replacing hard drive?
968098
well u can reinstall windows or whatever OS u have installed on ur computer if it dont work then buy a new hardrive and yes thire is one thing u should be aware of and thats loss of files once u replace ur HDD or  reinstall your OS if u have any new files on it back them up before it happens again also for a virus scanner dont use McAfee,NORTON, or Windows Live OneCare\nyou can use an antivirs scanner that won't slow your computer down when running in background if your working on your pc or have to do sum work on its called NOD32 heres the link \n\n                                 http://www.eset.com\n\nnow nod32 will not slow your system down while running in background like most anti virus scanners will\n\n\nonly time you have to replace your harddrive is when a virus is really bad and you can't do anything about it or if your drive fails or malfunctions but by all means try reinstalling your operating system before you waste your money on a new harddrive.\n\nremember....if you cant reinstall it....hook it up to another computer and format it....or.........if the drive fails or malfunctions...replace it...ONLY REPLACE WHEN NECESSARY!
649466
Formatting would be your best bet. Though there are certain commercial softwares which do this for you and then rewrite junk on the drive so that all previous info is lost but since nothing important is there a simple reformat would do. In order to do it you would have to boot into the command prompt. if you are using a certain brand like Dell or HP they have system restore which allows you to reset your computer to the day you bought it thus in effect starting out on a clean slate for any new user.\nI would personally recommend this(provided of course you have this feature)\n\nCheck out the link on Cnet about deleting data, it also has some links for softwares which will help you erase your HardDisk.
210810
Buy a cleaner or a new drive.
605213
1. Unplug all computer connections.\n2. Take off computer case.\n3. Find the cord going from your existing hard drive to the motherboard. There should be a free connection there somewhere.\n4. Plug in the new hard drive into that empty slot.\n5. You should see a 4 prong power cord coming from your existing hard drive. Find another one coming out of your power supply and plug it into your other hard drive.\n6. Screw in your new hard drive.\n7. Shut case and plug cables back in.\n8. Restart computer. Your computer should recognize the hard drive regardless of OS.\n\nPlease note that while these instructions work fine for installing hard drives on my computer, they might not work very well for yours. I'd get a second oppinion before you go tinkering w/ your computer if you've never done it before. Also, consult your computer manual for more detailed instructions.
638929
Just plug in your external hard drive, and start My Computer.  If the hard drive is properly formatted and partitioned, then it should show the drive with a new letter on the same place you will see your "C" drive.\n\nIf it does not show up then you will have to initialise the disk and format the disk for you to begin using it.\n\nAssuming everything is fine, simply drag and drop files into the new drive.  It maybe sensible to create folder and organise your data.\n\nSimply, right click on one of the files/mp3 etc and choose Open or to be more specific choose Open with and select the appropriate program.\n\nAlso before powering down your external hard drive or your computer, remember to disconnect the external drive safely on Windows.  On the System Tray, where your time shows on the bottom right hand corner.  There is an icon if you hover the mouse over it says "Remove Safely" or "Remove Hardware Safely".  Click on this and it will display the devices that are currntly connected.  Click on the entry related to the external hard drive.  If you do not do this, the hard drive can get corrupted.\n\nI lost about 40Gb worth of data by not doing this in a moment of madness.\n\nHope this is helpful.
84928
There is a software called Easy recovery that has tools for testing the mechanical and logical functions of any hard drive.  You need another hard drive if you are going to attemp any data recovery though.  Check the website.
822802
I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems.\nSome hard drive problems can be easily fixed yourself by using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful
408008
try usin a ghost, copy the entire content of your original hard drive to your new one, i do this quite often, i back up my hard drive and just incase something bad happens i can just copy the entire thing from my back up drive
365274
Not at all.\n\nUnscrew the harddrive and pull it out, then put in the new one.
388629
The best thing to do would be to open up the new one and "Temporarily" install the old hard drive ... heck, you might as well keep it there.\n\nCopy your DATA files (not programs, they should be reinstalled if you want any of them) to your new drive.  You can then Reformat the old drive ... it's remarkably easy to do ... the plugs only fit one way ... just make sure the power is completely off to the computer (i.e. unplug it from the wall for sure) while you've got your hands in there.\n\nDon't be intimidated ... it's very easy ... the plugs only fit one way !
1001859
Back up everything while you can. See if the drive is still under warranty and able to be replaced by the manufacturer, if not then buy a new one.
779495
You can replace just the cd drive or you can send it in for xbox 2 do it but if ur not in warrenty it will cost u a good 80 bucks. In that case u should just buy a new 1
422602
Backup all your information, format the HD and reinstal OS. Probably the easiest way.
314299
There are two ways that immediately come to mind, fixing it yourself with Norton Utilities, or sending it to a company like DriveSavers.\n\nNorton Utilities has the ability to scan a crashed hard disk and allow you to copy the contents to another drive. This works well with hard disks with "soft" crashes (The FAT table is corrupt, the drive forgets where files are)\n\nIf the drive has physically crashed, your only option may be a company like DriveSavers. They actually take your drive into a clean room, remove the platters, and put them into a new mechanism, then try to recover your data. They have a high success rate, but they often charge hundreds, if not thousands to recover your data.\n\nAs for preventing this, other than not kicking or dropping your computer, there isn't much you can do to prevent a hard disk crash. Always make sure your critical data is backed up!
8519
This is quite easy.  We'll configure your existing hard drive to be a master drive and your new one to be a slave drive.  Here's how:\n\n0. Print out this guide and any other reference material you have.\n\n1. Turn off your computer.\n\n2. Pull all of the cables out of the back, including the power chord.\n\n3. Get a screwdriver and open the case.\n\n4. Have a look around inside and look for a flat (thin) but wide grey cable going from your motherboard (the big circuit board at the bottom of your case where everything plugs in to) to your existing hard drive.\n\n5. Make sure there is a spare plug on the cable.  One of the plugs will be going into your existing hard drive.  Also make sure that there is space in the metal rack where the hard drives go, and that there are screw holes in the rack.\n\n6. Unscrew the hard drive and unplug the IDE cable (the flat grey cable) and the power cable, and remove your existing hard drive.  \n\n7. At the same end where the cable went in there will be a series of pins.  These are called 'jumper' pins and they're used to determine whether or not the device is master or slave.  Two of the pins should be covered with a thin bit of plastic that joins them together - this is called a jumper.  (see the URL in the sources section below).\n\n8. Look on the case of the hard drive for a picture of which pins to cover to make the hard drive a 'master' drive.  Remove the jumper and put it back on the appropriate pins.  Use a pair of tweazers if it helps.\n\n9. Look at your new hard drive and configure it as slave (using the jumper pins, just like in step 8).\n\n\n10. Place both hard drives back into the computer in the metal racks, and remember which is which (maybe use some sticky tape temporarily to mark one of them).  Screw them both into the racks.\n\n11. Attach the master hard drive, your old hard drive, to the very end of the IDE cable (the flat grey cable).\n\n12. Attach the new hard drive to the middle plug in the cable. (see the URL in the sources section).\n\n13. Attach power cables to both hard drives.\n\n14. Put your computer case back on, but don't screw it in yet.\n\n15. Plug in your power, monitor and keyboard and turn the computer on.  Hold down the 'delete' key on your keyboard immediately.  This will take you to your computer 'bios' screen.\n\n16. Select the first option in the menu.  This should list the hard drives that have been detected.  If both hard drives are in the list then you're done.  Screw the case on properly.  If not, double check the jumper settings, the IDE cable and the power cable.  If you can't get it to work, DONT PANIC! Just take your computer to your local computer store and ask for help.
338214
Looks like you have done most of the troubleshooting. Call up Dell. They would assist you in probably replacing the drive if the system is within contracts.\n\nBut they might ask you to repeat the steps you carried out and a few more, just to make sure its not the fault with the operating system.\n\nGood Luck!
707255
You'll have to remove the old hard drive, but it's really not that hard... on the back of your laptop should be a bunch of panels that come off... under one of them is the harddrive. Unscrew and VIOLA, you've got all your data... Now go buy a $3.00   adapter from ebay and you're set... When you buy, you're looking for a 2.5" USB HD enclosure... what'll pretty much happen is you're gonna turn your old HD into an external HD, kinda like athumb drive. I suck at giveing explanations.... send me an email at mdd345@hotmail.com if you need any help or have any other questions...