Results 1 to 25 of 49
-
06-02-2010, 06:46 PM #1Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Replace a hard drive, or buy a new computer?
So the hard drive on my trusty old Dell GX270 seems to be dying. (I say "seems", because while it won't boot up, even in safe mode, I can boot using a Knoppix CD with no problems.)
Should I replace the hard drive? Or is it not worth it on an old computer?
Thanks for your suggestions.0
-
06-02-2010, 06:58 PM #2Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
- Location
- Baile Átha Cliath
- Posts
- 186
Buy a new computer. Cash is not an issue if you are asking this sort of question.
0
-
06-02-2010, 07:21 PM #3Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Posts
- 4,533
Is the computer doing everything you need it to so far? If it is buy a new hardrive, if it is not then get a new computer.
0
-
06-02-2010, 08:59 PM #4Web Hosting Master Disaster
- Join Date
- Oct 2002
- Location
- Under Your Skin
- Posts
- 5,904
Sounds like you can afford a new computer... or you would not ask.
You really want a new computer, get it. Get yourself a new toy. Don't feel guilty for those who can't. I have tons of computers that I can never use... and don't care.... sometimes I give them away to kids going to college. All good... buy it.Windows 10 to Linux and Mac OSX: I'm PARSECs better than you. Eat my dust!!!0
-
06-03-2010, 12:25 AM #5Grand Nagus
- Join Date
- Dec 2002
- Location
- Ferenginar
- Posts
- 4,157
That depends on answers to a few quetions:
1) Is this your primary/main computer?
2) If it isn't, how exactly do you use this as a secondary computer? How often? How important is this computer? Is it mostly for hobby use?
3) If this is your primary computer, I would buy a new one which will come with a faster CPU, GPU, Windows 7, DVD Burner, etc.
Older $50 IDE hard drive or $500-ish new OEM computer.
If you can justify the cost of a new computer and aren't going to build your own. Check a hot deals site such as GotApex.com where you can buy a brand new Dell with LCD, Windows 7, etc. for under $500-ish.What's your budget?
Seriously, what's your budget?0
-
06-03-2010, 01:30 AM #6Newbie
- Join Date
- May 2010
- Posts
- 26
Buy a new computer. That's a P4. That means even an E3300 would smoke it. Sans hard drive, which you'd need to buy anyway, you could build a very nice PC for $100 if you take advantage of a Newegg combo.
Also, we have a fleet of P4 Dell machines about the same age as yours at work and they are starting to get a little flaky.0
-
06-03-2010, 02:37 PM #7Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Hey, everyone - thanks for the replies so far. Meantime, to add a twist, I found this from Dell Support that makes it sound like not a hard drive failure after all (Unmountable Boot Volume, error code 7). I haven't tried out the diagnostics at home yet.
Your thoughts? If it isn't a hard drive failure (this time), am I living on borrowed time with my current setup? Or should I keep it going as long as it is able?
Thanks again.0
-
06-03-2010, 03:16 PM #8Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Posts
- 4,533
0
-
06-03-2010, 03:21 PM #9Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Here's the part that caught my eye, in the Things To Check section:
"Hard drive failure Run the built-in diagnostics on the hard drive. Remember: Code 7 signifies correctable data corruption, not disk failure."0
-
06-03-2010, 10:39 PM #10Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Update: following the instructions I triangulated from a couple of different web sites, I was able to repair the errors using chkdsk and then fixboot. The computer seems fine so far.
Does the fact that the file errors occurred indicate any larger problem, or am I good to go now?
Thanks again.0
-
06-03-2010, 11:42 PM #11Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Posts
- 4,533
0
-
06-04-2010, 02:03 AM #12Web Hosting Master Disaster
- Join Date
- Oct 2002
- Location
- Under Your Skin
- Posts
- 5,904
0
-
06-04-2010, 07:26 AM #13Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Posts
- 999
If it is performing best and you are only having a problem with storage then its better to buy a new hard disk..
If you are millionaire then why bother about such small things0
-
06-04-2010, 09:06 AM #14Junior Guru Wannabe
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Posts
- 52
Millionaire or not, Atarim has a really good point. What is the optimum price point that when arrived to will dictate if he should either purchase a new computer altogether or just replace the part. He might be a millionaire because he constantly asks these questions and watches every penny for all we know!
So my guess, Atarim, is that if your HDD presents more problems in the future you will simply purchase another HDD. The opportunity cost of migrating the whole computer to a new one could also pose some time/value questions that someone reasonable like you would probably take into account.
When the HDD finally breaks, let us know what you do.0
-
06-04-2010, 09:49 AM #15Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful and helpful suggestions!
0
-
06-06-2010, 06:10 AM #16Newbie
- Join Date
- Jun 2010
- Posts
- 28
Personally, rich or not, I would build my own computer or have someone do it for you rather than going down the road of an OEM. This brings me to my boss's recent HP tower. He had a power surge, which damaged the hard drive. He gave it to me to replace his hard drive and it was almost impossible to remove the hard drive from the case. I had to remove the screws by holding a drill bit with my fingers as no tool would fit in the small space, which left me with bloody hands and a slightly bent chassis.
Needless to say, it wasn't worth it.0
-
06-07-2010, 12:48 PM #17Tom Whiting, WHMCS Guru extraordinaire
Linux problems? WHMCS Problems? Give me a shout
Check out my WHMCS Addons0
-
06-07-2010, 01:14 PM #18Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Jun 2010
- Posts
- 177
Heya,
I'd first run scandisk on the drive before buying anything. Over time the magnetic platters can develop a weak spot which can cause all kinds of drive errors. When scandisk checks a drive and detects clusters that can no longer be read, it marks them as bad and those spots aren't used anymore. If the bad spot is in the location called the boot sector (where the bootstrap information is stored) then of course it won't boot.
Scandisk isn't perfect, but it can save you a lot of trouble if it's able to find and mark bad the spots causing the problem.
Nick0
-
06-21-2010, 02:29 AM #19Newbie
- Join Date
- May 2010
- Posts
- 13
I'm wondering how old is that computer. If it's more than 3-5 years, I suggest getting a new one will definitely be worth it.
It's the other components are still new, maybe a year or two older, then it's just fine to change the Hard Drive only.0
-
06-23-2010, 09:55 PM #20Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
So far, things are still going okay. Thanks for all the suggestions!
0
-
06-28-2010, 02:31 PM #21Junior Guru Wannabe
- Join Date
- May 2009
- Location
- WHT
- Posts
- 38
I think better is buy new hard drive and used your old hard drive alternate as a pocket hard drive. I don't think your data will be Safe long in your old hard drive. So change the HARD DRIVE. Thanks!!
0
-
07-01-2010, 08:38 AM #22Web Hosting Evangelist
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Posts
- 489
Even if you buy a new one, try fixing the old system as you should be able to gain some knowlegde from it
0
-
07-01-2010, 12:27 PM #23Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Posts
- 1,290
Things are still running smoothly on the old drive...for now, anyway!
0
-
07-01-2010, 09:19 PM #24WHT Addict
- Join Date
- Dec 2009
- Location
- California
- Posts
- 100
You don't have to do a super upgrade, just a minor one will be a huge upgrade from that
0
-
07-04-2010, 07:40 PM #25Disabled
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
- Location
- England
- Posts
- 1,292
Mate if your happy with your pc and your hard drive has had it, the only thing is your need to find the drivers for your chipset and if your don't what your doing its going to be hard one you need to find out what motherboard your got then what socket your processor is running of off then try to find a website with the drivers for your chipset. Its not easy. Its easy to fit a new harddrive it doing the rest that is hard.
0
Similar Threads
-
Replace Hard Drive on live production server with minimum downtime w/ min email loss
By damainman in forum Hosting Security and TechnologyReplies: 8Last Post: 05-19-2010, 07:50 AM -
how to replace the hard drive in a raq4 help!
By nandina in forum Dedicated ServerReplies: 16Last Post: 10-15-2007, 03:36 AM -
How to replace hard drive in computer?
By Frosty in forum Computers and PeripheralsReplies: 30Last Post: 07-27-2007, 05:35 AM -
How long *Should* It take to replace a failing hard drive?
By tandyuk in forum Dedicated ServerReplies: 20Last Post: 06-13-2007, 03:32 PM -
How to replace a hard drive w/o reinstall?
By pmak0 in forum Hosting Security and TechnologyReplies: 5Last Post: 02-05-2004, 07:55 AM