updated laptop hdd problems?

[billybellfoot]

hi rich could i ask your opinion on a related issue?

my dad does not do any business or anything like that (no saved work files letters etc)

it is his home laptop used for pictures very few.. some movies and tv shows and some programs he has installed is it in his case worth doing a back up or could he just drag and drop the files he wants to keep (around 60gb of data) to an external drive or would the back up software still be best option or quickest option etc. thanks again

i only ask as have created the back up job and it says in prograss however its been on 0% for over 30mins now? maybe im doing something wrong? (its very highly likely)

 

[richc46]

If you do not have many pics etc, why not test backing up to a finger drive. The way it is done is, hold down shift, click on the first pic to be backed up, still holding down shift, click on the last pic and then they will all be highlighted, the drag the first pic to the drive or usb or whatever and then they will all follow.
I like external drives due to capacity.

 

[billybellfoot]

If you do not have many pics etc, why not test backing up to a finger drive. The way it is done is, hold down shift, click on the first pic to be backed up, still holding down shift, click on the last pic and then they will all be highlighted, the drag the first pic to the drive or usb or whatever and then they will all follow.
I like external drives due to capacity.

would need to be HDD as thre is around 50 - 60 GB of home movies tv shows etc. i have not got a thumb drive that size.

but as i say ideally i would like to keep those videos etc. but obviously the os is most important

___________________________________________________________________
on the back up i have another issue itas now started to show progress however itss stating back up failed with errors? failed to copy file F: back up of dads.......

multiple times in a long list ?

does this mean its not working properly?

 

[richc46]

Can be many causes, but the most common reason is a bad hard drive.

 

[billybellfoot]

bad hard drive that im copying too (external)
or bad hard drive that im copying from? (internal)

also should i stop back up. if its failing it will serve no purpose anyway will it? is that right?

 

[richc46]

Can be either, but in your case, I would guess from. You already have the bad Crystal report.

 

[billybellfoot]

should i stop back up. if its failing it will serve no purpose anyway will it? is that right?

also if its the case that its bad internal.(system drive)

thats causing back up to fail is it likely that macrium would fail also?

 

[richc46]

If you hard drive is failing, the back up with Macrium will not work.
Listen, you have problems, do the chkdsk, it will fix the problems temporarily (hopefully), then make the back up right away.
If the chkdsk makes the hard drive fail, it was too far gone to save the stuff anyway.

 

[billybellfoot]

hers a screen shot of the external drive is it ok? i mean is it the culpret (to blame) of the bad back up or the internal?

 

[billybellfoot]

If you hard drive is failing, the back up with Macrium will not work.
Listen, you have problems, do the chkdsk, it will fix the problems temporarily (hopefully), then make the back up right away.
If the chkdsk makes the hard drive fail, it was too far gone to save the stuff anyway.

ok but could i save some personal files manually first? like programs movies pictures by using drag and drop to my external HDD

then perform chk dsk and if worst happens i have copy of personal files. then re-install OS if worst happens to new hdd.

 

[richc46]

I think that you can. The files that you cannot back up (at this point) are the ones that are saved to the portion of the hard drive with the corruption.

 

[billybellfoot]

ok thanks i will try and manually copy to my external HDD what i can then run chk dis as u instructed then go to manu facturer and test again see what happens and report back

NEXT Question is:
could you tell me how do i perform chk disk and does it take a long time? also is it something that i should sit and watch as it happens or can i leave it to do it and go out or have a bath etc while its running?

thanks

 

[richc46]

You will have to check both boxes as shown in this tutorial.
It will take about 2 hours. You do not have to watch it. If you are not there when it is finished you will not see the results, if that happens post and I will show you how to get the results.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67612-check-disk-chkdsk.html

 

[billybellfoot]

ok thanks i was worried if i mised something that would be that. and have to start again.

but there is a way to get it (the chk dsk results ) back to be viewed. ( can i then or will i be able to post the results for you to view or will i be able to make sense of the results)

ok then thanks rich i am still in process of manually copying personal files and when thats done i will do chk dsk

thanks agian richc46 you have been a massive help thankyou

another thing?

i know how to copy paste my personal files etc across to HDD. but is there any way to copy my e.mails from windows mail (my main e.mail from broadband provider) to hdd. like export them out to external HDD then import them back after.

or is there a simpler method?

thans

 

[billybellfoot]

hi rich i ran check dsk.


it went through 5 stages i did not catch the results

how do i find out the results and what is next step?

thanks

_____________________________________________________________________

however i just noticed my desktop has no symbols desktop icons. and taskbar has TIME displayed (however time displayed is frozen
no internet connected/disconected indicator?
or sound etc

also i cannot acces start menu or right click on desktop to bring anything up or on taskbar? does this mean its still doing its thing (ckh dsk) or has it frozen again?

the HDD indication light on laptop casre displays now and again and hear little hdd sounds so assume hdd is still active?

but its displaying desktop just no ne of the other bits and its non responsive (is it meant to be like that when doing chk disk)

thanks

 

[richc46]

Before we get the results, lets see if Vista is damaged
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/66978-system-files-sfc-command.html

 

[billybellfoot]

i cannot enter anything? it is non responsive? all i can do is move mouse?

i can see desktop wallpaper and taskbar and start windows symbol but cannot interact with any of it?

 

[richc46]

See if it works in safe mode. Im guessing the Hard Drive is toast.

 

[billybellfoot]

so to enter safe mode do i press hold power button to turn off?

 

[richc46]

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/123496-safe-mode.html