Hard Drive Failing....how do I transfer files to new hard drive?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Copasta, Jan 5, 2008.

  1. Copasta

    Copasta Private First Class

    Hello,
    It's been a terrible two weeks as far as computers go! At first I thought I had malware, but after spending 4 days going through all the different tests, I found out that I had no malware, but I had a system crash on the day in question. SO, I spent another 3 or 4 days in the software forum trying to get my computer up to speed once again. Finally, after all that time and many, many headaches and sleepless nights, my computer was back to normal....fast and perfectly running like the day I built it not 6 months ago! That was until the next day, when Windows started telling me my hard drive was failing! UUUGGGGHHH!
    So, anyway, I have a Seagate SATA II 320gb drive that is literally 6 months old that is failing. I recently purchased another Seagate SATA 300gb hard drive for another computer that I was about to start building over the holidays (until my nice little encounter with computer nastiness!). I was wondering how I would go about transferring my files from the one drive to the other? I tried backing everything up to disk, but it failed about halfway through the first of ten disks! What is a RAID setup, and would it be any good for my situation? I am really finding out that I am computerally challenged, but we all have to start somewhere, so please be gentle with me and assume that I know NOTHING....you're probably right! Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all you guys do, and if you need any other info, just let me know. I am running Vista Ultimate, fyi!

    P.S. I already tried the SeaTools Diagnostic.....failed everytime I tried it, even with the DOS cd version!
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2008
  2. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

  3. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

  4. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    I'm on a mission now.... here's another one: http://www.majorgeeks.com/HDClone_Free_Edition_d3809.html
    It turns out that there's a bunch of free ones that look pretty good in the BackUp section I linked to above; it's the 2nd link in my 2nd post above....

    EDIT- I was just thinking... did you run the Seagate diagnostic on the hard drive to make sure it's failing? I'm also curious about something else: you said Windows told you the drive was failing? Windows? What exactly did Windows do? In any case, if the drive is really dying, it's covered for 5 years by Seagate's factory warranty and will be replaced or rebuilt free of charge, you'll just pay one-way shipping. They have an online form to fill out for warranty replacement.
     
  5. Copasta

    Copasta Private First Class

    Yes, I've already contacted them and received the RMA to return the old drive. I just wanted to get all the information transferred before I do that! It is nice that they have such a long warranty! That is one thing that sold me on Seagate....didn't know I'd need it so soon!!!!!


    P.S. When I install the new drive, do I need to load Windows onto it, or will one of these programs just clone the old drive and transfer the files to the new one? Thanks so much for responding!
     
  6. Copasta

    Copasta Private First Class

    Hello again,
    I actually just learned that I did the burn of the Seagate SeaTools ISO wrong. I did it again, and it is currently running the diagnostics now. It already failed the Short Test, so I am running the Long Test in hopes that it could find something, or even try to repair the bad sectors. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!......
     
  7. Copasta

    Copasta Private First Class


    Ok, so it ran the diagnostics, found 8 errors on drive and fixed them. It then said, Passed after repair in the log at the end. I rebooted, and went back into the Read Me file, and it states that "If the log says, 'Passed after repair', it means that the drive found errors, was repaired, and should be considered a "good" drive again! Great news, right? Except that the fact that then Windows popped up again with the "Windows detected a Hard Drive Failure- back up your files immediately before any other loss of files". UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
     
  8. Copasta

    Copasta Private First Class

    Thanks to all of you....just ran the Seagate DiskWizard and cloned my failing drive onto the other drive I had. I can now return the failing drive to Seagate for a new one! Thanks again for all the help, suggestions, links and utilities. You guys are awesome!
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds