
old and is a Dell XPS 400. (Not sure if that info is needed)

I have backed up everything on an external hard drive. The problem I
am having is, when and if the HD does crash, is it possible to just
slap a new internal HD in my computer?

I realize that I will have to have an OS on it. My computer did not
come with any recovery CD's. I followed Dells' "recovery" process....
1) Go to the Start menu 2) All Programs 3) Dell Accessories 4)
Recovery. Problem is, there is no #4 option in my start menu.

I called Dell and I am not joking when the tech said to me "It should
be there" I purchased the computer via the Dell website and not
through a retailer. After a long discussion (1.5 hours) the tech's
final response was "I'm not sure what happened, but it should be
there. I am not sure where it is" I told him that this was the very
first time I had tried to do a recovery and where could "it" have
gone. No answer.

They are refusing to send me any recovery CD's and obviously I don't
have an XP disc lying around. Is there anything I can do? I am VERY
frustrated right now.

Thanks so much for any help.

From: Rod Speed on 4 May 2008 15:33

Pokerskatershark <pokerskatershark(a)yahoo.com> wrote

> I have a feeling my hard drive is on its last leg. When I
> turn it on, it makes a VERY loud grinding noise. I could
> be wrong, but it certainly doesn't sound like it's too happy!

Its more likely to be an internal fan, not the hard drive.

> It is almost two years old and is a Dell XPS 400.
> (Not sure if that info is needed)

> I have backed up everything on an external hard drive.
> The problem I am having is, when and if the HD does crash,
> is it possible to just slap a new internal HD in my computer?

Yes.

> I realize that I will have to have an OS on it. My computer did not
> come with any recovery CD's. I followed Dells' "recovery" process....
> 1) Go to the Start menu 2) All Programs 3) Dell Accessories 4)
> Recovery. Problem is, there is no #4 option in my start menu.

> I called Dell and I am not joking when the tech said to me "It should be
> there" I purchased the computer via the Dell website and not through
> a retailer. After a long discussion (1.5 hours) the tech's final response
> was "I'm not sure what happened, but it should be there. I am not sure
> where it is" I told him that this was the very first time I had tried to do
> a recovery and where could "it" have gone. No answer.

> They are refusing to send me any recovery CD's and obviously
> I don't have an XP disc lying around. Is there anything I can do?

Yes, you can do a full image backup of the hard drive using something like
Acronis True Image, burn what it calls the rescue CD. Then if the hard drive
does die, boot that rescue CD and restore the backup to the new hard drive.

> I am VERY frustrated right now.

> Thanks so much for any help.

From: RBM on 4 May 2008 15:39

"Pokerskatershark" <pokerskatershark(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e5be84ca-6792-4eef-b9b7-48b781878425(a)y18g2000pre.googlegroups.com...
> Hello All,
>
> I have a feeling my hard drive is on its last leg. When I turn it on,
> it makes a VERY loud grinding noise. I could be wrong, but it
> certainly doesn't sound like it's too happy! It is almost two years
> old and is a Dell XPS 400. (Not sure if that info is needed)
>
> I have backed up everything on an external hard drive. The problem I
> am having is, when and if the HD does crash, is it possible to just
> slap a new internal HD in my computer?
>
> I realize that I will have to have an OS on it. My computer did not
> come with any recovery CD's. I followed Dells' "recovery" process....
> 1) Go to the Start menu 2) All Programs 3) Dell Accessories 4)
> Recovery. Problem is, there is no #4 option in my start menu.
>
> I called Dell and I am not joking when the tech said to me "It should
> be there" I purchased the computer via the Dell website and not
> through a retailer. After a long discussion (1.5 hours) the tech's
> final response was "I'm not sure what happened, but it should be
> there. I am not sure where it is" I told him that this was the very
> first time I had tried to do a recovery and where could "it" have
> gone. No answer.
>
> They are refusing to send me any recovery CD's and obviously I don't
> have an XP disc lying around. Is there anything I can do? I am VERY
> frustrated right now.
>
> Thanks so much for any help.

From: RBM on 4 May 2008 15:43

From: kony on 4 May 2008 15:54

On Sun, 4 May 2008 13:18:05 -0700 (PDT), Pokerskatershark
<pokerskatershark(a)yahoo.com> wrote:

>Hello All,
>
>I have a feeling my hard drive is on its last leg. When I turn it on,
>it makes a VERY loud grinding noise. I could be wrong, but it
>certainly doesn't sound like it's too happy! It is almost two years
>old and is a Dell XPS 400. (Not sure if that info is needed)
>
>I have backed up everything on an external hard drive. The problem I
>am having is, when and if the HD does crash, is it possible to just
>slap a new internal HD in my computer?
>
>I realize that I will have to have an OS on it. My computer did not
>come with any recovery CD's. I followed Dells' "recovery" process....
>1) Go to the Start menu 2) All Programs 3) Dell Accessories 4)
>Recovery. Problem is, there is no #4 option in my start menu.
>
>I called Dell and I am not joking when the tech said to me "It should
>be there" I purchased the computer via the Dell website and not
>through a retailer. After a long discussion (1.5 hours) the tech's
>final response was "I'm not sure what happened, but it should be
>there. I am not sure where it is" I told him that this was the very
>first time I had tried to do a recovery and where could "it" have
>gone. No answer.
>
>They are refusing to send me any recovery CD's and obviously I don't
>have an XP disc lying around. Is there anything I can do? I am VERY
>frustrated right now.
>
>Thanks so much for any help.

In addition to what others suggested about making a backup
of the system, two other things you can do are:

1) Buy new drive, connect both and use the drive
manufacturer's utility to dupe the old drive to the new.
Only after that had finished, boot windows with old drive
disconnected.

2) Determine which version of XP you have and get the disc
(copy it if you want to keep a copy) from someone else. It
should be an OEM disc of same type your system had, Home vs
Pro, and possibly same release (Sp1 vs Sp2 integral). With
2 year old system it should be SP2. You can do this because
the license is not tied to the installation media, it is to
the type of windows you end up running. The sticker that
came on your system is the installation key, it should work
if you have the right windows disc - though in some cases
you may have to call MS and have them give you the
activation code. Since this is a valid not pirated license,
if you need to call for the code you should give minimal
information instead of leaving them an excuse to deny
activation. I write this because while some have no trouble
getting reactivated, some CSRs dont' understand that license
does not require the specific piece of plastic (CD) that
your OEM (supposedly) shipped. License does not disappear
if you don't have the original media to install from.

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