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OT: Computer Geniuses -- Help

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John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/28/2010 : 15:51:49

Nothing to do with sailing but there are a lot of computer gurus here so........

My wife has a 5-6 year old laptop that has been terrific until last week when the hard drive failed to respond and she ended up losing everything when she used her recovery disc to get the thing up and running again. It worked for about a week and then crashed again yesterday. She's getting a message about unable to read the hard drive. So, I'm guessing the hard drive is toast. It has a "P" ATA drive and the only thing I can find as a replacement seems to be "Serial" hard drives.

Can a "Serial" replace a "P"? (which I've come to learn is "parallel")

I didn't find any "P" drives when I Googled them as a replacement part. Although, admittedly, I only checked a few of the suggested sites. Any ideas for a source?

John Russell
1999 C250 SR/WK #410
Bay Village, Ohio
Sailing Lake Erie
Don't Postpone Joy!

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 16:06:33

I've had GREAT success w/ fixit99.com They were able to remotely get into my computer and fixed it...for $100 they dealt w/ all the issues...all dark arts as far as I'm concerned...

Edited by - jerlim on 03/28/2010 16:08:46

pfduffy
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 17:16:28

John - if you can give me some more information brand of machine, serial number, etc - I may be able to help. Feel free to send me an email at pat at duffyfamily dot org. Given that the machine is 5-6 years old, I'm not certain that I would spend any additional money on this machine.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 18:53:30

John,
I was just about to say pretty much exactly what Pat said. We should be able to figure out a replacement drive that'll fit it, but when you can get a new netbook for less than $300, I'm not sure of the utility of fixing a laptop that's lasted twice it's expected life. Since she's already lost everything on the original drive, you can't lose anything more by going to a new one. Hopefully she used a USB stick or something to back up her data?

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 19:04:35

Kind of depends on whether its a minimalist or higher end notebook.

Edited by - on

Turk
Admiral

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USA
736 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 20:04:30

Parallel ATA (PATA) is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, solid-state drives, floppy drives, and CD-ROM drives in computers. The standard is maintained by X3/INCITS committee[1]. It uses the underlying AT Attachment and AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATA/ATAPI) standards.
The current Parallel ATA standard is the result of a long history of incremental technical development. ATA/ATAPI is an evolution of the AT Attachment Interface, which was itself evolved in several stages from Western Digital's original Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. As a result, many near-synonyms for ATA/ATAPI and its previous incarnations exist, including abbreviations such as IDE which are still in common informal use. After the market introduction of Serial ATA in 2003, the original ATA was retroactively renamed Parallel ATA.
Parallel ATA only allows cable lengths up to 18 in (457 mm). Because of this length limit the technology normally appears as an internal computer storage interface. For many years ATA provided the most common and the least expensive interface for this application. By the beginning of 2007, it had largely been replaced by Serial ATA (SATA) in new systems.

If you choose to fix it and remember, taking a laptop apart can be tricky and you need to be careful with flat ribbon cables on the keyboards and screen, Ebay has PATA drives from 100GB for $29 to 320 gb for $92.

I would recommend getting into some newer technology. Or better yet, buy a Mac.

Edited by - Turk on 03/28/2010 20:10:13

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 20:20:57

I think the consensus above is what I'd say... If the drive isn't the problem, then the computer is, and if the computer isn't the problem, then the drive is. If it's the former, get a new computer and have "The Geek Squad" or somebody remove the drive and transfer its data to the new computer (if that data is important). If it's the latter, the data is toast--get a new computer and start over, using a USB gum-stick in the future to back up your irreplaceable data on a regular basis.

Sometimes (usually) it takes an experience to learn the truth in life. One truth is to back up whatever is important to you on your computer. Another is that major repairs to old computers are usually a bad use of your scarce treasure. And most new ones, unless you're a serious gamer, a movie editor, or store millions of photos, are way more than you need to access the web, do word processing, and manipulate a few thousand photos.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 03/28/2010 20:22:38

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 03/28/2010 : 20:27:59

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 ...... Hopefully she used a USB stick or something to back up her data?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> Well.............. not so much. She was able to save some photos and some word Documents but not much else.

The hard drive pops out easily. Simply removed a door under the keyboard, then a few screws and popped it out. PC. Easily removed without any cables. I pulled the battery out first.

I've looked at replacements and to match all the bells and whistles would cost $700 - $800. $100 or less for a new drive seems the better way to go for us.

I'll check E-Bay, thanks for the lesson, Turk.

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 03/29/2010 : 08:03:59

This is almost certainly a hard drive gone bad. The info is gone unless you pay the big buck to have it retrieved. Go to the manufacturers web site, find out exactly what hard drive was in it, do a general search for it and you'll probably be able to choose from 10 different sites (including ebay) and prices for a new one.

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 03/29/2010 : 09:10:57

OWC (Other World Computing) has consistently good prices, help and backup. Don't let the Macsales title put you off, a PATA drive is a PATA drive regardless and there are only two form factors, big ones for desktops and little ones for laptops. Mac hasn't used PATA for years, so replacements are cheap.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 03/29/2010 : 12:35:54

And... when you get it fixed/replaced... consider getting an external HDD or two to use as backup.

Hope it works out for you.

Paul

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2010 : 17:18:55

I just got a nice Windows 7 PC for about $400. It is not for editing video or gaming, but I use it for business. It has a scheduled weekly backup where I put a writeable DVD in the slot and 20 minutes later, my work and personal docs are backed up. You can also do a periodic full backup (ghost) of the disk to a USB harddrive. I also copied my SW and drivers to a set of 4 DVDs.

Nice thing about it - when this one bites the dust in a few years, I should have my files backed up.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but backup weekly, or if you're on a major project, daily! For those who never back up their stuff, no amount of preaching will save the damned!

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2010 : 18:55:55

There are online options for backups as well, like Mozy and others. We use a 1/2 TB USB drive, and I've written scripts to back up our data on demand. It's largely photos, with some spreadsheets & website data. It takes less than 20 minutes to back up each of our boxes to it. I keep my really important stuff in multiple places, I have two 4 GB USB sticks that I use for constant back up of stuff at work, and another 1 GB that Rita uses here at home.

My brother learned to back up the hard way. His business computer's hard drive croaked, and all of a sudden his secondary drive became his primary (it had an older version of Windows on it that was still active). He kept complaining to me that his computer had "gone back in time", which it really had since that drive hadn't been used for about two years, other than for data storage. It took me about an hour on the phone to figure out what had happened. We were able to extract most of his database eventually, but he lost about 2 months of books for his business. He bought a DVD burner the next day, and they have a rotating schedule now to do daily, weekly & monthly backups.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2010 : 19:22:29

I have a 1 terabyte drive plugged into my Airport Extreme base and Time Machine keeps all three computers up to date.

Edited by - on

KD4AO
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2010 : 06:33:16

John, I have replaced Hard Drives in many Laptops with great success. Your drive will most likely be referred to as IDE and can be oredered from places like newegg.com or tigerdirect.com, or compusa.com and many others. You should be able to find a replacement for under $100 depending on the size. It is also an opportunity to increase the size and speed a little. Check this site for some help. http://www.drivesolutions.com/ . If you can pop out the old drive you can install a new one. Just be sure you have a recovery disk that will allow your to re-install the operating system.

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