Hi Tony,
I got lucky, chkdsk /r repaired the damaged drive on my Dell 2400 and I was able to extract the important files (pictures).
I have a new replacement hard drive and I am planning to load it up with XP on my Dell 2400. I am thinking of partioning my drive to have a separate program and data section. Do you have any advice regarding partitioning hard drive. For example, would 10 GB suffice for programs and rest to data ( I have a 160 GB hard drive)
Also, can I connect my replacement HD as secondary drive to a working PC and load it up with XP from Dell Reinstallation CD. Ideally, I would like to get the hard drive ready so that when I pop it into my Dell 2400, I can boot of this new drive.
Thanks
Srini
Glad chkdsk /r fixed 2400. I normally use just one partition, but if I planned to have two on a 160, I would probably go 40/120 or 60/100. Some XP updates can be pretty large, 10Gb might be cutting it close down the road.
To make a duplicate of the 2400's HD, I would use the CD that came with the 160Gb HD. Connect it as Slave drive on 2400. Installation software lets you create and format partitions, copy your existing XP partition and make the new drive bootable as the Primary Drive. Can be a little tricky on some Dells that have recovery and diagnostic partitions. Normally, installation software takes care of these anomalies.
If you plan to use the Reinstallation CD, it's best to connect the new drive to the 2400 as the Primary Drive. Slave drive installation with CD will create a dual-boot system. Would require some editing of Boot.ini file if existing primary drive was removed. Dell CDs do not like computers made by other manufacturers. Also, problems arise with Windows Product Activation due to hardware differences. Dell's Volume License Key will not activate on other systems.
1. Use drive repaired by chkdsk to boot 2400. This should not require any additional repair effort?
2. Connect new hard drive as secondary to 2400 and use vendor CD provided with new hard drive to create two partitions (program & data). You also say that I can copy "XP partition" from original drive. Since I had only one partition on the original (repaired drive), i assume this means xcopy c:/windows/ to the "program" partition on the new drive?
3. Now connect the new hard drive as primary and use reinstallation CD from Dell to install XP on this drive and this should bypass any issues with recovery & diagnostic partitions.
"1. Use drive repaired by chkdsk to boot 2400. This should not require any additional repair effort?
2. Connect new hard drive as secondary to 2400 and use vendor CD provided with new hard drive to create two partitions (program & data). You also say that I can copy "XP partition" from original drive. Since I had only one partition on the original (repaired drive), i assume this means xcopy c:/windows/ to the "program" partition on the new drive?
3. Now connect the new hard drive as primary and use reinstallation CD from Dell to install XP on this drive and this should bypass any issues with recovery & diagnostic partitions.
Please correct if I am wrong."
If you use the HD vendor CD in Step 2 and designate the new drive as a replacement boot drive, the partition copy (not xcopy) performed by the installation will create a complete duplicate of your old hard drive. When finished, the HD installation program will give instructions to shut down your system, disconnect the old HD as primary and connect the new drive as primary "boot" drive.
Your Step 3 will not be needed. The new drive should boot up just as if you never changed drives.
Copy of the files from old hard drive to new hard drive is running really slow (in 4 hours, it managed to copy only 5% of data) and is producing copy errors. I imagine this may be because of damage to the old hard drive. Would it help if I ran defrag or scandisk on the old hard drive and tried all over again? or is my best option to install XP on the new drive as a fresh copy and then try to manually copy the files over from old hard drive?
You can let it finish or stop and try this shade tree solution. Get two VERY good quality ZIPLOCK freezer bags. Fill the first one with ice cubes. Seal it. Put that bag in second bag. Seal it. Now. Lay ice bag on circuit board site of old hard drive. This keeps the electronic components from overheating. 1% copy per hour with errors is no good. May be best to do the clean install on the new drive and use the icebag trick to attempt manual copy of data from old drive connected as slave. Do not run defrag or scandisk on the old drive. You most likely will end up with unusable data.
hi ive got a blue screen saying that windows has been shut down to prevent damage to my computer its a pretty new laptop, and basically i dont no much about computers so i was wondering if any one could give me a step by step to getting it to work again, it doesnt matter if i need to competely restart ive got eveything backed up that i need please help!!
hsrini
15 Posts
0
January 8th, 2006 23:00
I got lucky, chkdsk /r repaired the damaged drive on my Dell 2400 and I was able to extract the important files (pictures).
I have a new replacement hard drive and I am planning to load it up with XP on my Dell 2400. I am thinking of partioning my drive to have a separate program and data section. Do you have any advice regarding partitioning hard drive. For example, would 10 GB suffice for programs and rest to data ( I have a 160 GB hard drive)
Also, can I connect my replacement HD as secondary drive to a working PC and load it up with XP from Dell Reinstallation CD. Ideally, I would like to get the hard drive ready so that when I pop it into my Dell 2400, I can boot of this new drive.
Thanks
Srini
tgsmith
2.9K Posts
0
January 9th, 2006 00:00
Srini,
Glad chkdsk /r fixed 2400. I normally use just one partition, but if I planned to have two on a 160, I would probably go 40/120 or 60/100. Some XP updates can be pretty large, 10Gb might be cutting it close down the road.
To make a duplicate of the 2400's HD, I would use the CD that came with the 160Gb HD. Connect it as Slave drive on 2400. Installation software lets you create and format partitions, copy your existing XP partition and make the new drive bootable as the Primary Drive. Can be a little tricky on some Dells that have recovery and diagnostic partitions. Normally, installation software takes care of these anomalies.
If you plan to use the Reinstallation CD, it's best to connect the new drive to the 2400 as the Primary Drive. Slave drive installation with CD will create a dual-boot system. Would require some editing of Boot.ini file if existing primary drive was removed. Dell CDs do not like computers made by other manufacturers. Also, problems arise with Windows Product Activation due to hardware differences. Dell's Volume License Key will not activate on other systems.
Hope this answers your questions.
Tony
hsrini
15 Posts
0
January 9th, 2006 02:00
tgsmith
2.9K Posts
0
January 9th, 2006 12:00
Srini,
You said:
"1. Use drive repaired by chkdsk to boot 2400. This should not require any additional repair effort?
2. Connect new hard drive as secondary to 2400 and use vendor CD provided with new hard drive to create two partitions (program & data). You also say that I can copy "XP partition" from original drive. Since I had only one partition on the original (repaired drive), i assume this means xcopy c:/windows/ to the "program" partition on the new drive?
3. Now connect the new hard drive as primary and use reinstallation CD from Dell to install XP on this drive and this should bypass any issues with recovery & diagnostic partitions.
Please correct if I am wrong."
If you use the HD vendor CD in Step 2 and designate the new drive as a replacement boot drive, the partition copy (not xcopy) performed by the installation will create a complete duplicate of your old hard drive. When finished, the HD installation program will give instructions to shut down your system, disconnect the old HD as primary and connect the new drive as primary "boot" drive.
Your Step 3 will not be needed. The new drive should boot up just as if you never changed drives.
Tony
hsrini
15 Posts
0
January 10th, 2006 13:00
Copy of the files from old hard drive to new hard drive is running really slow (in 4 hours, it managed to copy only 5% of data) and is producing copy errors. I imagine this may be because of damage to the old hard drive. Would it help if I ran defrag or scandisk on the old hard drive and tried all over again? or is my best option to install XP on the new drive as a fresh copy and then try to manually copy the files over from old hard drive?
tgsmith
2.9K Posts
0
January 10th, 2006 15:00
jamiecurrie099
1 Message
0
January 27th, 2006 11:00
tgsmith
2.9K Posts
0
January 28th, 2006 00:00
Jamie,
For Dell systems, I recommend Denny Denham's site:
http://www.djdenham.com/Install%20Procedures.htm
If your system has the Dell PC Restore by Symantec Utility, this link does a walk-through:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090151&l=en&langid=1&c=us&cs=19&s=dhs
Any questions after visiting the sites, just put a new post on the Software - Windows XP message board.
Tony