Appraisers' Free Forum

160gb portable drives can be bought for $100 or less and keep a lot of strain off your primary HDD ... and if your computer tanks again, you have a USB powered HDD that can be plugged into another computer, just that fast ....


... and back up often....

Yep, don't say the words gateway and computer in the same sentence.

I burned that bridge (gateway) a long time ago. Back then they had horrible customer service/support, not to mention horrible public relations.

tel wrote:Yep, don't say the words gateway and computer in the same sentence.

I burned that bridge (gateway) a long time ago. Back then they had horrible customer service/support, not to mention horrible public relations.

As did we. Went with Dell until they turned crappy, too. Now hubby builds 'em from scratch. DB gave some good advice!

Joker wrote:Well the consensus is that the HD is toast. You guys, Gateway tech support, and the local computer guru all say the same thing.

Now.....
Since I am looking at replacing my 80 gig HD, is there anything I need to know or think about?

On a serious note, get a Seagate HD. Western Digital is cheaper, but, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Seagates are built to last, and last a long time. WD, not so much in my experience. If you know how to do it yourelf, order one from NewEgg and save some bucks. Otherwise, let your local computer guru fix it.
One other possibility, although slim, is your power supply may be hiccuping, causing the HD to give these indications, so get both checked.
Your computer guru may be able to recover some data, but it tends to be expensive, so if you don't need it, don't use it.

Local guy says $50 to diagnose the problem, waived if I have him fix it. He can remove old HD, install (new HD and all my existing software), and recover existing data (as much as possible) for about $200. Sounds like a good deal to me.

DB-
Are you talking about one of those little USB keychain thingies? I have one of those but there isn't much on it. It was free (don't ask). Can I use that for a backup?

Here's a photo of my computer. Can anyone help me just by looking at it?

Probably ... for primary data ... but I am talking about a USB powered HDD, not a thumb or jump drive ... they are great for moving things from one place to another, but for everyday use, an outboard hard drive for primary data is the way to go .... I use a lap top with a 60gb HDD and use a 160gb HDD for all of my data storage ... the lap top basically holds the software and the outboard holds the data .... less strain on the computer and safer data storage ... but that is just me ... ask 5 other folks and you will get 5 more answers ... and all of them will swear their way is best ...

I'd recommend getting drive imaging software such as Norton Ghost or Acronis Drive Image. These programs will make an identical image of your HD plus a bootable disk. Should a drive fail in the future, its a pretty easy thing to install a new drive, boot from the disk then copy your most recent image. Afterwards (assuming you've been keeping current on your stored images) its like it never happened.

I had a catastrophic loss once a few years ago and this protocal has saved my bacon once so far since. HD's are the weakest point in your system.

For $200, heck yeah I'd let him do it! It would take me 8 hours to figure out all that BS.

M L wrote:For $200, heck yeah I'd let him do it! It would take me 8 hours to figure out all that BS.

....and another 8 to explain to Doug how to do it,,

Do not destroy old hard drive if you do place a new one in tower. You may possibly be able to use it as a D:/ drive and see information stored on it as a secondary disk.

My husband said the same thing.