Two Laptops one dead.

[mpm32]

Hi, I have two laptops, a dell d610 and a dell d630. both running xp pro.

The dell d610 won't boot, blinking cursor in the upper left.

Pulled that drive put it into an external drive case and tried to read it on my desktop. Can't read anything off of it and it's telling me the drive is not formatted - not a good sign.

I would like to create an image of my d630, reformat the bad drive and then load the image onto the newly formatted drive.

What would be the steps for me to do this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DTSMAN]

You will need an imaging software to create an image. Or, there are copy only softwares like Copy Commander that are cheaper.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[mpm32]

Thanks.

So if I got something like Acronis True Image I could make an image of the D630's hard drive, copy it to the newly formatted hard drive and then install that drive into my D610?


Would all my programs work?

 

[G0AOZ]

You said, "I would like to create an image of my d630, reformat the bad drive and then load the image onto the newly formatted drive.". You will need to test this 'bad drive' thoroughly before attempting to reuse it, otherwise you could be asking for further trouble. In fact, depending upon just how bad it is, you might find it difficult to copy or clone. How are you determining that it's bad?

See if the trial version of GetDataBack can 'see' anything on the D610 before you do anything further with it.


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[mpm32]

I put the 'bad' drive in an external hard drive case and I can't read anything off of it. When I try to acres the drive it tells me the drive is not formatted and asks if I would like to format it.

I am running get back data now.

 

[mpm32]

access the drive. I should say that.

 

[mpm32]

Well, get data back wasn't able to help. Looks like I have to re-image. I guess I'll try the Acronis True Image product.

 

[BadBigBen]

I've had three or four external enclosures not recognize drives correctly before...

It could just be that it is a defective enclosure, have you tried using the external with another drive just to test to see if it works correctly...





Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[G0AOZ]

I'd avoid using an enclosure if at all possible. Do you have a Desktop or Minitower computer, that would allow the drive in question to be hooked up directly to a motherboard interface?


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[mpm32]

Yes, the enclosure def works with other laptop drives I have.

I don't mind losing what was on it as it was a redundant laptop anyway.

I just want to get it up and running again.

Would I be able to restore functionality by imaging my working laptop's drive and then copying that over to the drive that went bad?

I had some virus that I think caused this issue. Thought I cleaned it but it was still acting funny so I had wanted to reimage it anyway and start fresh.

 

[wolluf]

You could still do with checking out the drive - run the manufacturer's diagnostic (unless its a toshiba drive - they don't have one - or didn't last time I checked. In that case you could use seatools for windows or the hitachi dos based disgnostic). If the drive's ok, you should be able to image it - though how similar are the d610 & d630 (need to be very similar for xp to boot on 610 with 630 image - will need a reapir reinstall otherwise. Also, may want to re-activate, in which case you'll need to change the key to the one on the 610 COA - assuming 630 is original Dell installation, with Dell OEM key which won't activate)

 

[aich69]

The 'unreadable' drive isn't encrypted is it? We get this single flashing cursor error on our encrypted machines when the MBR has been corrupted.

I used to have a handle on life... but it broke. Cpt. Red Bull

 

[assets]

You can but a cable (that inclides a power supply) for both 2.5 and 3.5 drives (ide and SATA)about $20 that alows you connect to usb. good idea for all drives testing on any computer.

Never give up never give in.

There are no short cuts to anything worth doing