Thanks so much, Troth. Yes, Other than trying once again to do a back-up, I did take it easy over the weekend. I'm doing pretty much the same today. I printed out the detailed instructions for backing up that Don sent me last week. I need to sit down when I'm really wide-eyed and bushy tailed, with no distractions, and see if I can make it work this time. Hopefully, that will be tomorrow morning. Should I succeed, and get that far, I do have a question. I have Picassa. Doesn't that program gather every single picture on the computer? And if so, doesn't that mean I don't have go searching in all the places I have pictures? Best, Betty ~OoO~ wrote: >Ok... And, so I am back! >No doubt, we'll have equal signs after every line of mine. Most annoying thing >in the world, isn't it? Only thing more annoying than that would be a hard >drive possibly going bad! >;o) > >Anyways... > >Alright, Betty. I sure hope you've taken this opportunity to relax a bit. > >It most certainly seems like the drive is going bad. It could be physical >damage to the sectors, hecnce unrepairable. Or, it could be something that a >full format might fix and make the whole thing all spankin' brand new again. >Either way, NOW is the time to really sit back and think about this, and >decide the direction you want to go. > >You really need to consult your inner self here. I mean, take my words >literal. At this point in time, you need to ask yourself, "How important is my >data?" The warning is there. You have a lot of bad sectors, which explains all >the problems you were having. You need to do something. > >In my book, you only have 3 choices: > >Choice 1. Backup your data that you know you need and cannot afford to lose, >and then just wait for the drive to get worse and worse. This is the easiest >of the three options. Although, not really a good choice, cause you're going >to have to keep backing up all the new datat you continue to put onto the >drive AFTER you make the backups. Your drive is unsteady, so if you make one >backup and nothing more, when the drive DOES go on you everything between the >last backup and doomsday will be lost. > >Choice 2. Backup all your data. Do some heavy diagnostics using the SeaTools >which will wipe the drive. Assuming the drive is still useable after that, you >then format the drive. Reinstall Windows. Restore all your backups. You're now >back in action. Using this option, you'll know if the drive is usable or not >due to the additional diagnostics. On the other hand, if the drive is bad, you >then move on and purchase a new drive. > >Choice 3. Backup all your data. Purchase a brand new drive (many on sale in >the weekend papers, and I would be more than happy to direct you to these >sales as they occur). Install the new drive as the main drive. Install the >original drive as an additional drive (would be your D drive). Install Windows >on the new drive. Format the second drive (which is the possible bad one). >And, if it formats ok you then use it for additional storage. Finally, restore >your backups. > >Actually... You do have a fourth choice. That choice involves doing nothing >and just waiting. But, I promise you, as anyone whose worked so long with >computers, when you least expect the drive to finally go on you, and when you >are most likely to lost the most amount of data, THAT'S when it'll crash. > >Now... If you're really nervous about all this, you need to take a deep breath >and realize that its all very easy as long as you do some preparations, >reading, and following instructions. With that said, if you're still >uncomfortable to the point that you don't want to do this, you can always go >to either Best Buy, CompUSA, or (as I myself prefer) a local computer shop >that can help you. Give me your zip code and we'll look up techs in that area. >A job like this shouldn't cost more than maybe $150. And, that's only cause >you have backups involved. If it just involved installing a new drive then you >shouldn't be paying more than $50-$60. You can always try doing the backups >yourself first. And, if all works good, then you just have them install the >drive, and then you restore the stuff yourself. > >Anyhow... Let me know if you have any questions, comments or curses... And, of >course, let me know what route you will take. >____________________________________ >Sir Troth >ICQ #1717439 >AIM/AOL: SirTrothX >Yahoo: SirTroth >MSN: SirTroth@xxxxxxxxxxx > (do not email me here) >My Personal Email: SirTroth@xxxxxxxxx >-------------------------------------------------- > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] >On Behalf Of betty >Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:46 AM >To: PCTechTalk >Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Firefox Revisited > >I again tried opening that Seagate file and was able to in Opera! >Strange, that it wouldn't >open in IE. >A short. preliminary scan of the drive came up empty. But when I did the >full scan, this is >what they found: I'm coing to paste from what I copied. If it doesn't >paste here, should >I send it to your email, Troth? > >SeaTools Online Complete Surface Scan >Started at 10:00:57 AM on 11/10/2005. > >Scanning drive: Primary IDE Channel : ST340016A >Serial Number: 3HSBRCRE >Capacity: 40.02 GB > - An error was encountered reading sector 6141141. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6141142. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6143975. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6143976. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6144389. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6146661. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6146662. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6147223. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6147908. > - An error was encountered reading sector 6148179. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66784559. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66784641. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66784767. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66786180. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66789019. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66793986. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66794012. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66796497. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66812668. > - An error was encountered reading sector 66812714. >Errors were found during the scan. > >SeaTools has stopped scanning drive ST340016A because at least 20 >sectors on the drive are unreadable. As a precaution against data loss, >it is strongly suggested that you back up any important data on the >drive as soon as possible. > >Do I have to tell you that I'm very ill? And does it all mean that >errors can't be fixed? > >Betty > > >-- ><Please delete this line and everything below.> > >To unsub or change your email settings: >//www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk > >To access our Archives: >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ >//www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ > > > > >-- ><Please delete this line and everything below.> > >To unsub or change your email settings: >//www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk > >To access our Archives: >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ >//www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ > > > > > > -- <Please delete this line and everything below.> To unsub or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/