Well, today turned out to be one of those days where every computer needs to have something done to it. Or so it would seem.
The server failed the other day and refused to boot or even recognize the 5 year-old 20GB drive that has Windows installed on it. I was of course disappointed that the drive failed, but it
is 5 years old and all mechanical devices fail eventually and I think 5 years isn't too bad of a lifespan for a hard drive. Anyway, I to take out the 80GB drive (for reasons which I will mention later) and the 20GB and move the 40GB to the primary master so I can install Windows on it. I get everything changed out and removed and the stupid machine refuses to boot from the CD-ROM. *sigh* So I go and dig out my floppy drive and put that back in (I had taken it out a couple months ago because the 3.5" cage inside only has room for 3 devices... the 3 hard drives) and then download a boot disk maker from Microsoft's site and find 6 (!!!) floppies to make the boot disks. I boot up the machine again and to my relief, it boots from the floppy and goes through the start of the setup process. Of course, right when it's about to start installing Windows, it fails saying that the first line of some file is corrupt or missing. Joy. After a little research, I find out that Microsoft has a separate boot disk maker for installations that have SP1 slipstreamed in. *sigh* I sure hope that that boot disk maker works or I've got an expensive paperweight sitting in my brother's room.
About the 80GB drive that I pulled out of the server, that's for a good reason, and something that I did today that actually worked. When the server failed the other day, I did a little quick research and discovered a $30 external hard drive enclosure. So I went ahead and ordered one Monday night and it came this morning. So I took the 80GB drive and put it in there and connected it up to my desktop and updated all my mp3s and then connected it to my laptop. So now I have all my music stored "locally" on my laptop rather than having to stream it across the network. Will make backing it up easier and listening to it much better since it's being transferred over a short USB cable rather than transmitted over my wireless network which sometimes has problems due to interference or some other such thing.
So I'd say today is about half successful. The enclosure is sweet as hell and works great so far (not bad for mass transfers, either... 40GB in just over 40 minutes). If I can get those other boot disks working later or tomorrow, I'll be happy again.
I wonder what the next bit of hardware I'm going to end up buying is. Every time I make a purchse, I always tell myself that really, now I have all the hardware that I need to do what I want to. I told myself that after I bought the DVD burner at Thanksgiving and again after I bought the LCD monitor a few weeks ago and now I've bought an external enclosure for my hard drive. What's next? I really can't think of anything else that I need or want, but I'm sure that will change.
Edited to include pics of the enclosurehttp://planetsuper.com/images/enclosure1.jpghttp://planetsuper.com/images/enclosure2.jpg
