What's on your mind today?

[LoneMateria]

This morning I got up and turned on my laptop.  It made a grinding noise.  At first I thought I had a head crash in my hard drive.  But it stopped and started up.  So I looked up what would make that noise, and it turns out my hard drive didn't crash its only about to crash.  lucky me.  So i'm backing up and saving all my files and websites >.<  The thing is depending on the amount of money involved I might not be able to get it fixed.  So I might be without a computer for a while >.<

[Whitney]

Depending on how much power you need...you might be able to get a cheap netbook instead of having your old laptop fixed.

[AlP]

This morning I got up and turned on my laptop.  It made a grinding noise.  At first I thought I had a head crash in my hard drive.  But it stopped and started up.  So I looked up what would make that noise, and it turns out my hard drive didn't crash its only about to crash.  lucky me.  So i'm backing up and saving all my files and websites >.<  The thing is depending on the amount of money involved I might not be able to get it fixed.  So I might be without a computer for a while >.<

It's usually really easy to replace the hard drive, even in a laptop and they're pretty cheap these days. You need a screwdriver. There will be a compartment on the bottom to access the drive. You need to be careful to check whether it needs a SATA or IDE (aka ATA) drive and whether it's 2.5" or 1.8" in size.

My favorite online store for these kind of things:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&name=Laptop-Hard-Drives

Might set you back <$100.

[AlP]

Just donated $100 to the American Humanist Association.

[LoneMateria]

It's usually really easy to replace the hard drive, even in a laptop and they're pretty cheap these days. You need a screwdriver. There will be a compartment on the bottom to access the drive. You need to be careful to check whether it needs a SATA or IDE (aka ATA) drive and whether it's 2.5" or 1.8" in size.

My favorite online store for these kind of things:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&name=Laptop-Hard-Drives

Might set you back <$100.

Yeah I've replaced my hard drive on my last laptop.  The problem last time was that the manufacturer kept sending me the wrong sized hard drive when the heads crashed.  I'll keep that site in mind when mine crashes.  I've been considering getting a desktop and if I do I can get a free upgrade to Windows 7 (since its less then a month before release).  Don't get me wrong vista has grown on me (especially since I disabled all the security features so its essentially Windows XP on a better computer with a faster processor).  I know Windows 7 will suck from the get go (All the operating systems do thats what Service packs are for).  Hopefully I can find a cheap hard drive.  How do I know if my hard drive is a SATA or an IDE?  Do I need to get into the BIOS and check?  I'm leery about rebooting my computer since it only seemed to make the grinding sound at start up.

[AlP]

Yeah I've replaced my hard drive on my last laptop.  The problem last time was that the manufacturer kept sending me the wrong sized hard drive when the heads crashed.  I'll keep that site in mind when mine crashes.  I've been considering getting a desktop and if I do I can get a free upgrade to Windows 7 (since its less then a month before release).  Don't get me wrong vista has grown on me (especially since I disabled all the security features so its essentially Windows XP on a better computer with a faster processor).  I know Windows 7 will suck from the get go (All the operating systems do thats what Service packs are for).  Hopefully I can find a cheap hard drive.  How do I know if my hard drive is a SATA or an IDE?  Do I need to get into the BIOS and check?  I'm leery about rebooting my computer since it only seemed to make the grinding sound at start up.

You don't need to go to the original manufacturer. There are relatively few hard drive standards and if you get get the right standard it will work fine. To see if your hard drive is SATA or IDE/ATA, first look in the BIOS and then verify by looking at the hard drive's connector when you decide to power it down. Pictures: SATA / IDE. Note the "L" shape of the SATA connector. You'll see the "L" shape on the cable as well if it's SATA. Also, if you buy online, look at the picture to see if the shape of the connector matches. If you buy at a retail store, take the failing hard drive with you so you can compare the size and connectors.

Another thing to consider is that some older laptops have a limit on the size of the hard drive they can use. To be safe, don't buy a hard drive with a higher capacity than the failing one. But if you want a larger hard drive, you could do some research to see if a larger one will work with your particular laptop.

There's another standard called SCSI that you almost certainly don't have. That's used in servers mostly.

[LoneMateria]

kk thanx, yeah I guess I need to hit up the BIOS later.  Lol last time my HD crashed I went through the BIOS and it wouldn't even recognize my HD.  The thing is I don't think my Vista computer came with a copy of Vista.  With Vista the recovery feature is built into your Hard Drive.  If you get a virus you can activate a partitioned part of your HD and return everything to factory settings.  How would I get an OS onto my HD?

[AlP]

Yeah that's a problem. You need to get a copy of at least the operating system disks. Didn't your laptop come with them? Maybe you put them in a "safe place"? Otherwise you would need to buy the operating system or get hold of it by other means.

[Pineapple]

I'm having difficulties with my bus driver. She keeps blaming things on me that my neighbours do! >:O

It's obviously fueled by hate and prejudice. amirite? amirite?

I think she's going to give me a detention, because I got off at a stop before mine because I was tired of her bitchiness, which didn't go over well with her because she screamed at me when I walked down the steps.

On another note, my older brother, who is an archaeologist(just thought I'd throw that in there), has introduced me to a wonderful concept of "vaporisation", which of course for the sake of this board is not an illegal activity at all.

[LoneMateria]

Yeah that's a problem. You need to get a copy of at least the operating system disks. Didn't your laptop come with them? Maybe you put them in a "safe place"? Otherwise you would need to buy the operating system or get hold of it by other means.

No seriously mine didn't come with them.  I still have my old XP CDs in the drawer in my desk along with Final Fantasy Games, but no Vista CDs.  However my GF pointed out that her Desktop came with them for some reason.  Out of I know Microsoft is getting anal about pirated software but how would they react to both of us having the same Serial number?

[AlP]

Yeah that's a problem. You need to get a copy of at least the operating system disks. Didn't your laptop come with them? Maybe you put them in a "safe place"? Otherwise you would need to buy the operating system or get hold of it by other means.

No seriously mine didn't come with them.  I still have my old XP CDs in the drawer in my desk along with Final Fantasy Games, but no Vista CDs.  However my GF pointed out that her Desktop came with them for some reason.  Out of I know Microsoft is getting anal about pirated software but how would they react to both of us having the same Serial number?

Some companies make you pay extra for the CDs for the operating system. It's worth it if you think you'll ever need to reinstall it. Your girlfriend's CDs might not work. Some companies distribute special versions of Windows that will only install on their brand or model of computer but you can always try. And you're right, you won't be able to "activate" it on both computers. Your old XP CDs should work but again you might not be able to activate it on new hardware.

If you can make an exact copy of the files on the failing hard drive onto a replacement before it fails, it might work without having to reinstall Windows.

[LoneMateria]

Do you mean from the files of the partitioned section for recovery?  Also if I take my laptop to Best Buy would they be able to install Vista after they "install" my hard drive?

[AlP]

Do you mean from the files of the partitioned section for recovery?  Also if I take my laptop to Best Buy would they be able to install Vista after they "install" my hard drive?

If you have a recovery partition with a full copy of the OS installation then yeah that would be one way to do it. In fact, if you can install both hard drives simultaneously (might be hard with a laptop), you could probably boot the recovery partition and install directly to the new drive. But otherwise I was thinking you could just copy all the files on the regular partition to the new drive. In theory that should work.

Maybe I'm being cynical but I bet Best Buy would see an opportunity to sell you something.

[LoneMateria]

Well either way I figure Best Buy is a good shot.  So you were saying in theory if I were to back up my entire HD on my external HD then it should have a copy of widows on it too?

[AlP]

Well either way I figure Best Buy is a good shot.  So you were saying in theory if I were to back up my entire HD on my external HD then it should have a copy of widows on it too?

If you made an exact copy of all the files, including all the hidden system files, then yeah windows would be part of it. There are programs for doing that kind of thing. See here. You could back up everything to the external HD (didn't know you had one), install the replacement HD in the laptop, partition and format it, restore the original files and then add a boot sector and it should work.