Hi, All!

!!!!!!!!!!S.O.S.!!!!!!!!!!

Message just received on black screen when starting up the computer:

Quote:

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SMART Failure Predicted on Hard Disk O: Quantum Fireball CX20.44-(PM).

Warning: Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive.

A failure may be imminent.

Press F1 to Continue.

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What to do? :confused:

It's the only computer I've got that's working right now. :(

Operating system is Windows '98. Lots of information on it. Must save!

I've got extra hard drives lying around and also blank CD's.

Might not be on the site for awhile...

Thanks!

Start backing up everything you want NOW NOW NOW as you just may totally crash at any moment!!

Which way first, please?

Okay, have created a new folder on the desktop. Named it Back-Up.

So I am absolutely not qualified to answer this question...

So, knowing I could be the one in your place... reading the same message... and posting the same "please help"... I searched and found this thread...

View topic - HDD SMART monitoring - Maximum PC Forums

Which, at least at one point, seems to have a poster say its really not as scary as you might think... at least that he's lost drives without a smart warning, and he's had warnings on drives that have lasted years past the message...

So...

Again... if nothing else, this bumps your thread to the top of the new posts list...

Thanks for the link, kp2171!

I'm kind of afraid to go there right now though, because I just had something freeze up when trying to put emails into a file.

Computer has been acting weird lately...

Seems like something happening might have been imminent!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kp2171

so i am absolutely not qualified to answer this question...

so, knowing i could be the one in your place... reading the same message... and posting the same "please help"... i searched and found this thread...

View topic - HDD SMART monitoring - Maximum PC Forums

which, at least at one point, seems to have a poster say its really not as scary as you might think... at least that he's lost drives without a smart warning, and he's had warnings on drives that have lasted years past the message...

so...

again... if nothing else, this bumps your thread to the top of the new posts list....

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By the way...

Why is your tongue red/pink, please?

Okay, maybe I shouldn't go there.. :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clough

Why is your tongue red/pink, please?

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?

What wavelength of visible light is preferred?

I had a different licking kitty ava before... I think the tongue was green. Oddly, nobody asked about my green kitty tongue...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clough

Why is your tongue red/pink, please?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by kp2171

?

What wavelength of visible light is preferred?

I had a different licking kitty ava before... I think the tongue was green. Oddly, nobody asked about my green kitty tongue...

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Red definitely leaves something for the imagination...

Am burning a CD as I write...

Dang! The speed is only 8x!!

Now, the most important documents have been loaded onto a CD.

I'm not sure what to do about all the emails that I'd like to back-up, though...

I've already sent some of the recent ones to an email account that I use for back-up.

I still would appreciate advice as to what to do with emails, if anyone has any advice...

Thanks!

Not sure of the question... the emails are not saved on your computer, right?.

Please clarify.

If the emails are things you've saved to your computer, well, you need to back it up.

Personally, for not a lot of money you can buy an external hard drive that you can throw all the Important Crap on and toss it into the safety deposit box...

But, again, I'm not sure about the email question... are they saved on your computer? Or just read emails that you can access anytime you log on?

Hi, kp2171!

The emails are saved in my computer in Outlook Express. I don't have the funds to purchase anything external.

When trying to move emails from Outlook Express to folders, say, on the Desktop, and emails that have identical titles need to be re-named since two files of the same name and type of file can't occupy the same folder at the same time.

Most of the emails I've read. Some, I've created and saved to the Draft folder.

Also, most of the ones that I would like to save are business related. There are hundreds of them.

Thanks!

I'm not an expert. Just will tell you what I have done and would do.

When I had a ton of pics and a bunch of music to back up I put it all into a couple of folders... if you right click on the folder and select properties, it'll tell you how big the folder is... how much memory you would need to copy it.

Now, I know you said you didn't have the funds to buy external... but really... a bunch of emails might not add up to that much space, and usb drives can be really, really cheap and easy to use... less than $12 for 2GB...

So... first thing is first.

If you wanted to rent a storage unit for all the stuff you have, you'd look at what you have and estimate based on size...

So... gather the stuff you want to save into a folder or two or whatever... right click on each and select properties and see how big each folder is with the stuff in it.. thisll give a feel for how much storage you might need.

I've already copied the really important documents and other files into folders and saved them to a cd.

If I move the emails to folders on the desktop, then I would have to rename a whole bunch of them.

That could be as simple as adding an "A" or number to each email that's a duplicate of another one. However, the time it would take to do that could take the earth of time!

You're correct about the email files not taking up all that much space, though. But, I don't know what problems I would encounter putting duplicate files on a usb drive.

I think you need a better system of naming...

Or a better "expert" at giving you the answer you seek

Another angle... if you try to dump a bunch of files into a folder and there are some with duplicate names, the computer will often ask you if you want to replace one file with the incoming one...

If they aren't the same size, you say no...

If they are the same size... well... it's a guess... might be the same message or not... better to say no and then explore the two later...

Point is... unless many have the same names, you could still probably condense down to a few folders quickly and then putter through the rest...

If you really have many files with the same name... well.. again... I'm guessing there are better answers.. but you could still gather several different folders into one grouping folder and save it...

I don't know.

As robin williams would say if he compared my computer backups to octogenarian sex... its slow and sloppy...

But it might do the trick.

Your mails are in files named something like "inbox.dbx", "sent.dbx" - look for where they are using the search function - type "*.dbx" (without quotes) & they will be found.
Back those up.
Whilst you're at it... buy a computer from this millennium!

Man, if you plan on making 25,000 more posts I would seriously think about upgrading.

Please do put yourselves in my place first...

Not everyone has the same means to do things.