Hi, One of my computers is an old Compaq 386 (Dos 6.2 OS) with 40M HDD. I would replace the 40M HDD with a 3.2G I recently bought. I have a "setup" floppy for this computer. Due to the BIOS limitations, is there a way I can use this HDD, even if I have to partition it into smaller logical...

Hi, Sorry I forgot to mention that I thoroughly cleaned both drives and I do not smoke (very bad for your health). INTERESTING FLOPPY DRIVE TEST: I used a program called "Sector Access" and read a string (100) of sectors starting at sector 00000000 (boot sector) into a file called...

Hi, The laptop had a "stroke" while I was using it. Note: Windows booted up just fine, then something happened. Everything "froze" and there was no response to any input. I had to turn off the power. I disconnected power, removed the battery pack, and waited. Later, when I turned on the...

Hi, I am a heavy user of USB flash drives such as the Lexar "Jump Drive" 1G and 2G types. I use these to transfer stuff from one computer to another, then delete (clear) the flash drive for more stuff. What is the life span of a USB flash drive (example 1000 re-writes)? ...

Hi, I have three computers that developed problems with reading floppy disks. Note: This problem occurred at a different time for each computer. What is the most common problem with floppy disk drives? Thanks in advance, Brad Before you type your password,...

Hi, One problem floppy drive in a laptop, I hear a "wine" noise (belt slip) during an attempt to read a floppy. I removed the floppy drive and checked it. I removed the belt and cleaned it with a rubber cleaner/revitalizer. Afterwards, no more "wine" noise and the floppy drive can read/write...

Hi, Has anyone used a flash drive ("thumb" drive) after booting a computer using a floppy boot disk (A: drive)? Note: Windows is not launched. I want to transfer "stuff" from C: drive to the flash drive. Thanks in advance, Brad

Hi, I installed a 20G HDD in my Windows 98se computer. With one partition, I formatted it. The results is 16K byte clusters. With a FAT32 system, a 32 bit number ("index") can represent around 4.3G. This in effect should allow around 4 billion clusters maximum. The major reason for a...

Hi, Thanks to everyone who replied. I decided to partition the HDD into two 10G partitions which resulted in 8K clusters after each partition was formatted. The second partition is logical drive "D:". Brad

Hi, Note: I cleaned both drives, floppy & CD, (Compaq Presario 1060 laptop yr 1997) but problem remains. I used a "lab" type of power supply as substitute for latpop's external power supply. Also, see original post below. More tests made since my original post exposed something very...

Hi, The floppy drive, part # 261848-001, in my 1997 (abt.) Compaq Presario 1060 laptop is bad and there is no replacement available. Note: I service TVs, etc., rarely computers. I have a floppy drive from another model Compaq laptop, not the same part number, but it could fit in the space...

Hi, With a horizontal mounted HDD, gravity may be pulling down the heads (top sides of platters) closer to the platter surface? If this is true, then a vertically mounted HDD is better? Thanks in advance, Brad Before you type your password, credit card number, etc., be sure there is no active...

Hi "Lil' Dave", HDDs have many vulnerabilities, therefore I would not trust them for keeping important files or OS backup. The heads are only microns from the surface of the spinning platters. A sudden jolt could cause the head to bounce off the platter surface, or if "writing", overwrite data...

Hi, I removed a 800MB hdd, with two partitions (two logical drives), from one computer and put it in an older Compaq 386 computer. Both computers have the same MsDos 6.22 systems. The 386 can access all the space in "C:" drive, but when I try to access "D:" drive, I get an "invalid drive...

Hi, One of my HDDs (Quantum 1.2GB) has a bad controller. Is it possible to use a controller from another Quantum HDD so I can recover data? Thanks in advance, Brad Before you type your password, credit card number, etc., be sure there is no active key logger (spyware) in your PC.

Hi, One of my computers is a portable Compaq 386 (sold for $5,700 around 1988). It has 2 meg of ram and Dos 6.22. I replaced the 40 meg hdd with a Quantum "Lightning" 750 meg, that was partitioned (on a newer computer) into two logical drives (520 meg and 230 meg). The 386 BIOS doesn't...

Hi, My "main" computer is a Gateway "Color Book II" laptop. It is on every day from 7:30AM until almost 6:00PM. I have been using it like this for about 7 years. It has a 1.6 GB hdd. Recently, for the first time, the hdd started to "wine" (high pitched) for about 3 minutes. Then it became...

Hi, I have been told that a data cd (also audio cd) is first "read" from the middle track. Another person told me that it is first "read" from the inside track. I always thought it was first read from the outside (near the edge) track. Can someone, who really knows, tell me where the first...

Hi, My cousin asked me to repair his Compaq Presario 1060 laptop (Windows 95) which developed two problems at the same time!!! One of the two problems has to do with the floppy disk drive which suddenly has trouble reading floppy disks. The other problem (started around the same time...

Hi, Thanks to everyone who replied. I decided to partition the HDD into two 10G partitions which resulted in 8K clusters after each partition was formatted. The second partition is logical drive "D:". Brad