Copy the content of HDDDDDDDDDDDDDs

[sofianuk]

I have two questions please:
1- After how long should you expect a HDD failure, my hard disc (Hitashi 180GXP Deskstar) is 2years old and I'm starting to worry...
2- I already have a second hard disc and I want to copy the whole content of the old one into it (including games and operatioing system) is there a way i can do that on Windows Xp Pro service pack 1?
Thank you.

 

[bcastner]

Go to the manufacturer of your new secod hard disk web site and download their utility/diagnostic software. It almost always comes with software to do a disk-to-disk transfer.

 

[tf1]

The answer question 1 is not an easy question to answer: HDDs were warranted for 5 years not so long ago, now it is down to 3 years or 2 years depending on manufacturer. One wonders if that means they are going to fail more frequently or is it because profit margins are now so tight that the manufacturers cannot afford to budget for replacements?!

I work for a support company looking after maybe 5,000 desktops and 300 servers: on average we get a couple of HDD failures a week. The majority of failures are in older (over 5 years old) clone (unbranded) desktops.

That's not to say we don't get occasional disk failures in servers and top brand desktops though. HDD failures are unpredicatable but the majority work until the computer is retired.

I wouldn't worry too much about HDD failures as long as you keep really important and irreplaceable data backed up.

Personally, I have 2 HDDs (one is an external USB2 drive) and I use Norton Ghost to make a full image of my system monthly.

I also keep copies of important data such as digital photos by burning them to DVD. I'd be pretty sore if I lost all those.

Regards: tf1

 

[Madawc]

I'd suggest doing a CD copy of the files that really matter to you, including web favourites, and maybe games saved. Do this once a week and you're in no danger of losing anything critical. And don't waste time with software that will automatically re-install itself if you ever have a crash.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK)