[scarlet.rose]

I want to try to clone a hard drive from a Dell Dimension 8100 desktop (has space for 2 drives - 1 empty slot).

Still has original (from Speccy):

Storage
Hard drives
ST340823A
Manufacturer Seagate
Form Factor 3.5"
Heads 16
Cylinders 4,865
Tracks 1,240,575
Sectors 78,156,225
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA/ATAPI-5
Serial Number 5EF0JMBZ
Firmware Version Number 3.39
LBA Size 28bit LBA
Power On Count 22855 times
Power On Time 227.1 days
Features S.M.A.R.T., AAM
Max. Transfer Mode Ultra DMA/100
Used Transfer Mode Ultra DMA/100
Interface ATA
Capacity 37.3 GB
Real size 40,020,664,320 bytes
RAID Type None

Would this new drive be compatible (if still available) please? Best I could find.

https://www.ebay.co....uAAAOSwEflcmhka

Any help would be much appreciated.

Edited by scarlet.rose, 17 May 2020 - 05:35 AM.

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Hello scarlet.rose,

 

A question if I may, why do you wish to clone the present HDD, being older hardware and a relatively small capacity second HDD means that you stand to gain very little to no benefit by cloning the contents of the present HDD to the one at your link, reason I ask btw is we may have some other options for you.

[phillpower2]

Hello scarlet.rose,

 

A question if I may, why do you wish to clone the present HDD, being older hardware and a relatively small capacity second HDD means that you stand to gain very little to no benefit by cloning the contents of the present HDD to the one at your link, reason I ask btw is we may have some other options for you.

[scarlet.rose]

Thank you for your reply phillpower2.

 

For now I want to use the same computer.

 

I don't feel confident working inside a computer.

 

I am not able to spend much time on this and want the easiest fix.

 

I am worried about one of my computer's S.M.A.R.T. attributes.

 

All currently showing green / 'Good'...........

 

But recently over time the Seek Error Rate has been dropping. Was 67, dropped to 57, today stands at 48. Threshold 30. Please see attachment from 13/5/2020.

 

Would you kindly tell what the rising number beside Seek Error Rate below Data is please. Is that the number of errors?

 

The Spin Retry Count figures were exactly the same in year 2016 - the yellow line means?

 

Edited by scarlet.rose, 17 May 2020 - 06:31 AM.

[phillpower2]

Whichever way you go about cloning a HDD you will at some point have to go inside of the computer if you intend replacing the present HDD with a new one.

 

Couple of things for you to do;

 

To check the HDDs health, something easier to use and understand;

 

Download and run CrystalDisk info standard edition from here

 

Run the program, grab any screenshots and attach to your next reply for us.

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

[scarlet.rose]

Thanks for helping me phillpower2.

 

I am worried the hard drive will fail, which is why I thought of cloning it.

I have a new CPU fan and RDRAM that I bought to put inside it, but I fear the computer won't work at all after I have worked inside it! Would much rather a technician did it, but PC World technicians (who I could trust) are not able to work on old computers anymore.

 

I have been working without a CPU fan, which might have caused / worsened the Seek Error Rate issue.

 

I am very careful not to let the computer overheat and put it on Stand-By if the temperature starts increasing. I never let it reach 50 C.

 

http://speccy.pirifo...iIcnkzv77wnUiq7

 

Edited by scarlet.rose, 17 May 2020 - 12:01 PM.

[phillpower2]

CrystalDisk says your HDD is fine as does Speccy;

 

Storage

Hard drives

ST340823A

Manufacturer: Seagate

Form Factor: 3.5"

Heads: 16

Cylinders: 4,865

Tracks: 1,240,575

Sectors: 78,156,225

Device type: Fixed

ATA Standard: ATA/ATAPI-5

Serial Number: 5EF0JMBZ

Firmware Version Number: 3.39

LBA Size: 28bit LBA

Power On Count: 32481 times

Power On Time: 648.0 days

Features: S.M.A.R.T., AAM

Max. Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA/100

Used Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA/100

Interface: ATA

Capacity: 37.3 GB

Real size: 40,020,664,320 bytes

RAID Type: None

S.M.A.R.T

Status: Good

Temperature: 36 °C

Temperature Range: OK (less than 50 °C)

S.M.A.R.T attributes

 

What I suggest you do rather than clone the HDD is get yourself an external USB HDD, Windows XP has not been supported for years and being honest you are best not to spend any cash on  this computer just continue to use it as it is but rather than saving stuff to the present hard drive save it to an external one instead, the good thing about having the external drive is that you could create a back up image of the XP hard drive that is in your computer.

[scarlet.rose]

Thank you for the information.

 

A PC World technician previously told me this too: "you are best not to spend any cash on this computer"

 

I am worried the Seek Error Rate number will continue to drop and then fall below the threshold. Is that one on eBay compatible? It's new and only £15.99.

 

Do sellers normally do this? >

 

"All hdd hard drive ,we test before sending."

 

Makes me think it might have been used.........

 

I do have a few new external USB HDD and have transferred all important documents.

 

"the good thing about having the external drive is that you could create a back up image of the XP hard drive that is in your computer"

 

To transfer onto another hard drive if need be? How do I do that please?

Edited by scarlet.rose, 17 May 2020 - 12:56 PM.

[phillpower2]

I think you will be referring to USB thumbdrives rather than external hard drives, your Speccy report shows that you have a 14GB USB thumbdrive inserted in the computer.

 

Some info for you here going offline now but will check back tomorrow after you have had a chance to read the info at the link, not suggesting that you purchase anything just trying to help you be better informed.

 

Just to reiterate, you are best to just keep using the computer as it is and not upgrade or swap any internal components, if the computer is able to do what you need of it and you are nervous about upgrading things yourself stick with what have and you may well find that the present hard drive will last for as long as you have the computer.

[scarlet.rose]

Thanks for explaining / sharing information. I am keen to learn / understand.

 

Yes, I just have a USB thumb drive.

 

I previously found this article (below), which concerned me. Although I have not had any 'Failed' warning, the figures in the image by Seek Error Rate are similar to mine. 

 

https://www.stellari...eek-error-rate/

 

I only use the computer for email / shopping, eBay / Amazon and Facebook. Save pictures too.

 

My main concern is losing the computer, not what I have on it.

 

Couldn't afford a new desktop all in one, which is what I would want.

 

Couldn't bear to be without a computer...........

[phillpower2]

If you continue to use the computer as it is now and you keep saving your data to either USB thumbdrives or an external hard drive should you invest in one I see no reason for you having any problems with the computer for the foreseeable future.

 

The one important thing that you must keep doing is saving your data to something other than the hard drive as being such a small capacity hard drive you don`t want to fill it up as that will cause your issues.

 

You are welcome btw 

 

NB: Only just realised that you said that you had no cooling fan, that will not harm your hard drive but will eventually fry your CPU, how to fit a CPU cooling fan

 

It is not always just a case of swapping the CPU cooling fan, if you need to also remove the heatsink which sits atop of the CPU the old thermal compound will need to be properly cleaned off and a fresh amount reapplied before refitting the heatsink and cooling fan.

[scarlet.rose]

Thanks a lot phillpower2 for all your help and advice.

Regarding: "Only just realised that you said that you had no cooling fan, that will not harm your hard drive but will eventually fry your CPU"

I see.

 

I saw this and thought the Seek Error Rate issue could be related to the no cooling fan:

"Seek Error Rate is one of the 5 most critical SMART parameters that indicate a problem with the magnetic heads. It may happen due to significant bad sectors, mechanical issues, or overheating and servo damage."

 

Oh, more than just changing the fan, heatsink too - would be out of my depth.

 

I will save my data to something other than the hard drive.

I have a fair amount of space available, so don't need much.

 

Edited by scarlet.rose, 18 May 2020 - 08:41 AM.

[phillpower2]

Suggestion, rather than reading stuff online and worrying yourself should you have any computer questions come straight to GTG and ask, one of us will always be around to help you.

 

The lack of CPU cooling fan has nothing to do with any SMART warning for the hard drive and if heat was an issue with the hard drive itself it would trigger a SMART warning, normally around the 50C range.

 

No problem with updates with XP no longer being supported but you still need enough free space on a hard drive for Windows to work properly, anything above 8GB free and you will be fine.

 

[scarlet.rose]

Best Answer

Okay, thank you for explaining.

 

"Suggestion, rather than reading stuff online and worrying yourself should you have any computer questions come straight to GTG and ask, one of us will always be around to help you."

 

That's good to know. I have always felt comfortable here and found you all to be very helpful and patient.

 

[phillpower2]

You are welcome and thank you for the kind words 

[scarlet.rose]

phillpower2

 

Please help.

 

Today the screen flickered.

 

Later I put the computer on stand-by, when I resumed the screen had shrunk to a small oblong with black surrounding it. Very difficult for me to write this.

 

I reinstalled the display driver - no different. Same with changing screen resolution. I fear the graphics card is failing / has failed and this is curtains. Screen has flickered / wobbled a few more times. You might want to open another topic.

 

Edited by scarlet.rose, 29 May 2020 - 09:55 PM.