NationStates Jolt Archive

Anyways, in case any of you were worried why i didn't post today and yesterday. *looks around*.... i'll assume someone cares.

Anyways (again), apparently i've had a Primary Hard Disk failure...microsoft assures me it's a common problem, normally i would listen, but because my parents have lots of important documents on the computer, i have to ask.

What were to happen if i were to keep the computer open for a week? or a month? or basically never shut it down again in general. :)

Some people never turn it off, so I would say, not much.

You have a CD burner, I hope? Start backing up those documents.... just in case.

Some people never turn it off, so I would say, not much.

You have a CD burner, I hope? Start backing up those documents.... just in case.


Tommorow my father is buying an External Hard Drive, that would work right?

I could just copy my hard drive to the external one?...right?! O_O

What were to happen if i were to keep the computer open for a week? or a month? or basically never shut it down again in general. :)


If you open your case, you change the cooling of your components.

Which is a good thing, if your harddrive is not or barely cooled atm

Which is a bad thing, if your hdd is part of a well-thought cool-flow system


nearly all IDE/SATA drives are not designed for permanent running (if you are really interested in it, go read the specs), so I would not advise letting the PC run for weeks unless the HDD goes into idle mode


Here is what I would recommend:

#A Check if the screws are tight. A wobbling harddrive will die earlier

#B Check the temperature of the harddrive. If its above 40-45°C, try to reduce it. (for example, put a fan in front of it that will soak air from outside and blow it over the HDD....if your case doesnt have holes for that, you will have to think something similar up)

*nods* uh-huh...hmmmmm.. i understand

Now for the people that have no idea what that means, can you say that in Non-technical english. :), not everyone understands fancy comp lingo. :P

I think there was a misunderstanding of "open". It sounds as though the person who posed the question meant it in terms of keeping the computer running, and the person who answered interpreted it as meaning having the case open.

I would suggest getting it checked out by a profesional if you're truly concerned. Other than that, when dealing with a hard-disk failure, it's best to...not fiddle with it if you're an amature when it comes to computer maintainance/repair, as you might make things worse.

My suggestion. Go through your old files, make backups, and hope that Microsoft is telling you the truth that it's just a simple glitch.

(funtime/)

But, it could be that your computer has been possesed by a demonic spirit. Promptly yank open your monitor and look at the interior. If you can make out a pentagram in the wiring, then your computer may be possesed.

What you need to do is IMMEDIATELY take the computer and the monitor the keyboard and the mouse (even if it's optical), and throw them into a vat of acid. The infection has been stemmed for now, but there may be other electronic items that may have been infected. Check the outlet you used for your computer, if it smells like sulfur, then it means that the possesion has spread into the VERY WIRING OF YOUR HOUSE!

Promptly burn the entire thing to the ground. Thank you.

copy all your important documents to CD, get a new harddrive installed because you're obviously incapable of doing so yourself, and copy them back on. simplest way to solve the problem.

but it doesnt hurt to leave your machine up and running for long periods of time.. i have a project machine at school that's been up and running for seventy six days.

Tommorow my father is buying an External Hard Drive, that would work right?

I could just copy my hard drive to the external one?...right?! O_O
Technically. But you will want to format it so it will work as a boot device first if you want to run stuff off of it instead of just store it there

Technically. But you will want to format it so it will work as a boot device first if you want to run stuff off of it instead of just store it there


Too much work...all i wanna know is right now, that i could transfer my entire HD to the external HD

Too much work...all i wanna know is right now, that i could transfer my entire HD to the external HD


Yes. But you will only have the data, you wont be able to run the PC with it, if your internal HDD goes kaboom


but it doesnt hurt to leave your machine up and running for long periods of time.. i have a project machine at school that's been up and running for seventy six days.


Yes, it can and will often work.
For nearly all IDE/Sata drives tho, the companies wont give a guarantee that it will work without errors, if you look into the hardware specs
(if you want that, you will have to look into SCSI...one of the many reasons why its expensive)

Not what i meant again...

What i will do is transfer my HD to the external one, while using the one i have now, even though the HD isn't plugged, it should still work and retain the backup information correct?

Not what i meant again...

What i will do is transfer my HD to the external one, while using the one i have now, even though the HD isn't plugged, it should still work and retain the backup information correct?



All the data you will copy over, will be on the external drive.

You can connect the external drive on my PC, on your PC, on Tony Blairs PC, the data will still be there