HDD Failure - Need re-install advice please

zhen_rogue

Hello H/A:

I have a Sager NP5760 notebook purchased in december of 2006.
I purchased the 3-year extended warranty through Sager as well.

About 3 months ago, I started hearing a hard, physical 'click' or 'knock' from inside my notebook.
This sound was always in conjunction with a 2-5 second system lag.
This would happen 5-20 times a day, when the HDD was accessed.

Now, in the last week, I'm getting random spikes of massive HDD activity, followed by a blue screen of death. The BSOD screen looks similar to this:
http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/bsod.gif

From what I can tell via research, these signs are indicitave of an imminent HDD failure.
Or at least, the HDD has a malfunction.

I called Sager, and they provided me with an RA for my existing HDD.
They will provide a new HDD at no charge, with a fresh install of WindowsXP and Office2003.

Now here comes the question:
I obviously have tons of personal files, outlook contacts, games, work programs (AutoCAD, Adobe8 Pro, etc), general programs, etc. installed.
What steps do I take to ensure I migrate as much of this information as possible?
I've never done a reformat or system backup.

I'm guessing the following:
1. Patch/update WinXP and Office to current.
2. Re-install games/programs.
3. Copy over saved data, such as outlook contacts files and game saves.

However, I also see that Windows has a 'backup' utility that can backup the system to a .bkf file.
Is this type of backup of any use to me?
I'm not sure exactly what it would back-up, and if it replaces my steps above, or is superior/preferred in any way.

Please direct me on how to proceed!
Thanks in advance for your advice.

Ruckus

In the industry, we call that the Click of Death. Usually you only hear it after the drive has completely failed, so if you can still access your drive you're one lucky bastard.

ntbackup can be used to backup your files, but depending on how well organized you are it's probably just as easy to copy the important folders to an external harddrive or burn them to CDs/DVDs.

bowen

Ruckus wrote: »

In the industry, we call that the Click of Death. Usually you only hear it after the drive has completely failed, so if you can still access your drive you're one lucky bastard.

zhen_rogue

Ruckus wrote: »

In the industry, we call that the Click of Death. Usually you only hear it after the drive has completely failed, so if you can still access your drive you're one lucky bastard.

ntbackup can be used to backup your files, but depending on how well organized you are it's probably just as easy to copy the important folders to an external harddrive or burn them to CDs/DVDs.

If Sager is going to re-install WinXP and Office2003 for me, do I also assume they will install all my drivers for all my other hardware?
I'm kinda computer stupid in this area... but things like my network card, DVD burner, GPU, etc. all have drivers that are stored on the HDD, yes?
Or, does the HDD come completely clean, and i'll need to fight through installing those things somehow?

Please advise.

wunderbar

if they are installing Windows I am 99% sure that they will have all the drivers on for you.

Really, if it's warranty work, the only thing you need to worry about is getting your important data off the drive, and letting Sager do the rest.

And by data, I mean document/files, not programs. Just worry about important files. Things like the actual software you have installed will need to be re-installed.

If you can boot the drive up, you can backup your outlook by going into outlook and going to file-->import/export, and export your entire profile to a .pst file. Back up that pst file, and when you get the new drive you can import it using the same route.

Crashtard

You might want to go to a nearby walmart (or whatever big box store you have nearby), grab a 1 or 2GB flash drive and just dump any documents or music you want to save onto it. I've been doing that for a while now, as well as storing those documents on the flash drive all the time. That way if something happens to my pc, it's not a big deal.

zhen_rogue

I spoke with Sager, and they are indeed planning to reinstall all the drivers and the OS the same as when I bought the system.

Next stupid question:
I have lots of software that is installed and registered with CD-keys.
AutoCAD, Windows, Office, Adobe, games games games, etc.
Since I am getting a new HDD, and the installs are all on the old HDD, what's to stop all my software from not updating/working when I try and install/register them on the new HDD?
Won't they say something like: "woah there buddy! this CD key has already been registered to another user..."?

Ruckus

90% of the time, software registration will recognize that the hardware hasn't changed and this is just a reinstall, and the other 10% of the time you just need to call the company and they'll help you out.

zhen_rogue

Ruckus wrote: »

90% of the time, software registration will recognize that the hardware hasn't changed and this is just a reinstall, and the other 10% of the time you just need to call the company and they'll help you out.

Thanks for the clarification!
Since I still have access to my failing HDD, does un-installing as much of the CD-key software as possible do me any good?
Does the uninstall process in any way, shape, or form somehow alert the related software protection systems that the current copy has been removed?

I suppose it can't hurt anyway, since I'm sending this HDD back to Sager and i'd prefer not to have any data left on it that could potentially be read/copied/misused.

Scrublet

Your question: these cd-key softwares must be treated on a company-by-company basis (Adobe will have different policies than AutoCAD, etc.)

How I handle a format (in addition to having this backup folder more or less available at all times):
1. Create a folder containing these subfolders for the following personal files: Documents, Music (AND PLAYLISTS), Pictures, Favorites (bookmarks), and Videos (if you have any).
2. Create a folder for drivers you need. (Esp. Motherboard, Video, Sound, and Networking). In your case with a laptop, you can probably skip this step as it's all taken care of.
3. Create a Programs folder. To accurately prepare this folder, do the following:
a. Open your Program Files folder, and go down the list:
b. For each program, make sure you have an installation copy, a license, and any kind of saved settings you need out of it. Make sure you have any patches you might want.
c. For Microsoft Office, go into Outlook and get any archived contacts or saved sent/deleted mail that you might want, if you use it.
d. Make a list of all the programs you need to install, so you won't forget. You do this during step 3 so you remember all the programs you DIDN'T buy (iTunes, Winamp, Adobe Reader, 7zip, etc.)
4. With all this in hand, look at it and make sure you didn't forget anything in your head.

When you format, first install Windows, then virus-checker, then Windows Updates, then drivers. After that point it probably doesn't matter how you do it. Again, this particular step is different for you because the company will have done half of this for you.

Ruckus

I think Adobe CS2 and CS3 have "unregister" options as part of their uninstall, but most others don't. They just keep track of how many times the product is registered/authorized during or after installation, and will usually allow 2-5 authorizations before you have to call the company and take extra steps.