[dba-Tech] Format hard drive and start over

Tina Norris Fields tinanfields at torchlake.com
Sun Nov 1 09:48:50 CST 2009


Hi Mark,

Yes, I like to show off a real hard drive to my newbie students, too.  
That's probably what I will do with this one.

T

Mark Breen wrote:
> Hi Tina,
>
> Over the last few years, I have had relatively few disk failures, but once I
> get over the initial shock of losing a drive, I am always delighted because
> it gives me an excuse to open the drive and show some one how beautiful the
> inside is.  Inside your hard drive is a very clean place.
>
> Have fun with it, you may think it is pretty enough to be an ornament of
> sorts.
>
> Mark
>
> 2009/11/1 Tina Norris Fields <tinanfields at torchlake.com>
>
>   
>> Hi John,
>>
>> SpinRite is running on level 4 - smooth as silk until it reached
>> cylinder 4,141, head 252.  Here it is laboriously climbing through
>> sectors - up to sector 41 as I am typing this message.
>>
>> Perhaps the thing to do is just replace the hard drive.  It is a Western
>> Digital 60GB drive, identified in Setup as: WD600BB-75CAA0.
>>
>> I can boot to Windows (it's XP, not XP Pro) and do lots of stuff, but
>> there's a good chance if I let it sit for a few hours, it will suddenly
>> not find the hard drive.  Frequently, there is a boot message that the
>> hard drive is operating outside of normal specs, strike F1 to continue
>> or F2 for Setup.  Sometimes in that situation, Setup does not see the
>> hard drive, sometimes it does.  Usually F1 continues the boot sequence,
>> although occasionally it stops again, this time with a "no keyboard"
>> message.
>>
>> What kinds of hard drives do you have lying around, and why are you
>> willing to part with one?  For how much?
>>
>> Thanks so much for your response and help.
>>
>> T
>>
>> John Bartow wrote:
>>     
>>> Hi Tina,
>>> Run SpinRite and have do a check of the entire hard drive. Doesn't pay to
>>>       
>> go
>>     
>>> through installing the OS from scratch if the hard drive is bad. I have a
>>> ton of hard drives laying around here if you need a different one let me
>>> know.
>>>
>>> If you have a Product Key number (on the MS sticker) on the case of the
>>> computer you can use a disk with the same product to install Windows from
>>> scratch. Then you won't need to worry about formatting or anything as it
>>> will be an option in the installation procedure. If installing XP and it
>>>       
>> has
>>     
>>> less than SP2 then download SP2 and SP3 on you main PC. Install those SPs
>>> from a USB stick as soon as Windows install is done. If you need drivers
>>>       
>> for
>>     
>>> the PC you can download them from the manufacturer's web support site and
>>> install them from a USB stick too. XP, SP2 and SP3 will take some time to
>>> install so don't bother watching them once started :o)
>>>
>>> Also don't bother installing any additional apps (including security)
>>>       
>> until
>>     
>>> done with all of this.
>>>
>>> Good Luck Tina!
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>>> [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Tina Norris
>>> Fields
>>> Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 7:06 PM
>>> To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
>>> Subject: [dba-Tech] Format hard drive and start over
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Please hold my hand while I do this for the first time.  I've been given
>>> a used Win XP machine, with a 60GB hard drive that is failing.  I would
>>> like to reformat this hard drive and reinstall the operating system and
>>> see if I can get some good out of the machine - for teaching kids and
>>> others, and for playing around; this is not a production machine for
>>> me.  Before I dive into this for the first time, I would like a little
>>> guidance.  Okay?  I'm listening.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> T
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>>>       
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