clicking is bad.

if you really need your files... buy/download Spinrite 6.0 from grc.com

It will recover data from corrupted sectors and move it to healthy areas of the drive.

 

www.dirtcheapdrives.com

Just put a 60 GB 4200 RPM drive in a Dell laptop. $110 plus shipping.

 

How do I know what the correct RPM drive is to get for my computer? Is there really a big difference between companies? Which ones are considered
"higher quality"? Thanks.

 

Theres 3 speeds available, 4200, 5400, and 7200rpm. Theres only 2 main HD manufactures, Hitachi (used to be IBM) and Toshiba. Theres no real difference in the brands.

 

once you get a new hd for the laptop, you might be able to put the old one in an external hard drive enclosure & copy the files, but if the hard drive is physically damaged (as it sounds to be) you're probably fux0r3d to the point that even a data recovery program can't help you.

i have a 60gig in an external case that i use for backup puposes or to share my 20gig of music w/ others.

here is the enclosure : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5208227198

here is the hd : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6777458030

once you lose 20gig of music you spent forever saving, you learn to keep triple-redundant copies of everything important

 

That Hitachi looks good, Jump on it.

 

Ok, I am still a little unclear about the different RPM's. I mean, what is the big difference between a hard drive that spinds at 4200 and one that spins at 7200 rpm. Is one more preferable than the other for a laptop? Also, is a brand like SeaGate or Maxtor any good?

 

HD's that spin faster work faster I think.

 

can anyone confirm this? trying to make an educated purchase here.

 

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/courses/h...ive-basics.htm