hard drive dying

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:


Thank you, Gerald! I didn't know I could attach the new drive via a USB
adapter so I could clone directly to it. Could you point me to what it
should look like, so I can buy one? Would I need to put the new drive
into a USB enclosure first?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

You select a USB solution, based on what you expect to be doing in the
future.

Disks come in 2.5" IDE, 2.5" SATA, 3.5" IDE, 3.5" SATA. If you buy a
hard drive enclosure, you make sure the enclosure type is intended for
the disk type.

(Example of a 2.5" SATA drive enclosure, where the drive power comes from
the USB bus.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817707121

*******

For temporary setups, such as you've got right now, you don't really
need an enclosure. Just the cabling is what you can use.

For example, this kit attaches to three different kinds of hard drive
connectors (universal). You lay the hard drive carefully on the table,
so it won't overheat or get bumped or shocked while the platters are
spinning. The nice thing about this particular unit, is I don't see
reports of the power adapter dying on it. Many of these devices now,
have "too-cheap" AC adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tem=12-161-002

http://www.apricorn.com/product_deta...e=family&id=39

http://www.apricorn.com/pdf_product_...ire-manual.pdf

There is one report of the bundled EZ Gig II software,
erasing an already installed Acronis. Just use your Acronis,
instead of loading the included software.

*******

Docking stations, function something like a "toaster". They're
generally only for SATA hard drives, which means a docking station
isn't as flexible as a USB cable kit. The fit of the drive to
the adapter might be slightly more convenient, but it
doesn't handle all possible drive types.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145078

*******

I think the Apricorn solution, is about the best choice for
general purpose "clone my busted drive" operations. Make sure
to buy a brand, where the AC adapters don't catch fire or
melt. The thing is, it's easy to make good adapters, so
the attraction to cut corners on these must have been
overpowering for the businessmen. Really stupid. It means
the consumer has to do more research, to get a product
which isn't a fire hazard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812161002

Good luck,
Paul


Thank you again, Paul, for your very clear explanation of what I need to do
if I want to clone directly to another internal hard drive. (My old and new
drives are EIDE.) I'm tempted to get the enclosure just because I'm afraid
of damaging the new drive if it's sitting exposed on my desk. This approach
does seem easier than cloning to an external USB drive and then restoring to
the new hard drive.

Jo-Anne

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:


Thank you, Gerald! I didn't know I could attach the new drive via a USB
adapter so I could clone directly to it. Could you point me to what it
should look like, so I can buy one? Would I need to put the new drive
into a USB enclosure first?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

You select a USB solution, based on what you expect to be doing in the
future.

Disks come in 2.5" IDE, 2.5" SATA, 3.5" IDE, 3.5" SATA. If you buy a
hard drive enclosure, you make sure the enclosure type is intended for
the disk type.

(Example of a 2.5" SATA drive enclosure, where the drive power comes from
the USB bus.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817707121

*******

For temporary setups, such as you've got right now, you don't really
need an enclosure. Just the cabling is what you can use.

For example, this kit attaches to three different kinds of hard drive
connectors (universal). You lay the hard drive carefully on the table,
so it won't overheat or get bumped or shocked while the platters are
spinning. The nice thing about this particular unit, is I don't see
reports of the power adapter dying on it. Many of these devices now,
have "too-cheap" AC adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tem=12-161-002

http://www.apricorn.com/product_deta...e=family&id=39

http://www.apricorn.com/pdf_product_...ire-manual.pdf

There is one report of the bundled EZ Gig II software,
erasing an already installed Acronis. Just use your Acronis,
instead of loading the included software.

*******

Docking stations, function something like a "toaster". They're
generally only for SATA hard drives, which means a docking station
isn't as flexible as a USB cable kit. The fit of the drive to
the adapter might be slightly more convenient, but it
doesn't handle all possible drive types.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145078

*******

I think the Apricorn solution, is about the best choice for
general purpose "clone my busted drive" operations. Make sure
to buy a brand, where the AC adapters don't catch fire or
melt. The thing is, it's easy to make good adapters, so
the attraction to cut corners on these must have been
overpowering for the businessmen. Really stupid. It means
the consumer has to do more research, to get a product
which isn't a fire hazard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812161002

Good luck,
Paul


Thank you again, Paul, for your very clear explanation of what I need to
do if I want to clone directly to another internal hard drive. (My old and
new drives are EIDE.) I'm tempted to get the enclosure just because I'm
afraid of damaging the new drive if it's sitting exposed on my desk. This
approach does seem easier than cloning to an external USB drive and then
restoring to the new hard drive.

Jo-Anne


If you've already made the image of your old drive, why waste money on an
enclosure at this time? Just put the new drive in, boot to the ATI CD, and
restore the image. Done, and up and running in no time. Plus, if you're
having problems with the old drive you have described, I'd want to use that
drive as little as possible, if you know what I mean. After you have
restored the image to your new drive, then you can add the old drive to your
system (if you want) to see if you missed anything in your backups. Then
take it out and destroy it.
The drive in my notebook was acting a little noisy, so last Friday, I
created a fresh image (I create one every 2 weeks or so anyhow, so it was
about time), pulled the old drive out, put in a new one (barely used), and
restored the image to it, all in about 75 minutes. Less than an hour and a
half, I'm up again like nothing had ever happened, and I have a fresh image
saved. That was with 52GB on the drive.

The advantage of imaging over cloning to an external enclosure is that I can
save that image to anything. It doesn't have to be the same interface
format, so I don't have to make sure the enclosure is PATA or SATA or
whatever. Plus, with imaging, I can save multiple images from multiple
machines on the same disk. Of course that's just my opinion, and I'm sure
others have their own. But that's OK, too :-)

No matter what you decide, I wish you every success. I hate hard drive
problems just about more than anything, which is why I have a good (to me)
recovery plan of action.
--
SC Tom

"SC Tom" wrote in message
...

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:


Thank you, Gerald! I didn't know I could attach the new drive via a USB
adapter so I could clone directly to it. Could you point me to what it
should look like, so I can buy one? Would I need to put the new drive
into a USB enclosure first?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

You select a USB solution, based on what you expect to be doing in the
future.

Disks come in 2.5" IDE, 2.5" SATA, 3.5" IDE, 3.5" SATA. If you buy a
hard drive enclosure, you make sure the enclosure type is intended for
the disk type.

(Example of a 2.5" SATA drive enclosure, where the drive power comes
from
the USB bus.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817707121

*******

For temporary setups, such as you've got right now, you don't really
need an enclosure. Just the cabling is what you can use.

For example, this kit attaches to three different kinds of hard drive
connectors (universal). You lay the hard drive carefully on the table,
so it won't overheat or get bumped or shocked while the platters are
spinning. The nice thing about this particular unit, is I don't see
reports of the power adapter dying on it. Many of these devices now,
have "too-cheap" AC adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tem=12-161-002

http://www.apricorn.com/product_deta...e=family&id=39

http://www.apricorn.com/pdf_product_...ire-manual.pdf

There is one report of the bundled EZ Gig II software,
erasing an already installed Acronis. Just use your Acronis,
instead of loading the included software.

*******

Docking stations, function something like a "toaster". They're
generally only for SATA hard drives, which means a docking station
isn't as flexible as a USB cable kit. The fit of the drive to
the adapter might be slightly more convenient, but it
doesn't handle all possible drive types.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145078

*******

I think the Apricorn solution, is about the best choice for
general purpose "clone my busted drive" operations. Make sure
to buy a brand, where the AC adapters don't catch fire or
melt. The thing is, it's easy to make good adapters, so
the attraction to cut corners on these must have been
overpowering for the businessmen. Really stupid. It means
the consumer has to do more research, to get a product
which isn't a fire hazard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812161002

Good luck,
Paul


Thank you again, Paul, for your very clear explanation of what I need to
do if I want to clone directly to another internal hard drive. (My old
and new drives are EIDE.) I'm tempted to get the enclosure just because
I'm afraid of damaging the new drive if it's sitting exposed on my desk.
This approach does seem easier than cloning to an external USB drive and
then restoring to the new hard drive.

Jo-Anne


If you've already made the image of your old drive, why waste money on an
enclosure at this time? Just put the new drive in, boot to the ATI CD, and
restore the image. Done, and up and running in no time. Plus, if you're
having problems with the old drive you have described, I'd want to use
that drive as little as possible, if you know what I mean. After you have
restored the image to your new drive, then you can add the old drive to
your system (if you want) to see if you missed anything in your backups.
Then take it out and destroy it.
The drive in my notebook was acting a little noisy, so last Friday, I
created a fresh image (I create one every 2 weeks or so anyhow, so it was
about time), pulled the old drive out, put in a new one (barely used), and
restored the image to it, all in about 75 minutes. Less than an hour and a
half, I'm up again like nothing had ever happened, and I have a fresh
image saved. That was with 52GB on the drive.

The advantage of imaging over cloning to an external enclosure is that I
can save that image to anything. It doesn't have to be the same interface
format, so I don't have to make sure the enclosure is PATA or SATA or
whatever. Plus, with imaging, I can save multiple images from multiple
machines on the same disk. Of course that's just my opinion, and I'm sure
others have their own. But that's OK, too :-)

No matter what you decide, I wish you every success. I hate hard drive
problems just about more than anything, which is why I have a good (to me)
recovery plan of action.
--
SC Tom


Thank you, SC Tom! I guess my biggest issue is removing the old hard drive
and putting the new one in. I've never done it myself--and although the
instructions seem clear, I'm very nervous. I can probably cope with either
method of getting everything onto the new drive (if it works properly), but
touching the innards of a computer is another story.

Jo-Anne