On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 2:37 PM, David C. Rankin drankinatty@suddenlinkmail.com wrote:

Good luck Kristopher.

With 2.5 & 3.5 inch drives so cheap these days, It always pays to have a backup sitting in your desk drawer. Hope you get it going soon. One word of caution -- If you think it is a drive issue, then don't run that drive any more than possible.

Doesn't seem like it will run at all. Sounds like the head may be bouncing off the platters or something.

How cheap can they be? I'm using a SATA laptop drive, don't have it with me to check the dimensions, but I'm hoping to get a large one -- I plan to have two distributions installed, one for development stuff (which will be the larger partition), and one for just normal use whenever I don't have time for fixing stuff.

I have had most success in this area by just removing the drive when I get the first indication of failure. I install a new drive, then I use a USB -> IDE/SATA adapter to start the old drive and copy the data to the new box.

The USB adapter runs ~ $14, provides its own power supply and has 2.5 and 3.5 inch IDE data connectors as well as SATA. The adapter provides ~ 33 MB/s (2G/min) 'actual' throughput and can be real a life saver. Not to mention, it allow you to use any old hard drive as a 'zip drive'

I've got my important stuff on DVD already. The more time-consuming part will be grabbing TDE svn again, that is the one part I didn't put on backup because it will be changing a lot for awhile.

On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 1:47 AM, David C. Rankin drankinatty@suddenlinkmail.com wrote: <snip>

Here is the sata/ide/usb device I'm talking about. It's $19 on newegg, check around and you'll find it for less:

<snip>

After you install your new drive and your new OS, just connect your old hard drive via a USB port and copy your data back. If you are in a large city, you can probably call around and find one at your local computer shop or electronics story (Fry's, etc..) That would save you shipping time :p

I'm not worried about it. I already have my important data. It wouldn't budge on the hard disk self-test my computer was telling me to do (it has one built in and it stayed at 0% for ten minutes). I think the read/write head took a nose-dive straight into the platter from what it's sounding like.

Though I may end up getting a PATA <-> USB adapter at some point, I still have the hard disk from my old laptop, and never got around to grabbing the data. That laptop broke back in 2009.

500 GB WD Scorpio 5400 RPM 2.5" Laptop Drive - $56-$59 at Amazon or Newegg. (320G ~ $35)

This model is a great choice. I have the PATA version and its performed perfectly.

Here is the sata/ide/usb device I'm talking about. It's $19 on newegg, check around and you'll find it for less: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816014

I have one of these, bought it 3 years ago, works great! Be aware if you have a usb1 or an early sata, they must be connected to a usb1 port, not usb2.

Is there a Fry's in NJ and PA? That would rock.

Kate

On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 11:27 AM, Katheryne Draven borgqueen4@gmail.com wrote: <snip>

Is there a Fry's in NJ and PA? That would rock.

What is Fry's anyway? Kinda reminds me of my days at Burger King... bad days, and getting worse, but at least I don't have my Dell anymore! I swear that thing was made to fail using rotting silicon! lol