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riveLife of a HDD???

I

inorv9

Junior Member
Hello,

I have a 40 gig Seagate Barracuda ATA IV, reviewed here. I've used it for about 2 years. I'm thinking of transferring my OS to this Seagate, cause my current 1 yr old West Dig is WAAAAY too loud. How much longer will this drive last, and will it be stable for much longer as a master??? Thanks.
 
While the drive could fail at any time, it is likely it will last for years yet. Check out storagereview.com's reliability survey to see how others are doing with a similar drive.
 
No matter what brand/model HD you have, backups should be a regular part of your computing methodology.

"How often should I back up?"

Well, that depends on how valuable your data is to you.

I have all my programs/utilities/patches/drivers on two separate HDs, as well as burned to DVDs. I would rate this method as "very safe."

At the very least, burn your valuable stuff to a CD.

Things people forget to backup: EMail store and My Documents, which contains My Pictures (unless you store them elsewhere.

For Outlook Express, go to C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\<big alphanumeric string>\Microsoft\Outlook Express <---that last folder is ALL of your emails and subfolders. Copy that to somwhere safe.
 
Trying to predict failure of a storage device is like attempting to predict hurricane paths with pinpoint accuracy. This is why one needs to be prepared for failure at all times. Backups of your data and a current image of your root volume always come in handy in case Mr. Murphy pays you a visit.

I just upgraded a system with a pair of 41GB 75GXP drives that have been running since January, 2001. NEVER turned off! The system suffered from LECS. (Leaking Electrolytic Capacitor Syndrome)

I imaged the disk (it was a mirror pair) to a new drive and it was making strange noises during the transfer of 30GB or so of data. :Q

Cheers!
 
Norton Ghost is your friend. I always buy drives in pairs and mount one in a mobile rack.

Ghost clones your bootable drive to another working, bootable drive. If, make that WHEN, your main drive dies, you're always as good as your last Ghost. I can Ghost my 80 GB Maxtors in 6 min. 47 secs. I do it anytime I have enough new data that I don't want to lose it. I Ghost before I install any new program. When you're done, turn off the machine, and unplug your Ghost drive.

I also Ghost after I do a complete virus scan. Backup points in XP are cute, but if you're infected, they aren't worht squat! A known clean Ghost copy isn't connected to the planet so it can't be infected. 🙂

A mobile rack is a rack and slide-in tray that holds your backup drive and allows you plug it in when you need it. Not recommending any vendors, but here's a link to a bunch of 'em to give you an idea.

When you want to Ghost, just shut down your computer, plug in the drive and boot to a floppy containing MS or PC-DOS, and run it. Even as a DOS boot disk, it works with NTFS drives for Win XP.

Which reminds me, XP is sometimes touchy about finding too many hardware changes, but no one I know has had problems when using two matched drives.

The latest update of Ghost 2003 and newer also allows you to access USB and Firewire drives.
 
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