Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

[loops]

What to do....what to do?

Spent the whole morning on the phone with Dell on tuesday trying to make my computer work. After 3 hours of trying to figure out whether this Indian man was saying B or D...reinstalling the operating system and drivers, system diagnostics...among other things....he was sorry to inform me that my hard drive was dead. I knewe that before I called him...Gone are my email addys, my music downloads, my pics...and who knows what else. The more I think about my losses, the more depressed I get.

Oh crap!!!! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The freaking thing is not even 3 years old!!! For those of you wondering....it's a Dell. Never again with those jokers. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

So what's the best plan from here? Do I buy a new hard drive and reinstall all the software? The thought of installing all that software is nauseating to say the least. And is this just a temporary fix? What if it still doesn't work after I've done that?

Or do I just go buy a new computer? Can I pull the CD burner out of my old one and put it in the new one? My dead computer has two bays...one with a cd player and one with a cd burner. I really liked that...as did my friends. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I am paralyzed with indecision....and I'm missing my computer at home in the worst way! The house is getting cleaner by the day though.

Jkid...any advice....pity?

[swimps]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

I know I am not JKid but I know and feel your pain. You may be able to recover the data on your hard drive. Do you have a local compusa or similar store?. For a fee they may be able to read some data and transfer stuff for you. I would give that a try first. If not and since you still have access to a PC do an internet search for data recovery sites and check them out before taking the plunge.

I just got a Dell two weeks ago, the new 8400 because my Gateway after 2 1/2 years started going bad. So the problem is everywhere, hardware has MTBF (mean time before failure) and its a crap shoot. Even if you build a PC yourself and buy top brand stuff. 3-4 years aint bad for a hard drive based on hours used.

The thing that annoys me about Dell is their out sourcing tech and customer service. This is a disease spreading all over the US and who knows if and when it will stop.

Anyway since I dont know your budget I would opt for a new PC and get more up to date hardware. And yes you will have to install it all over. I am just about finished doing mine.

What model Dell is it?

Good luck

[j-kid]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Too bad yuh neva com yah first before talking tu dem Tech Support. Yu may have already whipped out all your data that I could have saved for you. But there may be still hope.

First mi need fi get a clearer understanding.

You said your hard drive was "dead", but on the other hand you said that you could install stuff on it? If the HD is physically dead you wouldn't be able to install anything on it. That is why, if it was not physically dead, if you had come here first I could have told you how to recover the files yourself.

Did the Ease Indian guy have you use your "rescue CD" or "format the hard drive" during the time he was trying to help you?

Did he just have you use operating system disk ONLY, (like Win-98 or Win-XP disk ONLY) to ONLY re-install the operating system?

The above is a very crutial question, because there is a difference between a "re-install system Rescue CD" and an "Operating System CD". One will do more distruction vs. the other.

[halfwaytree]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Same thing happened to me in the spring. I left it with a reputable computer repair shop in the area and after they looked at it they phoned to say they could not get the drive going ( I paid them $10). There may be hope in your case though. Give it a try like swimps said.

[loops]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

hey there swimps....I appreciate your input. I was told that once I've reinstalled the operating system...I've wiped out my files...not true?

It's a Dell Dimension 4300.

My previous computer was a Gateway...I had great luck with it...but that was before viruses and worms etc.... A friend is still using my Gateway for email etc...

I hate to give Dell any more of my money. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[loops]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Jkid...coulda shoulda woulda...the story of my life. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I couldn't enlist your help....cause I had no computer!

I'm pretty sure it was the operating system CD. Is that good or bad? If I were at home, I'd read you all the cryptic error messages that prompted me to call Dell. Tomorrow, I will bring them to work and post a few.

So Jkid....do you have enough info yet to tell me what to do? Would you buy a new system? Or just a HD?

[swimps]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Originally posted by loops:
[qb] hey there swimps....I appreciate your input. I was told that once I've reinstalled the operating system...I've wiped out my files...not true?

It's a Dell Dimension 4300.

My previous computer was a Gateway...I had great luck with it...but that was before viruses and worms etc.... A friend is still using my Gateway for email etc...

I hate to give Dell any more of my money. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [/qb]

Yes once you have reinstalled the OS most likely it was done with a format which would have erased everything. If a format was not done then the files will still be there. But go back to what Jkid was asking you. It may be possible the drive isnt dead at all. If you have a system disk on floppy you can boot to it and run some diagnostics on the c: drive. You can also look and see whats on there. That would give you a clue as to the condition of the drive. If you can see files you can copy them off onto floppies but it is a tedious task.

How did the Tech guy from India do your reinstall? Did he have you boot to the CD and install from there?

hang in there

[Ochigal]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

We purchased new Dell computers about a year and a half ago office wide...approximatley 15 of them. THANKFULLY we also purchased extended warranties because within a month of the base warranty expiring 5 of our work stations had the Hard Drives go bad. Our IT guy pulled the hard drives and said that Dell uses a brand known to be poor quality. Thankfully Dell replaced the hard drives with the brand of OUR choice under our extended warranty otherwise we would be screwed! NOt too impressed with Dell anymore.

[swimps]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Originally posted by Ochigal:
[qb] We purchased new Dell computers about a year and a half ago office wide...approximatley 15 of them. THANKFULLY we also purchased extended warranties because within a month of the base warranty expiring 5 of our work stations had the Hard Drives go bad. Our IT guy pulled the hard drives and said that Dell uses a brand known to be poor quality. Thankfully Dell replaced the hard drives with the brand of OUR choice under our extended warranty otherwise we would be screwed! NOt too impressed with Dell anymore. [/qb]

While I am not trying to defend Dell or any other brand, it is important when buying a computer to look at the parts used. In my case this new PC has a Maxtor, it is not a generic dell brand. My other Gateway had a seagate. Again another good brand. All hard drives especially ones used in work stations will die before the average because of heavier usage.
Maybe at the time your company made the purchase they did not review the parts list to see what was being used and request suitable subs.

Any way we all live and learn right ? :-)

[swimps]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Loops I came across this and thought I would post it for you to take a look at. Maybe J-Kid or someone else might have heard of it and if it makes sense trying. I DONT KNOW anything about it so please if you try it , you are on your own

http://www.highergroundsoftware.com/

[loops]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Thanks peeps...your advice has been very helpful. I am leaning towards purchasing a hard drive and having the IT guys here at work swap it out. If anything can be salvaged from the old HD, I will find a way to make it happen. I've been practicing my winking... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] , doing a little [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]ray: ...if I just look and act pathetic...much like I have here... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I may even be able to convince them to load the operating system back in while my computer is here.

The tech guys here are very open to bribes of the food variety....hopefully by the end of next week, maybe the following...I can be up and running again.

[j-kid]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Well you are on the right path. I am assuming you have a desktop and not a laptop, which will simplify things?

Depending on how bad you want the old files and if your initial process did not format the entire hard drive, you may still have ah chance to save the files.

As you were saying, I think you should go ahead and buy the extra hard drive. That is the same size or preferably larger than your present HD.


What I would suggest is that you do a clean operating system install on the new hard drive. But, before you do that, however, I would partition the new drive into two drives separate partitions ("C" and "D"), if you only have one large C-drive now. The objective is to Keep all your valuable data on the "D" drive and use it as your back-up.

Better yet, if you can afford, and decide to go with the new hard drive, I have an even better solution than partitioning. I would make the new drive my NEW "C" drive, and make the old one my "D" drive. This way you can retrieve your data later once you have installed the operating system on the new drive. Once you are up and running you can plug in the old drive and manually delete all software (including the old operating system) from the old "C" drive leaving only your data files (photos, email data file, Bookmarks etc). Use the New "C" drive ONLY for software programs (Operating system etc). The old drive will now become your new "D" drive and data (ONLY) back-up drive.

If you use Windows-XP, make sure you do regular system restore point at least once per month. This will allow you to go back a few restore points, if your system ever gets funky again.

[loops]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

I'm back baby!!!!! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Tim, the wonder man, fixed my unit! Installed my software, even put a pdf file on my desktop so I could easily hook back into my ISP! Whatta guy!

I'm surfing again!

Thanks Jkid and Swimps. (((Grandma))), you were right, this man gives great advice! I love this forum! Thanks...thanks...thanks!

[Ochigal]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

Originally posted by swimps:
While I am not trying to defend Dell or any other brand, it is important when buying a computer to look at the parts used. In my case this new PC has a Maxtor, it is not a generic dell brand. My other Gateway had a seagate. Again another good brand. All hard drives especially ones used in work stations will die before the average because of heavier usage.
Maybe at the time your company made the purchase they did not review the parts list to see what was being used and request suitable subs.

Any way we all live and learn right ? :-)

Of course they didnt silly swimps...the only thing the "higher ups" looked at was price...you see in the place I work, thats what drives them...SAVING money and they still never learn

I for one HAVE learned though! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

BTW...Welcome back Loops!

[Morpheous]

Re: Jkid....anyone....woe is me....

ALL HARD DISKS DATA IS RECOVERABLE!!

It's easy when u know how and when u have the apps to do it with [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Still DELL is one of the best brand PCs on the reatail market and Gateway too. Though it's not the brand name that count but the components inside it...but DELL and Gateway have a good reputation for including high and good components in their PC brands

Ask urself what you did last on your PC before your HDD went dead as the term u use.
If u got windows 9x then install without formatting the HDD will restore your data.

Doing a re-install on XP however means everything will be lost.

Tip for XP users:
-----------------
If u got XP switch your file system from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS!! It's more secure, reliable and faster.

CAUTION:
--------
Once you convert to NTFS from FAT or FAT32 you can't reverse the process.