SapphireDragon

Ok, I so wish the hard drive drama for me would just end but.....

SO, UPS threw my package onto the porch of my house and walked away...

I took a look at the package and the box had been crushed as well...However, it was well packaged inside (Good ol' newegg)

When i first installed XP it came up with an error about windows failed to install file cabinets or something like that. So i reformatted the drive once again.

Now i am running a restore utility from my external drive and am attempting to get files back up onto the new drive but, i stopped it halfway when i realized i didn't need half the programs that were being put back in. I couldn't delete them and no error boxes would come up, i ran admin but nothing. So i went back and ran the restore again till it finished the restore and then went to delete the files but they were already gone and i can no longer access the folder or delete the folder the programs were in. Despite the fact i can no longer find any file reference to the restored files the data space is still taken up. Do you guys know whats going on? Is this new drive shot as well? ( so hope not... i hate dealing with returns and such...)

raptor_pa

Zero-wipe with killdisk or dban and start over with a blank drive again...

ahmorrow

Ditto. If it continues, DOA the sucka.

SapphireDragon

You sure?

raptor_pa

First install failed, and even though you fornmatted, there would still be old file system structures after a format. What were you using to to restore the files? depending on how they were backed up you probably need to let it run all the way through, then uninstaqll and delete what you don't want. Depending what the program is it might be more than a simple copy operation and you again could have left some incomplete file ssystem structures on the disk.

SapphireDragon

Ah, that makes sense. If the file cabinet was never installed correctly the first time and i just deleted the partition and reinstalled windows, even though it installed the that time the old cabinet is still there because reformatting merely glosses over things and never fully erases the master file table, right?

So it makes sense to write zeros over top of that so its fully fully fresh and "new"

SapphireDragon

I am using software that came with my external HDD (EMC Retrospect) I know i know, they usually are slow and not that great but its all i have and norton ghost is like....50+ dollars if your lucky.

raptor_pa

Retrospect is great backup software - no backup software is really quick LOL - With a new install of windows you would e better off to reinstall your applications rather than recover the registry from the backup. Then just do a selective restore of your data files. Unless you restored the entire windows structure and registry, chances are the apps wouldn't work anyway since many put .dll files in the windows directories, and add registry entries for info they need to run.

SapphireDragon

Lol, yeah..... good to know i have a good utility for backup. One question, would turning off the comp. just at 0% of setting up the NTFS on a partition mess it up and need to be zero wiped again? I realized i needed to make the first partition slightly smaller so HP's quickplay would work when reinstalled....

raptor_pa

Any time I've had an issue with formatting or partitioning, I've always zero'd out the disk to start over clean, the little extra time it takes to zero wipe the disk can be justified by one bodged installation that can give you trouble for a loooonnnngggg time. It's kind of like saying if one wall of the foundation isn't plumb, should I still build the house.... might work 3 out of 4 times, but someday one of those is going to bring the whole house down :)

SapphireDragon

:P im going to simply play ignorant on this one lol, it took 2 1/2hrs to fully wipe one round of zeros and i really need my computer for buisness and school it didnt really begin to format or write anything when i turned itoff and so far nothing has happend. I reformat once every 12 months or if warrented to keep things running smooth, until then unless the drive is DOA thanks to ups or w/e im playing stoopid xD

SapphireDragon

Ok so now im paranoid. I know nothing about what kinds and what brands some noises come from that is normal. I remember and know a clicking noise for locking drives such as this one is normal when it goes idle and the heads lock into place but what about the noises like a breathy hurrrr or w/e? ive uploaded yet another sound sample of it. Lemme know a.s.a.p .

The clicking that is constant throughout the sound clip is my mp3 player, dont know why it records with one in it but it does lol. also, dont forget to turn up your speakers, its still rather quiet.

Attached Files

050609-125126.zip (464.3 KB, 2 views)

SapphireDragon

Anything?

raptor_pa

Sounds pretty normal up to about 17 seconds, not sure if the noiae there is you picking up the player to shut down or what. But other than that nothing out of the ordinary I hear...

SapphireDragon

That end squeal, I have no idea, I thought I heard it making that noise once after i recorded it and i could have sworn i heard it make it slightly once before all of that but it hasnt since. I just am worried more about the Hrrr noise that happens every time data is being read, its rather loud for a drive that is supposed to be quiet. No drive is perfectly quiet but when i first installed the drive i dont recall ever hearing the noise unless sitting on a table or on my lap suppressed it