Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Put it in the CD drive and start up the computer. Go into the BIOS or the boot menu by pressing either Delete or one of the "F" keys. If the boot menu pops up, select he CD or DVD drive. If the BIOS pops up, navigate through it until you find something that lets you change the boot device priority, and select the CD drive as the first drive.

After doing either of those, the computer will boot to the CD and being the Windows Setup.

Alternatively, you could just pop it into a computer running Windows and look at the CD. The autorun will probably pop-up with the Windows Setup if it's a Windows XP CD.

[burnselk]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Found this on the web: Dukes/Dolan v. HP Settlement, Case No. CV-2002-270. Thought everyone should know about this settlement.

"Attorneys for James, Hoyer have announced the settlement of class-action lawsuits brought against Hewlett-Packard ("HP"), concerning HP's alleged failure to disclose important information about hard drives on computers it sold, and that the computers did not include recovery CDs and "ValueAdd" and "Support" folders with the Windows XP operating systems installed at the factory. Two consumers represented by James, Hoyer brought the suits on behalf of tens of thousands of HP purchasers. They accused HP of engaging in deceptive and unfair trade practices.

James, Hoyer negotiated a nationwide settlement with HP that provides computer buyers with free recovery CDs, free software, and free "ValueAdd" and "Support" files. The settlement resulted from years of hard-fought litigation by James, Hoyer. The attorneys for James, Hoyer took on HP in courts in Florida and Arkansas on behalf owners of HP customers across the country".

[burnselk]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

I took the Seagate 100GB HDD back and traded it in for a WD 250GB for $70 with rebates. Since I intend to get into converting VHS tape to DVD I thought I should have a bigger drive....plus it wasn't that much more $. I don't like the WD 1 year warranty though....compared to Seagate's 5 year warranty.

Now for my question: Will my HP Pavilion 7955 running WinXP Home Edition accept a HDD of this size? I've seen mention here and there that say it may only see 137GB of the 250....is that true?....why is that?.....and how do I get it to recognize the entire 250GB? Appreciate you guys. I intend to make it my secondary drive....and leave my small 40GB as my primary.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

As long as it's using Windows XP with SP 1 or 2 and isn't on an extremely old board, you'll get access to the whole drive.

[casecutter]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Yeah, use Western Digital Data Lifeguard and it will enable it in your registry to properly see the full 250GB if it does not cooperate. I also doubt that disk set you got contains a Windows XP disk, most likely just a rescue disk that activates the hidden partition on your primary hard drive.

[burnselk]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

How do you guys feel about SP1 and SP2? (especially SP2).

I've heard so many horror stories about how SP2 messes up your computer that I'm afraid to install it.

I'd like to install them both but I've have been told SP2 will cause so much trouble that I should forget about it. I don't want to create undo problems....on the other hand, I want to be up-to-date with Windows XP. I want the security and the firewall and I want it to do everything it can do for me.

I'm especially undecided about doing it right now because I'm operating with High Speed (3MB) cable internet (first ever for me and it's great!!) for $20 per month (half price) for 6 months so the last thing I want is an inoperative computer during this time.

My 6 months started on November 18, 2005, so I have it for this rate until May 18, 2006. Then it goes to $40 per month....and I can't get DSL where I live. So, it's back to dial up for me in May. Or possibly a slower version of cable). I can't afford $40 per month for internet access. That's just me though. I realize many people wouldn't go back to using dialup again....ever!!

Therefore, I would very much appreciate advice on this subject from as many folks as possible. I'd like to hear what the consensus is on the issue....to upgrade to SP2 now or not. Input from you guys would mean so much to me. Thanks.

[casecutter]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Never once had an issue with SP2 and I have always updated to the latest and greatest from Microsoft.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

I've only encountered a couple systems (out of several dozen, so maybe 5% or so) that have been seriously harmed by SP2. That said, there's not much benefit to SP2. The firewall is in SP1, but you'll have to enable it. Aside from that, you have to be pretty hopeless with security to get any advantage from SP2. If you fall under that catagory, you're likely to get hit by something anyway.

However, you can always uninstall SP2, so I'd say try it out and see if you have problems with it.

[burnselk]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Thanks guys. Would "system restore" remove any problems that the installs may cause if they cause problems and won't completely uninstall?

Recap: I have two Microsoft CD's:

1. Windows XP "Service Pack 2" (received July 2004)....don't have SP1 CD (would SP2 also contain SP1)? Makes sense that it would.
2. Windows "Security Update" (dated Feb. 2004).

The "security update CD" makes no mention of SP1 or SP2, it it something completely different? What's the security software update for? I thought that's what SP1 and SP2 were. I'm confused as you can tell.

Should I install both "SP2" and the "Security Update"? What about SP1?

Note: HP warned us owners about installing SP1 (see below).

"Alert: Windows Update has detected that your computer is a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion desktop or Compaq Presario desktop PC with Windows XP pre-installed. After you install Windows XP Service Pack 1, you might encounter an issue with the PC System Recovery utility. If you use this utility to perform a non-destructive system recovery, you might be unable to start your computer. Recovering from this error requires a full destructive system recovery, which results in the loss of all user data. Hewlett-Packard will release an update to the PC System Recovery utility soon. When you install that update, this alert will no longer appear in Windows Update. Please refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) Article Q329450 for additional information.
For more information about this issue, read Microsoft KB Article Q329450".

"Follow these instructions to avoid PC problems that could occur if you install Windows XP SP1. You can install the HP patch before or after you install Windows XP SP1. After you download the file, double-click the SP1RcvryFix.exe file to begin extracting the HP patch files. A message appears: "This update resolves the incompatibility between Windows XP Service Pack 1 and your PC's Standard recovery" (sometimes referred to as non-destructive recovery), and they say after the install"....and,

"WARNING: If your system does not start, you may be required to do a Standard recovery, if the patch is not successful. This may cause some personal data, and software to be removed. If possible, back up any personal data you have before running a recovery. Software that has been added to the system will have to be re-installed. A Full system recovery (sometimes referred to as destructive recovery) will erase all data and the system will be returned to its original state, at time of purchase"

"Microsoft has since released a more recent service pack (SP2?). If you still wish to use SP1 and not more recent service packs, you should download and install the patch from your product support page in the software updates section". This is confusing to me....

and there's more...I just didn't want to copy and paste too much here. More can be found at: SP1RcvryFix.exe I assume.

Sounds like trouble for HP owners like me!!

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Seagate 100GB Hard Drive

Just use the SP2 disc. SP2 comes with all the same updates as SP1. Don't worry about the HP issue. In fact, any hardware issue is worth taking for SP1.