Computer help! (Not piano related...)

[Wallace Wilson]

No suggestions from this quarter.  I don't think Norton Utilities (or
similar programs) would help because they typically require an ability
to get into Windows so you can install and run them.  You could
conceivably put all your boot-up info and Windows on another hard drive
attached to your secondary hard drive controller (I presume this is a
desktop system we're discussing), and run something to retrieve whatever
information is still on your main drive from there (I've done a similar
procedure on our computer).  However, it sounds like there's probably
very little data left on your hard drive anyway (IMHO.. on the other
hand, there may be quite a bit still there), and I doubt you have a
second hard drive just laying around.  Once your hard drive is fried, as
far as I know, there ain't much you can do except buy a new one and
start over...  Do you know exactly what's wrong with the drive?

Anyone else have any ideas?

If it makes you feel any better, I'm not smart enough to back my stuff
up at all, so some day I'm gonna have a computer meltdown and be stuck
in a very similar situation.

						Mark Wilson, Associate
						Ravenswood, WV

Brian Trout wrote:
> 
> Hi list,
> 
> Any of you computer types out there care to offer an opinion?
> 
> I'm typing this on a new laptop computer.  I love it.  It's 3 times
> the computer my old one (only 1 1/2 years old) is/was.
> 
> I'd really like to retrieve some of the old information from my old
> computer, but I'm not sure I can.  Basically, it has begun hard drive
> failure, and most of the information that I would like to access is
> there on the hard drive.  It will boot up, but it will not run
> Windows, even in the 'safe' mode.  I've tried running the Scandisk
> program that was onboard, but it keeps finding errors it can't fix.
> When it gets to the disk scan, it keeps finding sections of the hard
> drive that are "about to fail" and moves the info to another part of
> the disk.  And talk about slow... the Scandisk program files tell me
> that it 'should' take about 10 minutes for a disk scan... it took 4
> hours to go through 10% and then quit because it couldn't handle the
> job. Anybody have any suggestions?  Do you think a program like Norton
> utilities or another similar program would be able to help me?  or is
> it too late?
> 
> I've been a bad boy for not backing up my work earlier.  I'm thinking
> of replacing the hard drive on the old computer, and perhaps looking
> into a zip drive for a little more secure backup.  I'm also in the
> market for a program like Norton utilities, or a similar product.  But
> I sure would like to have some of that old info...
> 
> The upside is, now I have a portable computer and can play with the
> Tunelab program I downloaded!!
> 
> Anyway, if you have an idea, thought, suggestion, or note of sympathy,
> I'm receiving them all with open ears.  :-)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian Trout
> Quarryville, PA
> btrout@desupernet.net
>