Had to call in the GEEK squad today!..

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by rawfuls

Very great tips...

I use partitions... Since this new computer I just built only has one IDE port.. And I'm too poor to pick up a SATA 500GB HD.

I have a hard drive just based for pictures, movies, and music....
Apparently, that hard drive is going down the drain, so I have to recover the stuff from there.

I've found that instead of using a internal HD, put the internal in this:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...fsoo%3D2&fgtp=

Unless you want to boot off the internal like you listed.

What you stated are very good tips, might use em myself... Maybe...

I don't physically separate, as I'm just too poor, and lack of ports.

I used D for my programs ONLY... No music, and whatnot, made that mistake quite a long time ago.

You can just delete the C partition, and reload XP onto the C Partition, than the D partition, but you will need to re-install programs, as the registries are changed..

I have a question for Mr. IT Guy

I have a C/D Drive, 120GB that's crashed, I put it in a external enclosure..
When I try to access my desktop files, it says "Access Denied"... What gives? I think it might just be because since I had a password on my C drive, I guess I should just plug it in via internal IDE?

Thanks in advance!

Partitioning really has no use other than organization. If the drive fails, all partitions go with it. And you get no performance boost either since it's the same physical drive.

If you want true redundant/mirrored system, go RAID1 (min of 2 HDD).
If you want high performance, go RAID0 (min of 2 HDD).
If you want both, go RAID 5 (min of 3 HDD) or RAID10 (min of 4 HDD)

Those options need a specific type of controller (either built into the mobo, or an add-in card).

If you want basic redundancy, get another internal drive. Use that as a backup (make a copy of your stuff). The idea is to have multiple copies of the same thing in different places. However, if you get a virus, or a power surge, everything in your computer will be affected. Best/easiest method is to go external HDD to solve both of these issues.

As to your "access denied" issue: Have someone with Administrator priveledges log in, and using NT permissions, change the owner of those files to you (or change it to the Administrator and then grant access to the "Everyone" user group). If that doesn't fix it, then you/someone probably encrypted the drive. Have fun getting your stuff back if that's the case. Most likely, it's a permissions thing. Easy fix.