External Hard Drive - Backup Software

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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 06:59 PM
  #16  
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From: Mount Airy,MD
Originally Posted by vader716
The best backup software I've used is Veritas BackupExec. It has never failed me when I needed it.

That said the Backup in XP is decent.

I don't know the manufacturer of the drives but a lot of vendors will include software to help counteract the bios limits on older systems.

I assume you've checked the gateway site for the BIOS upgrade.

If you use SCSI drives with a SCSI card you can also work around the BIOS IDE limitation and get great performance as well. They are a little more pricey though.
Backup MYPC and Veritas BackupExec were once part of the same family. I believe before Veritas it was Seagate software and might have been by Prassi before that. Roxio/Sonic now has the MYPC and Veritas kept the server side of the software. Unfortunately it ain't cheap.
As far as MYPC, I have been using that since it was Seagate. I do believe it is geared more towards the home user and towards CD/DVD media, although it will do a file no problem.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:07 PM
  #17  
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From: The Bluegrass State
The internal drive... it is the only one with the problem.

It's recognized as a 127 gb drive...

Nearly the exact problem as shown in THIS LINK.

I've installed a USB 2.0 card for better speed on the external... the INTERNAL drive is the problem... and I believe the internal drive's problem is the BIOS.

It is an INTEL board. Bios ID is: EA81520A.15A.0009.P06 No clue on the date for the bios -- the computer dates to March 2002.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:09 PM
  #18  
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From: The Bluegrass State
This is the BIOS update that I attempted that failed from Gateway's site.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:12 PM
  #19  
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Assuming you have an empty PCI slot, you can get an add-in IDE card, with a Promise controller on it, that will recognize that drive.

 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:16 PM
  #20  
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From: The Bluegrass State
Originally Posted by Kool Aid
Assuming you have an empty PCI slot, you can get an add-in IDE card, with a Promise controller on it, that will recognize that drive.

Thanks Kool...

I do have an empty PCI available... can you explain to me how this works and how it would be hooked up? Would this fool the BIOS? Speed issues (this is a file server so speed isn't critical but much appreciated by the end users - me included)?
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:21 PM
  #21  
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The card has it's own bios....independent of the PC.

Plug the card in the PCI slot, plug the ribbon cable into either of the IDE controller slots provided, and boot it up.

You can add up to four drives this way, and more if needed with another card, or a 4 port card....etc.

You can also get one that is RAID ready, if that's what you need/want.

Check this one, for a good example.....

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...TX2-DT&cat=CCD

Promise Ultra133 TX2 simply delivers more for your new Ultra ATA/133 drive(s). Ultra133 supports Ultra ATA/133 drives with burst data transfers up to 133MBps - 33% faster than Ultra ATA/100 drives. Ultra133 also supports PCI motherboards that offer broader bandwidth over the PCI bus with CRC error-checking, greater data reliability, and faster transfers. With Ultra133 TX2, you can rely on the world's most-widely tested and implemented ATA BIOS from Promise. Just attach your new Ultra ATA/133 drive(s) and/or older Ultra ATA/100/66/or 33 drives. The Promise BIOS will recognize the make, model, and best speed setting for peak drive performance. Ultra133 TX2 supports the highest drive speeds possible from Ultra ATA/133 drives. Thanks to CRC error checking, Ultra133 assures data transfers are free from data loss - even when these drives are running all out.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:38 PM
  #22  
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From: The Bluegrass State
Thanks Kool... I wonder if Beast Buy or similar would have something like this on the shelf... may stop and check shortly. This looks like a quick/simple fix.

I'm a bit confused after some more googling on this issue though...

This 300 gb drive is new. No OS on it yet. Several responses to similar posts on the web have mentioned SP1 or SP2 being able to solve the problem. With that in mind, if I install the drive, partition it to one big 127 gb drive (which is all it would detect in the setup), would I then have one 127 gb drive and then another partition that is the other 173 gb? Could I span those two partitions to one 'letter' drive then?

Lots of Google Results on large drives being recognized as 127gb
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:49 PM
  #23  
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Yes, BB has them on the shelf, but I would insist on a Promise controller.

As far as Windows SP2 handling it.......I've never got that to work, successfully.

Windows will see the rest of the drive, but would not let me format it, or make it active.

 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:51 PM
  #24  
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From: Mount Airy,MD
RP, do you have the original HD for the gateway? One of the things that gateway does is add a directory on the HD with a couple of files in it that list all the part numbers. If that is there you may find something on the Gateway site for the part number of the MB.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:54 PM
  #25  
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From: The Bluegrass State
Since we mentioned RAID... would this work to accomplish this task?


http://www.compusa.com/products/prod..._133_RAID_Card
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 07:59 PM
  #26  
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From: The Bluegrass State
Originally Posted by kingfish51
RP, do you have the original HD for the gateway? One of the things that gateway does is add a directory on the HD with a couple of files in it that list all the part numbers. If that is there you may find something on the Gateway site for the part number of the MB.
Guess that HDD wipe when we first bought this machine would've snubbed that eh?

In an effort to 'clean' off all the preloaded ubergarbage, I wiped the disk upon receipt and started clean... oh well. Thanks anyway...
 
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Old Aug 26, 2006 | 11:29 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by RockPick
Since we mentioned RAID... would this work to accomplish this task?


http://www.compusa.com/products/prod..._133_RAID_Card
It will probably work fine.......probably.

However, it doesn't say if it uses a Promise controller, so I would avoid it, myself.

If you can wait for mail order, check this link for more options.......

http://castle.pricewatch.com/s/searc...s=promise+raid

 
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Old Aug 27, 2006 | 12:05 AM
  #28  
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From: The Bluegrass State
Thanks man... glad to see Pricewatch is alive and well... I was using them back in 1995 all the time to price match memory at Staples (back when they matched web prices) LOL!

By going with the RAID card, I pretty much eliminate the 127 gb max problem right?

I noted, while reading a few reviews on the ATA133 cards, that they still have some limitations as to total capacity on the channel...

I guess, in short, these cards simply add more IDE channels correct? I'm still a little foggy on understanding the 'how they work' side...
 
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Old Aug 27, 2006 | 01:29 AM
  #29  
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From: Knoxville, TN.
Originally Posted by RockPick

By going with the RAID card, I pretty much eliminate the 127 gb max problem right?

Yes. You don't have to have a RAID enabled card, however. A simple IDE card will allow the large drive, and you can always use the Software RAID that is included with Windows, if you really need it.

Originally Posted by RockPick
I noted, while reading a few reviews on the ATA133 cards, that they still have some limitations as to total capacity on the channel...
I don't know about limitations. I have several 400GB drives running off an ATA133 card. They format out to 372GB

Originally Posted by RockPick
I guess, in short, these cards simply add more IDE channels correct?
Yes, as many as you need. One card with 2 sockets and 2 'two connector' ribbon cables will allow 4 drives. If you need more, add another card, or get a card with 4 sockets. These are not limited to hard drives either. You can run CD and DVD drives off them as well.

 
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Old Aug 27, 2006 | 12:31 PM
  #30  
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The Promise IDE controller is a great solution. Duh...I just worked last week with one....don't know why I didn't consider that.

I would avoid software RAID if you can.
 
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