computer question

[wa2fastcamaro]

My desktop has been giving me a hard disk error message today. Says I should do a backup before my hard disk fails. I don't understand what good doing a backup will do if its saved on the same drive that it says is failing. Any one got any suggestions on what I should do to prevent it from crashing, I got a ton of stuff I do not want to lose.

[2gTSIGUY]

buy an external hd

[thrash]

how much is a ton? if it's say, under 20GB, just burn 4-5 DVDs

If its more than that, go to best buy and get one of those external USB hard drives, and backup on to that device.

[out there]

Simple steps to replace the boot drive:

1. buy new hdd
2. install new hdd and disconnect the old one
3. install os
4. reconnect old hdd
5. transfer data

I recommend disconnecting the old drive just to avoid any "I accidentally reformatted the old drive when I tried to install to a new one". I've seen in happen a couple of times, especially when they're both the same size.

After doing this, you can use the old drive as a external device (with the proper hardware), keep it installed as a place to store unimportant and easily replaced things, or use it as a paper-weight.

[PSiedTSi]

I want a computer that tells me my harddrive is going out in advance! What is telling you that it's about to fail? I'm confused, maybe I've missed something a long the years, but I've never heard of a computer telling you the drive was about to fail(without any obvious symptoms)? Are you sure its not just some software that wants to make sure you backup your data? Or even spyware?

[out there]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

[wa2fastcamaro]

PSiedTSi;303341 wrote:
I want a computer that tells me my harddrive is going out in advance! What is telling you that it's about to fail? I'm confused, maybe I've missed something a long the years, but I've never heard of a computer telling you the drive was about to fail(without any obvious symptoms)? Are you sure its not just some software that wants to make sure you backup your data? Or even spyware?

Ya that stupid SMART program is telling me sectors are failing. My computer has been getting slower the past few months and locking up more. I guess I know why now. Time to buy a new HD and try to save as much as possible. I wish I had done a backup before, because now its too messed up to mirror the drive. I can boot to safe mode, but not normal windows otherwise it just crashes.