Find tech advice for business here
Desktops: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting...
- 8/3/07 12:20 PM
Reformating lost HD
by marslong - 8/4/07 6:14 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I use a few computers with IDE drives and SCSI RAID systems. I found out that, with time, one disk or another fails to boot. I then do a low level reformat and the disk is good for quite a while. What I suspect happens is that some sectors of the boot sector, being adressed everytime, get worne out. A low level format writes these sectors out and asssigns new one to be used as boot sectors. This is written in the Hard disk software and is therefore safe. There is a table of unusable tracks and there are usually some spare tracks to compensate. Otherwise you would see the capacity of the disk diminish by a few KB or even MB if the hard disk is quite old. At that point...replace it!
Michel S.
Reformatting your PC
by nighthawk - 8/4/07 6:52 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Curiosity gets the best of me and I would get into the registry. Not knowing what I was doing, would merrily go on my way and try to clean it up. Purchasing Registry Mechanic ended up being much cheaper than taking it to a technician. Also started paying attention and doing backups.
Idiot
by GovernmentMan - 8/4/07 11:16 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I tripped over my laptop's power adapter.
"No bootable devices."
Alot. But that was before I decided....
by Me, Myself and You - 8/4/07 11:54 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
... to stop formatting every time I ran into trouble and to start actually figuring out my problems.
Since then not only have I stuck with my same system but I have learned a hell of a lot.
Reformat my hard drive - only once
by stephenor - 8/5/07 4:03 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I once had to reformat the hard drive on a cumputer. This was my old trusty Windows 98se Dell computer. It took five days to get my things back in working order. This was most definitely my worst computer catastrophe ever, due to some problem between Microsoft Outlook and Norton Internet Security, which I promptly threw out. (I have been using Kaspersky Security for three years, and strongly recommend their products). The computer I currently use for office & home is a Dell laptop with Windows XP, with which I am very happy - no, I am not changing to Vista. If their are any secrets I have found the ways to keep my computer trouble free are of course -
(1) leave plenty of empty space on your computer hard-drive to allow your software to function efficiently,
(2) have only 1 security service (for virus, hackers, spam...) that you understand how to use,
(3) data should be stored (backed-up) on an external hard-drive, which should ideally be copied again to a second external hard-drive! On your computer keep only software (your tools) and your current files.
For storage purposes I use two identical 250GB LaCie external hard-drives. Each holds the same information - all my files and a complete system back-up of my computer. These are slightly larger (physical size) than an old VHS video cassette. If I travel for a long period I take one with me in order to allow consultation of all my files.
I deleted my modem
by fuzychiapet - 8/5/07 10:39 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Back in the old days when I had dial up, I was browsing my computer settings when I came across a button that said "remove modem". Thinking that the modem was a piece of hardware that couldn't be deleted, I clicked it, and was then unable to get on the internet. So I had to restore my computer.
What is the real meaning of the research's results
by Jorge Braga - 8/5/07 10:53 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am afraid that a key question is missing to make possible the correct evaluation of the findings of that research. And the question is about how many time the related computer is being used. Without this information the results are useless, in my opinion.
Regards
Jorge Braga - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
I always had to reformat
by lynjs - 8/5/07 4:20 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
On my old HP 733 MHZ, for the past couple of years reformatting was all I done every six to seven months. It was so insane that eventually the machine was replaced back in March with a 3 gig HP a1750y series custom model from hp.
A note for those getting a newer pc, beware that one must make the boot disc themselves. It doesn't come with the machine like it use to, so have a dvd handy or about 19 cd-rws ready. When I attempted to make my disc with the software provided, there was a glitch. I had to contact hp where they promptly mailed a boot disc out to me. The practice is stupid. They should have just done that anyway.
I'm HARD on computers!
by edbrady - 8/5/07 4:35 PM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've owned three "modern" conmputers in the past7 years, and have totally crashed every one of them several times. When I get a new one, I put it through its paces (and then some).
So, first thing I do is create a full image. Then as I go along, I create subsequent images. That way, no matter how hard I may be on these things, I can always restore the entire hard drive to what it was at the last image point.
Maybe not switching off is a good idea
by daniel wimberley - 8/6/07 1:36 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When I first got a PC back in 1994 or thereabouts I was advised by a computer savvy friend "DO NOT TURN YOUR PC OFF - EVER"
Reason being is that the state of all the components changes, and this wears them out. Far better to leave them all on all the time - no changes of state, no changes of temperature, etc.
If this is true, it sheds some light on the recent calls to "SWITCH OFF YOUR COMPUTER WHEN NOT IN USE" to help combat global warming. Because if it is true, it means that you damage your PC and will need a new one sooner, which is precisely what "they" want.
You will save less energy by turning off regularly and then having to buy a new one with all its embodied energy, than by leaving on permanently.
I would welcome comments on this. I have also recently read that if you leave your PC on, the hard disk keeps turning, and that this tires out the motor bearings, bringing about earlier failure - and the need for a new PC! But surely you can keep your PC on without the hard disk turning all the time?
Comments please!
Turning off computers
by edtrimm - 8/6/07 12:07 PM In reply to: Maybe not switching off is a good idea by daniel wimberleyIf you like high electric bills, leave it on. If you want to wear out the moving parts on the thing, leave it on. If you want your computer over your air conditioning, leave it on, because there really is only so much electricty to go around.
About turning it off!
by Pharaoh4evr - 8/6/07 2:00 PM In reply to: Turning off computers by edtrimmI do hope my computer doesn't ever use more electricity than my central air unit. Then I might consider shutting it off. I would bet it uses less than my oscillating fan though. Besides that if computers needed to be shut off from time to time the whole damn country would just go dark because just about every thing is run by them anymore. Far less money to replace a drive once in a great while than the power to run it. I mean this soley as another honest opinion and nothing more.
The Pharaoh
Energy bs Machine Life.
by TreknologyNet - 8/15/07 5:10 AM In reply to: Maybe not switching off is a good idea by daniel wimberleyI have one machine that runs 24/7. It has zero shutdown on the drives because starting up and stopping is what wheres out the bearings--running them at even speed keeps things smooth.
I have a crappy little laptop that is my FILESERVER. It's allowed to standby, shut down drives, sleep, whatever. It powers up a 250GB external drive when accessed, and that's where most of my machines back up to. That is also kept as an image on the 24/7 machine. And yes, if it's a choice between the computer and the aircon, the aircon wins, because I'm not burning out any more CPUs!
Temperature problem
by dre belgium - 8/6/07 4:59 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A few years ago my 15 GB disk started failing but only after it was on for 1 or 2 minutes. The system could not read or write anything to it anymore. I wanted to copy all 'important' information on it, so I took it out and placed it in the refrigerator at 4°C for an hour. I connected it back to the pc, and it gave me 10...15 minutes now. I did this twice and had my copy.
Second case: the mechanical part of the disk were still OK, but something went wrong with the electronical part (the pcb of the hard disk). I could replace it with an identical one from another drive, and could get back all data without problem.
ahh, the total reformat
by killav - 8/6/07 6:44 AM In reply to: Poll: How many times have you resorted to reformatting... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i've only had to do this nonsense once, and that was back in the day when w95 first came out, i decided to make as much room as possible on my little hard drive and deleted internet explorer, god love the blue screen of death!
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
