Couple of Questions

[Mil]

(1) I was wondering if someone could actually tell me what the standard Scan Disk does. I know that it checks files and folders for errors and that the Thorough does the same but also runs a surface scan with the option of automaticly fix errors, but when I run Scan disk once a week, what one should I be running?
(2) My friend has a e-machine and put a new and bigger hard drive in it. He said that it doesn't reconize the new hard drive as being bigger. Can the e-machine be upgraded at all?

thanks in advance for your response,
Mil

[kayofcircles]

1. I don't really know the difference, but I always run the thorough ScanDisk. Pride myself on being thorough..and it does say it fixes things which sounds good to me.

2. I imagine the EMachine can be upgraded. You're probably having problems in getting the EMachine to "see" the bigger drive. The guys here can help you with that..I have seen numerous questions along those lines, so post some specs on the EMachine.

------------------
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.
-- Chinese proverb

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

1) My personal choice is to run ScanDisk or something similar, such as Norton DiskDoctor, once a week using the files/folders option. Then, once a month, I do a full scan and choose to scan the surface of the disk. It's all a matter of personal choice. If you give your computer heavy usage every day, it may be worth running the surface scan at least two-three times per month.

2) There may be two options with the emachine. One, he could upgrade his BIOS. That procedure can be very detrimental if not done properly. Two, he could use Disk Management Software that should have come with the new harddrive, to put a Disk Drive Overlay on the harddrive, so the system can see the whole thing. If he did not receive the DM s/w with the new harddrive, then he can go to the manufacturer's website and download it.

If you need more detailed instructions for the DM software, post back. If your friend chooses the DDO route, he most likely will have to start over from scratch. The DM software will enable large-disk support, install it's own BIOS (DDO), and partition and format the harddrive. I don't think that can be done without losing data.

Edit: What I meant to say was that I don't think your friend can just install the DDO without having to re-partition and re-format. Oivay! Time to get some coffee. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


------------------
Woe is me.

[This message has been edited by BigBlue66 (edited 07-26-2001).]

[This message has been edited by BigBlue66 (edited 07-26-2001).]

[Mil]

Here's some info on the emachine:

Intel Celeron 766 MHz
Memory 128 MB SDRAM
Hard Drive 20 GB HDD (Was a 10 GB HDD)
12x Max. DVD-ROM Drive
Video Intel Direct AGP 3D Sound
Modem 56K* v.90 PCI internal Fax/Modem

I have a Disk manager software disc that came with Western Digital HDD, would that work for a Fujitsu HDD?

thanks for the replys

[sea69]

they seem to have disk software for each, so I doubt they're compatible.

see this (http://www.harddrives4less.com/dismandow.html).

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif



------------------
sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)


;)~

[BigBlue66]

Yeppers, Sea is right. The WD software will only be compatible with WD drives. The link Sea provided looks like just what you need.

However, since the machine had a 10Gb drive in it before, I doubt that it's a BIOS limitation. The DM software should not be needed.

Tell your bud to go into BIOS and choose AUTO for the harddrive. If AUTO is not available, then he should choose USER DEFINED and manually enter the drive parameters. Those are commonly found on a label on the drive itself.

Good luck. Post back and let us know how it goes.

Big Blue 66




------------------
Woe is me.

[mjc]

One other thing, if he used the eMahines restore on the blank drive, it is a disk omage of the original 10GB drive, so if he didn't fdisk and format the drive first all that the restore disk would do is the first 10G.

Which OS...if it ME you'll need a Win98 boot disk for this...boot into DOS and run fdisk from the DOS prompt and see if it sees the full amount of the drive, and also check to see what partions it has...you may be able to just create a partition in the remaining space and basically have 2 10G drives (c: and D:).

------------------
mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.