How to install a hard drive in 2²⁷ easy steps, part 2:
"What do you mean it failed???"

I picked up the hard drive - new, in the box Seagate 200gb 7200 rpm drive - brought it home and prepared to format and install. I fully expected this to be a 2-evening job, so the plan was to format the drive on Thursday, Ghost all my data on Friday, and then perform the manual hardware swap on Saturday. That way, I wouldn't be tattooed to the computer for hours on end. Things of that nature tend to interfere with my evening routine - downloading MP3s, surfing Fark, watching the latest Foamy cartoon, procrastinating, etc. - so, the plan was (I thought) fairly reasonable.

What made it (in my mind) even easier was the fact that I had the shiny new USB hard drive enclosure: I thought I could install the drive in the enclosure, format, clone, and THEN manually swap it out. This way, my desktop is out of commission for a minimal amount of time, and in the event that something goes wrong - my data is still intact.

(foreshadowing!)

I installed the drive in the USB case (5 minutes), hooked everything up (30 seconds) and followed the instructions to begin formatting the drive. I launch the System Manager, and it shows the drive as having free space of 124 gB.....the hell? I performed the standard tech support steps - ignore the instructions, unplug the device, turn it around and upside down, etc. - and no change. Still showing 124 gB size. Breaking from tradition, I decide to read the manual -which informs me that older versions of computer BIOS may not show the full size of the drive. Due to limitations, the maximum size it could recognize would be 124 gB.

Ah HA! I found the answer!!!1

So - how does one solve this problem, you ask? Download updated BIOS drivers for your machine, silly!

(foreshadowing part 2!)

Of course, since both of my computers were purchased with a full 'Murphy's Law' warranty - there is no updated BIOS for either. Which means I will have to use a third-party software utility to perform the formatting. I break out the eye patch and parrot, start talking in my best 'pirate' voice, and start to look for Partition Magic. I quickly find what I need and begin to download.

At this point, it's 5:30. I've been at this for an hour, and The Lovely Bride informs me that we should think about feeding our children. Since we had decided to go out for dinner, and the download looks like it's going to take about an hour, we bundle up the monsters and head out for a nice family dinner.

(foreshadowing!!! Part 3!)

Off to Rosemount for a burger and a beer, and then off to Target for sundries. 10 minutes in the store (it's 7:00 by this point) and the inevitable 'Benjamin Meltdown' begins. To make matters worse, once we're in the car, The Fia informs us that she cannot find Dexter, her Beanie Baby kitten, traveling companion and security blanket.

The next hour is a blur of wailing, screaming, stopping back at the restaurant to look for Dexter without success, more screaming, crying, wailing, and screaming. We arrive back home and begin the ritual of 'wrangle the demons to bed'.

Benjamin, AKA 'Damian', tells me he wants Mommy to put him to bed.

FINE.

Fia begins crying over her lost Dexter, and is almost inconsolable.

FINE.

I head downstairs to check the progress of formatting - finished! Yay! - and head out to gas up and wash the van. A few minutes of relative quiet will be good, before I start the drive cloning.

While at the gas station, I discover Dexter lodged between the seats - 1 problem solved. I get home, and Benjamin has decided to be nice to me, and wants me to put him to bed. He's asleep within minutes - 2nd problem solved.

I head back downstairs at 9 PM, thinking I have time to start the drive cloning before bed. If all goes well, I can clone the drive overnight, get a good night's sleep, and manually swap hardware tomorrow. This 'installing a new hard drive' business isn't THAT hard, after all!

(foreshadowing!!! OH NOES!!!)

So, Partition Magic is installed and ready to go. Ghost is up and running. Hardware is attached. Drive is recognized.

I read the quick 'how-to' regarding drive formatting - simple enough, I think - and start the format process.

Nothing. Happens.

I make sure everything's attached, running, blah blah blah. Try again. This time, it starts, and then the progress meter tells me it's operating fine, 47 minutes to completion. I toddle off and busy myself with household work. About an hour later, I peek at the computer - formatting successful! Time to start cloning.

I fire up Ghost, and start the clone process. Nothing happens. Check the help file - nothing. Start it again - it runs for about 15 minutes, and then I get some weird errors, which is NOT listed in the help files OR online. I shut everything down, restart, and try again: same thing. After repeating the process multiple times, I finally e-mail Symantec with the error message. I receive the standard 'We have received your e-mail and will ignore it for a while, and respond when we damn well feel like it. :wub" canned response.

So, before I throw in the towel for the evening, I decide to try one. more. time. Fire up Ghost - successful. Start the copy - running.

30 seconds in, error message. 'Unable to complete copy.' No reason why, no explanation, no error code. It seems that Ghost just got tired, and decided not to copy my drive.

So - tonight, I'll start the process all over again. I'll re-format the hard drive, and try to Ghost my main drive over. If all goes well, I can perform the hardware swap Saturday.

(FORESHADOWING????)

How To Install A New Hard Drive
(in 157 easy steps...)

I've grown weary of the speed of my desktop - or lack thereof, anyway. For an Athlon 2800 with over a gb of RAM - it's a pokey beast. And it's all (mostly) due to the hard drive speed. For some unknown reason, the brain trusts at Compaq sent a top of the line Athlon - with geForce 4 card, etc. etc. - out the door with a 5400 rpm hard drive. With 2 partitions. I was okay with it at first - but after a while, it's become tiresome. When I can boot my laptop (Athlon 1800, 756 mb RAM) AFTER I start my desktop, and the laptop loads faster, I know there are issues.

So - on yesterday's sojourn to Craig's List, I found a 7200 RPM Drive, new in box for $60. I'll pick it up after work, and tomorrow I'll set to the task of playing 'ghost the hard drive'.

To accomplish this task - because of the way my drive is set up - I can't just drop it in, copy it and go. Oh, no. That would be too easy. And since I have no intention of spending the better part of a day reloading OS and apps and mp3s and files, or backing them up, etc....I have to approach this with a tactical plan.

I *could* pull all the 'unused' stuff of my existing hard drive tonight - unload the unused apps, defragment, etc. Then, drop the drive in, and Ghost it whilst I slumber. Tomorrow night, when I get home, I then swap the drive bays, change the settings, and reboot. Voila! New, faster drive. Then I can wipe the *old* drive, and use that for file storage only -backups, etc.

Or....I just wait until the weekend, and attack it in a marathon session of anti-static bands, canned air, repeated reboots and smoke breaks.

The issue I have is whether or not to do a three-disk swap. Y'see, I have a USB Hard drive enclosure containing the old 40gig drive from my dad's old pc. Still usable. I *did* think about creating a disk image, using the 40 as my main and the 200 as the data storage, and the pokey 160gb drive in the USB enclosure.

I love making things harder than they need to be....

Google THIS, bitches!

So, anyway. Teh job thing is still up in the air. No one is around, no word on the hardware, no requirements for the additional programming they want done, no clue in general. Phone interviews for a couple of promising gigs (one's in Eagan! OMG WTF BBQ), but beyond that......boredom.

So, as always happens when boredom strikes, productivity is at a low, and teh intarweb beckons....I start 'Googling'.

Heh.

Preemptive Optimism....

So, teh Contracting Company (AKA 'Teh Man') called me today. They wanted to know if I had applied for the web developer opening at the U.

:confused??

I said that I hadn't seen such an opening (considering I just looked today, even). After much verbal tap-dancing, I got the not-so-subtle impression that they may be looking to hire me full-time. Or, at the very least, strongly consider me for an upcoming opening. Teh Man did tell me that there is an opening, and that I should apply.

The bad part of this is: the existing web developer is looking to leave. They hired a manager who has no practical code experience (his words) and passed him over for consideration. He's fairly gruntled about it, and has an interview with another company today at 3 PM.

I have a meeting at 2 with my on-site manager, and I plan on bringing all this up.

(crossing fingers)

Friday = St. Patrick's Day, aka 'Amateur Drunk Day'. Also a state holiday (wtf?), so no work.

No work = no blog.

Weekend: sick.

Sick = no blog.

Monday: still sick.

Still sick = update blog with 'no update today' message.

Oh wai-