Last year I brought a Maxtor DiamondMax off eBay (I know, eBay, but it was for a print server computer that's hardly ever used, didn't want to pay much).
It had been running fine with Debian all this time, yesterday I decided to install Windows XP on it (It was a pain in the ass trying to set up printer sharing plus the printer support was pretty basic).
However, it failed formatting the drive and during the next format, I heard the drive click.
Running some diagnostic software (SeaTools and PowerMax), it said the hard drive had bad sectors and needed to be replaced.
So here's my options:
1. Return the drive to the seller and pay the postage costs.
2. Buy another drive off eBay ([url]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WD-WD800BB-80GB-ATA100-IDE-Hard-Disk-Drive-7200RPM-/17078270288[/url])
3. Buy a drive from reputable sites, such as eBuyer (But drives here are £50+, looks like the price still hasn't come down after the floods)
4. Buy a 2nd hand drive from my local CeX shop. (I don't trust 2nd hand either, but I listed it as an option anyway).
Problem is, I really don't want to spend £50+ on an old computer which is only really used as a print server.
What do you suggest FP?
EDIT: Looking on Amazon, they have these 160GB 'Generic' drives for £30. The reviews say that they're Hitachi Deskstars.
[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-Hard-Disk-Drive-160GB/dp/B000OUI8OQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top[/url]
(The 80GB generic ones are 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax 16's, and funnily enough, the reviews are having problems with these too)
Should I get this one?
If you're only using it for a print server, CF-to-IDE converter and a cheap CompactFlash card sounds like a good option, since you only really need it for booting up an OS and after that everything is basically done in RAM.
Is this a good CF card to get?
[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-16GB-266X-Compact-Flash/dp/B001FO4QHI[/url]
I wouldn't go around shooting RAW images with that, but we're talking about rebooting a lightweight Linux system like every 30 days or so, so it's not like the write/read performance is going to kill you.
It's going to be a Windows XP system. Would that CF card be inadequate?
Is 16GB enough for XP? I forget how big XP is.
[QUOTE=Brt5470;34679292]Is 16GB enough for XP? I forget how big XP is.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, XP is like 4GB with all the service packs.
I just installed Win7 on a laptop and after installing all the Vaio utilities and stuff it was only about 9GB used. Can't imagine XP would be more
TBH, I'm more swayed by the Amazon generic hard drive option.
More flexible in terms of space, and better performance.
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