Stuart McLachlan
stuart at lexacorp.com.pg
Mon Jan 17 15:55:19 CST 2011
Another trick that I've employed in the past is to stick the drive in a deep freeze. I did that successfully and retrieved data a few times - but it generally only worked for a quarter of an hour or so until ithe drive heated back. That was back in the days of much smaller drives when you didn't need it to keep running for hours to copy everything of it. -- Stuart On 17 Jan 2011 at 17:28, Tydda Jon - Slough wrote: > I read an article somewhere once that said if your hard drive makes it > past 6 months, the chances are it'll last more than 6 years. Mind you, > it did also go on to say that if it failed, a "gentle" nudge against > the hard brick wall might be enough to get it going again long enough > to recover the data. > > I haven't tried that myself though... But only due to lack of > opportunity :-) > > > Jon > > -----Original Message----- > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Helmut > Kotsch Sent: 17 January 2011 16:26 To: Discussion of Hardware and > Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Trying to revive a computer - > solved for now > > Tina, > you wrote: > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > I do believe the hard drive is failing - it's an old machine that > gets lots of use and has been moved from one place to another many > times in its life - and most of its users are very young. > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Having spent my whole life in hard drive engineering I have to tell > you that backup is a must regardless how old a drive is. No > manufacturer will give you a guarantee that a new hard drive will run > even more than 10 minutes without loosing data. They might advertise > an average MTBF of 5 years but you could have bought the one in > thousands that is bad and dies after minutes, a day or a year. I have > hard drives running 24/7 365 days since more than 10 years without any > problems. One reason for this performance might be that they are > hardly switched off. Start/stop/start is stress to hard drives because > the heads might stick to the surface and the inrush current stresses > the electronic components. > > Helmut > > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]Im Auftrag von Tina > Norris Fields Gesendet: Montag, 17. Januar 2011 16:10 An: Discussion > of Hardware and Software issues Betreff: Re: [dba-Tech] Trying to > revive a computer - solved for now > > > Jim, > Thank you for your response. I, too, think the drive is failing. > Here are my results so far: Spin-Rite did find and correct some disk > errors. It also reported at least one uncorrectable error. After I > looked up how to use the Microsoft Recovery Console, I ran chkdsk /r > on the drive, which reported finding and correcting some more errors. > After that, I was able to use the Windows installation CD to repair > the existing WinXP installation. Got that essentially finished last > night, so the computer would boot. A couple of files were reported by > the installation program as not being able to be registered - I made > notes and will check on them later; it couldn't find a dll that it > needed - I checked where it was in my computer, which helped me locate > it on theirs. Then, I reinstalled Vipre and set that up to scan at 1 > this morning. Then, I started the Defraggler and went to bed. This > morning, I've re-established the wireless adapter and the Internet > connection, and I've run 70 some updates to Windows - I will still > need to get SP3 - since the original install CD is WinXP SP2. But, at > least the computer is running again, and my son-in-law is serious now > about backing it up. Good, because, as noted above, I do believe the > hard drive is failing - it's an old machine that gets lots of use and > has been moved from one place to another many times in its life - and > most of its users are very young. Best regards, T Jim Lawrence wrote: > > I think your idea of running Spinwrite is a great idea as it sound > > like you > hard drive is failing. > > I was looking at a discount > place and they had Dell computers, 1 GB > RAM and > XP home...no idea > what the hard drive size is but the price was $88. > With these sorts > of prices around it seems hardly worth wasting time on. > > OTOH, > Tina, your comments suggest a HD failure and if you want to save > the > drive for its contents, run Spinwrite and when the drive is > > recovered, image > the drive with a bootable CD with something like > DriveImage XML, > install a new drive then re-image it back and use > EASEUS Partition > Master to clean up > and re-partition the new > drive. Reboot and you're done. > > It is a little more complex than > that of course but if you have the > tools it > will take about an > hours worth of your time but a couple days computer time. > > Jim > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: > dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gary Kjos > > Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 2:24 PM > To: Discussion of Hardware > and Software issues > Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Trying to revive a > computer > > I've not done any dual booting. John Bartow, Drew and Jim > are your > best bets for advice on this one. > > Good luck, sounds > like you have done the right stuff so far. If you > could run SPinrite > from a CD or floppy maybe that would be able to fix > the disk > problems if there are any. > > GK > > On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 1:55 PM, > Tina Norris Fields > <tinanfields at torchlake.com> wrote: > >> Me again, > >> Did a little searching and found some information about using the > Recovery >> Console. Started a chkdsk without switches, which got > stuck at about 50%. >> Restarted the whole shebang, and this time > when I got to the >> Recovery Console, the two installations of > Windows were listed - they >> had not been listed in any of the > previous visits to this console. >> I logged in to the first Windows > installation and am now running >> chkdsk /r >> > - > >> we'll see how > that goes. Still looking for any great ideas you guys have. >> T >> > >> Tina Norris Fields wrote: >> >>> Hi Guys, >>> >>> Maybe you can > help me bring a computer back to life. It's a dual >>> boot setup - > Win 2000 Pro and Win XP Home. It began its life as a >>> Win 2000 >>> > > Pro, > >>> and was updated with the second operating system added on > a couple >>> of >>> > years > >>> later. The Win 2000 Pro was kept > because of a game that wouldn't >>> play on >>> > Win > >>> XP. >>> > >>> This computer belongs to our kids, Cheryl Lynn and Brad, and their > >>> > family. > >>> It's sitting here in my office until they finish > putting together >>> their library and study area in their house. The > girls often use it >>> to do >>> > homework > >>> and to visit online > with their friends. Three days ago, I saw it had >>> the awful blue > screen of almost death - the one that says if this is >>> the >>> > > first > >>> time you've seen this screen, reboot, otherwise go get > professional >>> help >>> > or > >>> call the undertaker because your > computer is dead - or something to >>> that effect. >>> >>> I > rebooted. It reached the point where Win XP should start and stopped. > >>> > It > >>> displayed this message: >>> >>> "Windows could not > start because the following file is missing or >>> > corrupt: > >>> > system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys >>> You can attempt to repair this file by > starting Windows Setup using >>> the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' > at the first screen to start repair." >>> >>> I thought I'd try the > other operating system. When Win 2000 tried to >>> start, it displayed > this message: >>> >>> "Windows could not start because the following > file is missing or >>> > corrupt: > >>> <Windows > root>\system32\hal.dll >>> Please re-install a copy of the above > file." >>> >>> I had to find my way into the BIOS to switch the boot > sequence - by guess >>> and by golly to find which function key it > needed (I think it ended >>> up >>> > being > >>> F2, but I'm not > sure), because it was A:, C:, D: - and I needed D: >>> to >>> > come > > >>> before C: Got that done, and put in the Setup CD-ROM and booted. > >>> >>> Setup went through a process of loading lots of files, then > came to >>> the first screen. I selected the 'r' choice. It brought me > to what >>> looked >>> > like a > >>> DOS screen with the following > message: >>> >>> "Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console. >>> The > Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality. > >>> Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer. > >>> C:>" and a blinking cursor >>> >>> There were no other > instructions on the screen and I am not familiar with >>> this > Recovery Console. First, I thought that perhaps some recovery >>> and > repair functions had happened in the background and it was time to > EXIT. >>> > So, > >>> I typed EXIT and pressed ENTER and the machine > began trying to >>> restart - >>> > of > >>> course, I still had the > CD in, so we went back around. I removed the >>> CD >>> > and > >>> > rebooted, with precisely the same results as before. >>> >>> I have > run Spin-Rite on this computer at three different levels, 2, >>> 4, > >>> > and > >>> 5. There is a consistent uncorrectable error reported > in the same section >>> > of > >>> the partition. In the technical > report screen, it is at the far >>> right of >>> > the > >>> screen, > and it says "01." >>> >>> When the computer goes through the boot > sequence, the POST sound is fine, >>> but when the operating system > selection is made, there is a sort of >>> "squishy" sound that reminds > me of the noise made by that failing >>> hard >>> > drive > >>> I > worked on last year - a sort of high-pitched little squishy peep. >>> > I >>> > think > >>> maybe the drive has a really bad spot right where > some critical operating >>> system files are. >>> >>> I don't know > what commands to use in the Recovery Console. If I did, >>> I would > certainly give that a GO. Does anybody on this list have any >>> good > advice - in addition to getting a new hard drive, or new >>> computer > altogether? >>> >>> I did try to let Windows install itself, but it > came back with the >>> > message > >>> that the partition was too full > or sick or something and would have >>> to be >>> formatted before > installation could proceed. And, no, my kids do not have >>> their > stuff backed up from this computer, so I did not move ahead. >>> >>> > Thanks for any ideas, >>> >>> T >>> >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> dba-Tech mailing > list >>> dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >>> > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech >>> Website: > http://www.databaseadvisors.com >>> >>> >> > _______________________________________________ >> dba-Tech mailing > list >> dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >> > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech >> Website: > http://www.databaseadvisors.com >> >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: > http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > This communication and its attachments, if any, may contain > confidential and privileged information the use of which by other > persons or entities than the intended recipient is prohibited. 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