I had done a Data Lifeguard ISO download before. I just completed running that test on both HDs in the DOS mode.
BOTH FAILED
One was not seen at all. I believe that to be the drive that failed when it was part of the RAID5 setup.
The other failed the extended scan with an Error Status code of 0226 - Too Many Errors Found, Contact Technical Support.
Again - it has been a rough but very informative trip.
The RAID had been operating in a "reduced capacity mode" (something like that) when the one HD failed. I was looking for a HDD (exact same version) to replace it with. One day an auto update to Adobe Reader showed up and when the computer restarted - it failed completely.
That was about a year ago. At that point a reformatted the HDs and rebuilt without Raid functionality.
Then this session of experiences developed and we went through the routine again. This time I have a fairly good set of backups. Unfortunately, they are neither co-located nor well organized.
Thanks for asking.
No, right now I have no plans to rebuild the Raid.
I would avoid RAID and use the extra HD to backup your Win7 System image and data.
Do you and Zomby really believe that I am bringing these problems on myself? I feel that all I did was attempt to upgrade to Windows 7 and everything else has been fallout from that.
I believe that if Windows 7 had loaded as most would expect it to, I would never even have found this forum. I might even still have three good 140GB HDDs instead of just two but I would be an XP user.
I would also be much more computer illiterate than I am now. No, I have not joined the ranks of guru and most probably never will but I am more knowledgeable than I was. At least I can test my harddrives and memory and I know the difference between "reboot and restart". If told to boot from DVD, I don't go looking for the TV remote.:)
I hope that, in itself, is one of the goals of this forum.
I've not followed this thread as closely as the others, but somewhere along the line I saw the word RAID, and RAID is something even *I* have not attempted at home (well, OK, my ReadyNAS uses Netgear's XRAID but that was purchased as a system).
I don't know how plugging and unplugging could have killed your drives but with computers, I'm sure I will never in my life say "I've seen it all now!" and I built my first one in 1976...
I'm guessing most of your HDD woes were originally owing to BIOS settings (enabled/disabled/Auto/SATA/eSATA ad nauseum) and that if either of your now supposedly dead drives can be brought back to life, well that is where I'd focus (BIOS).
Thanks for the feedback. After running the Lifeguard test I am convinced they are history. The system is up and running and I have been accused of playing too much so I'll just leave it that way for now. We'll see if I have been the cause.:)
I may get an external for backup. I got too much stuff on here to lose.
Absolutely do this. I have three USB drives I've accumulated over the years, all three Seagates, and the latest being a FreeAgent GoFlex desktop 2TB USB3.0. If you have USB3.0 it's amazing--takes only minutes to do a full partition backup.
These things have been on sale lately for <$100. Worth their weight in gold. BTW you might want to get a 2TB or less cuz I've heard 3TB causes some softwares "fits". Good luck!
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