Hard drive dying need help
I've not had to "mess" with a crash recovery in a very long time. I am getting old enough that I have a little trouble staying focused on what I'm doing. The system I'm having problems with is as follows: Old P4 cpu, 80 GB WD HDD partitioned 60 active /20 unallocated. OS is XP PRO SP3.
I have Acronis TI 2009, with a fairly current full backup of the problem drive.(drive keeps getting "dirty" requiring chkdsk on each start) I have a new 80 GB WD to replace the old drive.
The computer is operable(so far) and I could install the new drive and possibly partition and format IF the computer doesn't have a problem while trying to do so. My luck it will crash completely right in the middle of the process. I have the Rescue disk, and my backups are on an external HDD. I also have another desktop running right beside the "old" one. I have a "HDD fixture" whereby I could do the job via USB as well. Rather than babble on, I would just like to have a step by step on how to proceed. I really hate having to ask, as I've always been on the other side of the fence helping other folks with their "computer problems". I'm NOT enjoying the
"Golden Years". I'd appreciate any and all help...comments too, as long as they are positive :)
Thanks for all the folks that are willing to share their time and knowledge on this site.
Hope I included enough information.....Gary
Thanks for the quick reply.
Yes, I want to replace the bad drive with the new one. The backup I have is labeled as "Full Backup", in the unscheduled tasks window.
I don't schedule backups, but do them manually. I just go to the unsceduled task and right click on the only task listed(which is the last time I backed up), and click start. I don't know if that includes the mbr and the unallocated partition or not. How can I tell?
I assumed that a full backup would include the mbr. As for the unallocated partition, the backup is listed as 59.51 GB, so it is only the active partition. So, if I restore that to a new unpartitioned 80GB drive, will the drive show up as 80 or 60GB ? On the "protection state" page, it says there is no" System Volume " backup.?? I am creating one. What's the difference between "Full Backup" and system volume ?
I suggest that you replace the old hard drive with the new one, then boot from the bootable Rescue Media. Make sure that the Rescue Media can see both drives. Start the process to recover the disk backup, and see if all partitions are listed in that backup including MBR. You don't have to continue with the restore at that point, just see what's included in the backup.
For more "How to" info, see item #2 at this link.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/29618
Thanks for the replies. I'm probably looking at a OS re install. I uninstalled norton NIS 2011, and the catalyst suite, and did some more defragging and optimizing , and fixmbr, fixboot, etc, etc. It's starting up without chkdsk and running, but it's still pretty slow, it is an OLD P4 , but it ran faster unitl a couple weeks ago. If I do a clean install of xp, how do I restore everything else EXCEPT xp.?? Do I need a backup of everything except the Windows folder or what?
If you are installing a clean version of XP, the only value of your backup is that it has your personal files available. You will need to restore each program fresh from an installation file.
If I do a clean install of xp, how do I restore everything else EXCEPT xp.?? Do I need a backup of everything except the Windows folder or what?
You cannot do that. There is no way to "restore" working applications after reinstalling Windows. You would need to install your applications. You could restore your data files from the .tib backups.
I was pretty sure that was the case.(sure would be nice if it were possible). My new hdd should arrive today or tommorrow(USPS tracking is the pits). The computer is running well, but very slow. The hdd has been down shifted to PIO mode, and has not corrupted since. I'm thinking of cloning the new disk and see if it will run. Right now the only real problem is the speed. I have re installed the display drivers but not catalyst control center, or norton NIS. This is a very system(approx. 10yrs) and I don't remember if it has ever been re installed. I probably don't have all the software for the apps that are on it, so I'm hoping to be able to avoid a clean install. Thanks for the help, I'll post back the results and/or more questions soon. Gary
Success. I did the clone, all went well(<30min.). New drive was stuck in PIO mode(as was the old one). Had trouble getting it to go back to dma, tried all the suggested fixes I could find, and FINALLY, I "updated" the driver for the primary channel, and it's back to normal. Old drive is probably fine as well. It was functioning OK (except for slow) after I had done some clean up, and it passed testing.
Acronis, and this site worked great. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated,,,Gary