Hard drive reconditioning.

seaned

Hi guys,
I'm new to this so sorry if I'm creating something that has already been created but does anyone know of any hard drive reconditioning companies?

Thanks in advance.

mordeith

seaned wrote: »

Hi guys,
I'm new to this so sorry if I'm creating something that has already been created but does anyone know of any hard drive reconditioning companies?

Thanks in advance.

What do mean by reconditioning? I would have the only thing you could do would be a full format?

seaned

Recondition, to make the hard drive like new again like using new parts inside the old drive. (What I believe)

Alanstrainor

seaned wrote: »

Recondition, to make the hard drive like new again like using new parts inside the old drive. (What I believe)

No there is not.

If you need a replacement hard drive then buy new. If you tell us what you have, and why you're looking into this then we might be able to help more.

seaned

I need a 120gb 2.5 ide hard drive. They are not being made anymore by any company and I thought buying and reconditioning would be the way to go.

bonzodog2

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2-5-Hitachi-HTS541612J9AT00-120GB-IDE-HARD-DRIVE-5400RPM-HDD-FOR-Laptop-/331473212087?hash=item4d2d57d2b7

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Seagate-Momentus-120-GB-5400-RPM-2-5-ST9120821A-HDD-PATA-IDE-Laptop-Hard-Drive-/231498227941?hash=item35e65ea0e5

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Fujitsu-MHV2120AH-120-GB-120GB-5400RPM-2-5-IDE-PATA-HDD-Laptop-Hard-Drive-/331533858864?hash=item4d30f53830

1st 2 are new, 3rd is refurbished

It must be a pretty old laptop! You'd get a better laptop with a bigger disk very cheap these days, with more RAM, e.g. a core2duo with ddr2 and say a 250-320gb sata drive.

Alanstrainor

If you're trying to get a laptop with an IDE drive to work as a main laptop/PC, just forget about it. Even if the drive costs 30 quid, it's 30 better spent on a new laptop.

mordeith

seaned wrote: »

Recondition, to make the hard drive like new again like using new parts inside the old drive. (What I believe)

Using new parts inside the drive would be a new drive anyway. The casing is a tiny cost compared to the innards of a hd

seaned

I really can't adjust to a new computer and this one has lasted so long that I may as well get some more use out of it. I'm not really knowledgeable about these things!

Alanstrainor

seaned wrote: »

I really can't adjust to a new computer and this one has lasted so long that I may as well get some more use out of it. I'm not really knowledgeable about these things!

Not to worry, there are plenty of knowledgeable people on here that can help.

What computer do you have? And what is the current problem with it?

If you replace the hard disk, you will essentially have to start from scratch. You can bring your files (photos, documents, music etc) across to the new hard disk. But things like programs the operating system etc will all have to be installed once again. Which may not be trivial if the machine is old.

If we know what is currently wrong with this computer, and some details about what it is etc we can help more.

seaned

I need to increase the size of the hard drive for work and have increased the size before whilst keeping all my files as before. It's a Dell latitude D410 by the way.

Irish Steve

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Not to worry, there are plenty of knowledgeable people on here that can help.

What computer do you have? And what is the current problem with it?

If you replace the hard disk, you will essentially have to start from scratch. You can bring your files (photos, documents, music etc) across to the new hard disk. But things like programs the operating system etc will all have to be installed once again. Which may not be trivial if the machine is old.

If we know what is currently wrong with this computer, and some details about what it is etc we can help more.

That's pretty misleading in some areas, without too much hassles, as long as you have a friend or know someone that has a couple of disk caddies, on a disk that's working without problems, it's possible to migrate EVERYTHING over from an old disk to a new larger disc, using several possible products that will do the partition management and copying.

With care, it can be done on the machine with the disk "live", but that's usually slower, and will mean the machine is not available for use while it's being cloned, and then the only task left to do is to swap the old drive for the new one.

It's not quite so easy with IDE disks, as there are not so many caddys available now as there used to be, I've deliberately kept an old USB external drive case that used to have an IDE CD drive in it, it's perfect for 3.5 disks, and as long as you have the 2.5 to 3.5 converter to connect to the cable, it works fine for 2.5 disks as well.

I also have kept a couple of external 2.5 disc cases for the same reason, they make it much easier to clone 2.5 discs that way.

The other option is to use an old desktop machine that has IDE on it, and use the ribbon cable with the converter on it, that will achieve the same result.

seaned

Is this an easy thing to do do you know?
Thanks.

unkel

If you just need more space, buy an external hard disk, seaned. You can buy one in any shop selling PCs like PC world and a basic one would roughly be about €50

It comes with a cable that you connect to your PC and you are ready to save files on it straight away. No need to do anything else just plug it in!

I am a bit worried though about the age of your PC - you are probably running Windows XP on it which is not safe any more these days if you ever go online (internet / email)

seaned

I can't use one due to security reasons. My laptop is old but it is what I'm used to and i find it difficult to use anything elso.

mordeith

seaned wrote: »

I can't use one due to security reasons. My laptop is old but it is what I'm used to and i find it difficult to use anything elso.

If you are running XP and online, then your security is gone out the window already. You can buy external hds with encryption software.

unkel

You took the words right out of my mouth

seaned

I am not allowed to use any external storage devices. All media must be stored on my computer for security reasons and also I would probably loose it!

mordeith

seaned wrote: »

I am not allowed to use any external storage devices. All media must be stored on my computer for security reasons and also I would probably loose it!

How do you transfer data between work and home?

seaned

I don't. Everything stays on the laptop.

unkel

What size is your current HDD? What size do you need minimum? How much is your work willing to pay for it (or do you have to pay for it yourself)? Solution would be for someone to provide a bigger IDE HDD and to clone your current HDD onto it. Doable, and shouldn't be extremely expensive. Wise option to do this and keep using XP? No.

Alternative: cloud storage

seaned

Yes I'd like to clone it to 120GB.
Doesn't cloud storage require internet access?

unkel

Yes it does. Are you saying you're not connected to the internet at work or at home? At least that makes the Windows XP PC a lot safer

seaned

I'm lucky if I get connected to the internet twice daily at maximum.

Alanstrainor

Irish Steve wrote: »

That's pretty misleading in some areas, without too much hassles, as long as you have a friend or know someone that has a couple of disk caddies, on a disk that's working without problems, it's possible to migrate EVERYTHING over from an old disk to a new larger disc, using several possible products that will do the partition management and copying.

With care, it can be done on the machine with the disk "live", but that's usually slower, and will mean the machine is not available for use while it's being cloned, and then the only task left to do is to swap the old drive for the new one.

It's not quite so easy with IDE disks, as there are not so many caddys available now as there used to be, I've deliberately kept an old USB external drive case that used to have an IDE CD drive in it, it's perfect for 3.5 disks, and as long as you have the 2.5 to 3.5 converter to connect to the cable, it works fine for 2.5 disks as well.

I also have kept a couple of external 2.5 disc cases for the same reason, they make it much easier to clone 2.5 discs that way.

The other option is to use an old desktop machine that has IDE on it, and use the ribbon cable with the converter on it, that will achieve the same result.

My post was directed at a user with little knowledge of computers, and the intricacies of cloning/repartitioning disks.

Anyway OP, to be perfectly honest with you, you're at the stage where your best bet is a new machine. Your current laptop must be 10 years old. That is exceptional for a laptop computer. These devices are not made to run forever and it will fail at some point.

If this is a laptop provided by your work, I suggest getting in touch with the IT dept, and telling them that your requirements have changed. If it is your own laptop, then the best thing is to set aside a budget and invest in a new laptop.

mordeith

Alanstrainor wrote: »

My post was directed at a user with little knowledge of computers, and the intricacies of cloning/repartitioning disks.

Anyway OP, to be perfectly honest with you, you're at the stage where your best bet is a new machine. Your current laptop must be 10 years old. That is exceptional for a laptop computer. These devices are not made to run forever and it will fail at some point.

If this is a laptop provided by your work, I suggest getting in touch with the IT dept, and telling them that your requirements have changed. If it is your own laptop, then the best thing is to set aside a budget and invest in a new laptop.

I must say it seems bizarre to disallow usage of external media due to security reasons, and yet this data is allow exist solely on a 10-year-old laptop (which may or may not be encrypted), not to mention the real danger of hard drive failure at this stage.

Alun

If you're really set on the idea, you can buy SSD's with an IDE interface ...

https://www.memoryc.ie/storage/ssd.html#Capacity[]=120GB%2F128GB&Interface_Type[]=IDE%2FPATA&page=0

seaned

I can get a new computer for work but I have to pay half the cost and Its all on their terms. The hard drive in the links are way out of my budget. We are not allowed to store data on memory keys due to the fact they can be lost or stolen easily and can not accessed remotely.

Skatedude

Any reason you cant simply ghost the drive? I've done it countless times in work with ide encrypted drives.

Hard drives are manufactured in a clean room environment and you would access to one to recondition it, and reconditioning a hard drive will wipe it anyway. And costs far, far more then a new drive.

What backups do you haven't since security is such an issue? backups would be an even more important issue.

Your IT department should easily be able to ghost onto a bigger drive, it's a simple thing that's done all the time.

seaned

I think document are backed up to an on site server.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is meant by the term ghosting?

Alanstrainor

seaned wrote: »

I think document are backed up to an on site server.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is meant by the term ghosting?

I think you need to speak with your IT dept with regard to all of this, perhaps even reference this thread if you need to. I'm a bit perplexed as to how they are operating, it sounds like they're living like it's the year 2000 with regard to their policies.

Send them a mail outlining your need for more hard drive space/storage, and ask them how best to go about this, with as little cost as possible.

So far we have a case where you cannot access USB sticks/external storage. You don't have the means to clone and re-image the new hard disk with more storage. And you are also running a operating system that should be retired. there are a number of issues here, and I'm afraid we can't offer much in the way of solution unless you're willing to get your hands dirty and follow a guide on how to clone your hard disk, and image it to a new hard drive. We can offer help if you decide to go this route.

Skatedude

Ghosting or cloning is simply making a duplicate of your current hard drive,
ie copying your 120 gig drive onto a bigger new drive. Any IT department should be easily able to do it.

and then you still have exactly the same pc with all your current software, just it's own the new bigger drive.