Update on harddrive--thanks to those who answered.
I ran chkdsk which took a long time and clicking/freezing
lessened. I didn't check the SMART status of the drive because I
didn't know how. I do have Dell Diagnostics on a FAT partition of
the drive and it reported 1 problem.
I don't have a USB adapter, so I swapped out my D: drive with the new
hard drive. Then, I cloned the C: to the new drive in D: with
Acronis. Along the way I learned something I didn't know and others
may benefit from. There was no install disk which came with the new
drive. I used my Acronis to "add a new drive". However, My
Computer wouldn't display the drive and I couldn't format it. The
Bios showed both drives were recognized. What I learned is that one
can go to My Computer/Manage which brings up a Computer Management
Window. I selected Disk Management and the drives displayed. I
was able to format the drive from there.
So, the new drive is now my C: drive with everything intact. The
machine is running beautifully. Thanks for the suggestions answering
that my plan was feasible.
Sue Na
At 01:33 AM 3/17/2010, you wrote:
>The clicking sound often indicates serious problems are imminent. Have
>you checked the SMART status? There are many diagnostic prams available,
>and your drive manufacturer probably offers one.
>
>Chkdsk /r might help, but replacing the drive sounds like the best plan.
>Your clone and replace plan will work. I have used a USB adapter to do
>this in the past to save all the drive swapping.
>
>
>-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: [PCBUILD] Hard Drive problem
>From: sue <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Mon, March 15, 2010 7:41 pm
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
> WinXP SP3
>2.5 mg RAM
>2 Hard drives - C:-160g D: - 160g (Sata)
>2 External drives - USB--both 1T
>DVD Read Drive
>DVD Write Drive
>
>All data backed up via Karen's Replicator to an external drive
>C: drive imaged with Acronis Image.
>
>
>Here's the problem:
>C: drive is clicking and freezing at times. Have to hold "off"
>button to turn off the machine. No pattern on the instances. Some
>days I can work for hours with no problem. Other days, it will
>happen several times and I have to shut down Checked temp of both
>drives with software and neither gets hotter than 50C.
>
>Googling, I find that bad sectors can cause these symptoms along with
>the drive going bad. I'm tending to think that might be the
>problem as it always occurs while running programs...never on boot up
>or shut down. Have not "checked disk" through
>C:/Properties/Tools/Error Checking yet. Would "check disk" help?
>
>My question is:
>Can I take out the D: drive, install a New Hard Drive to D: and then
>clone the C: drive to the new D: drive using Acronis? After that,
>take the new D: drive and install it as C:? Will I be able to boot
>with that new drive as C:?
>
>I'm interested in any problems I might encounter with this procedure
>if the procedure is viable or feasible.
>
>Sue Na
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
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