Windows 10: Should I Be Concerned and Extra Cautious

I followed your 'suggestion' and bought a 2TB Toshiba at Fry's yesterday evening. I thought I was getting "HDWD120XZSTA" but ended up withTOS-HDD-3B0. I ended up paying $79.99. What I got is described as an "enterprise drive for 24 operation." There is no warranty information. It seems 'noisy' to me, although once I put some shelf-liner under the BlacX box is was reasonably quiet. The hum frequency was ~330 Hz (B♭ below Middle C). CrystalDiskInfo showed no previous use before me.
Form Factor: 3.5 Interface: SATA/300 Capacity: 2TB Packaging: Bare Drive Spindle Speed: 7200 Buffer: 64 Condition: New
Here's the boxed version (first product number) info from Fry's website:

High Performance and Reliability for everyday computing

Toshiba's P300 Desktop internal hard drives provide a convenient and reliable way to upgrade every major brand of desktop computer. We combine our reliable hard drive technology with a Serial ATA interface to provide increased performance, capacity and compatibility2.

Compatible with every major brand of Serial ATA enabled desktop computer, our hard drives use state of the art Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology, Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and TMR Head Recording technology for increased capacity, reliability and performance.

Product Features

High performance drive upgrade for desktop computers

7,200 RPM speed with 64MB data buffer deliver improved performance for your aging computers.
Supports SATA 3.0 interface with up to 6 Gbit/sec transfer rate.
Wide capacity range up to 3TB1 for your storage needs.
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) support
Optimizes the order in which received read and write commands are executed, resulting in increased performance and reduced mechanical workload from the drive.

Data Protection Technology

Ramp loading technology reduces wear to the recording head and media for improved drive reliability. Built-in shock sensors detect impact, shielding adjacent track data.
Ideal for everyday computing needs
2-Year Limited Warranty

I never know if the staff at Fry's is just uninformed (incompetent) or borderline unethical.

Should I consider what I bought to be a 'better deal?' Have you encountered noise in Toshiba drives?

I noticed, too, that the version of Macrium that I downloaded is 6 whereas the tutorial (Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Help Forums) still work? At 101 posts, with comments, it is hard to wade through with my failing vision.

thanks,

 

I have not encountered noise in Toshiba drives in the past, but then, I don't have any enterprise/24 hr drives either. *Smile Sounds to me like you got a decent deal. I don't have a Fry's near me (wish I did), but I do have a Microcenter. Just keep an eye on it every so often with your Crystal Disk Info program, or PassMark's DiskCheckup.

Give me a few and I'll put some instructions together for you on Macrium...that thread is way too long.

 

First, please make sure your backup HDD is formatted to NTFS. Then, make a folder for W7-images.





Start Macrium, locate your OS disk (usually the first one), make sure all partitions are selected, and click Image this disk.





Point the image to the new folder you have made in your backup drive, for W7 images.
Then, click on Advanced Options:Compression = Medium (Recommended)
File Size = Automatic
Password = (enter only if you want to password-protect the image)
Auto Verify Image = check the box so it will verify after creation
Comments = put some specific notes in here so you can identify this particular backup, should you need to find it exactly in a batch of backups.
Shutdown = gives the option to shut down the computer or hibernate after completing (handy if you set this up to run at night in the future).






Uncheck Full and Differential, as we're only making one image right now.
No schedule on this one - it's a one-off.






Uncheck Save backup and schedules as an XML....you won't have to give it a name then.

Click OK. The image will run, and give you an estimated amount of time it will take. The verification will take just about as long. So if it says 30 minutes for the backup, you can guess it will be about another 30 minutes for the verification.

When it's complete, please post the screenshot for us to see.


Then, go back to the main screen, to make your rescue media.






Macrium will create the rescue media based on the installed OS, so this will be your W7 rescue media.

Click Next and Next again. If Macrium tells you there's an update, please take it.





Select how to create the media: CD/DVD, ISO or Flash drive.
The multiboot option should not be available for your W7 system, I think.

Create your rescue media. Then, be sure to boot your system to it, to make sure it's good. Should you need to restore an image, you boot to the Macrium rescue media, navigate to the image and restore your system.

Once this is done, you can go ahead and make all the updates/changes to the system, verify everything's working correctly, then make another image for posterity.

Hope that's clear. Please ask if any questions.

 

Busy day. Had to buy 7 yards of navy silk velvet for daughter's wedding dress and ship in a Priority Fixed Rate box to wife in Charlottesville (daughter's home) where they plan to sew the dress...

I got a rescue disk made (documented all the steps with screen dumps.)

It is approaching bedtime, but I tried the disk imaging and got into trouble. I took 3 screen dumps and aborted. There are 5 drives in the tower plus the eSATA. In the first screen I unchecked all of them but the Crucial that is my OS/boot & Programs drive. This I want to image to the eSATA (Toshiba). Here are the images:







The first 2 show all the drives. The third shows that Macrium thought I wanted to image my Data drive (1TB - WDC) and it shows the target as that same drive. This drive is the one at the bottom of Image 2 with the last 2 drives.

I've not used may images in posts. These look very small in the draft. I will Post Quick and see what I get. They are all 6 inches wide at 180 ppi and show 1080 x 640 in Irfanview.

thanks

 

Hi.

If you click just about where I show here in red, the Clone this disk and Image this disk commands will appear for that disk.







shown here:






Then click on Image this disk.

 

Hope that makes sense. Maybe you can get the image running and completed while you sleep.
It's really late here, so I am calling it a night. Congrats on your daughter's wedding! *Smile

 

I noticed something strange in the images so I started again.

I unchecked the C: disk and the "Image this disk" icon dropped below it. I managed to select the right one, but how it is intended to work is 'murky' to me. I plugged along. I found my destination folder in Windows Explorer and copied the path to NotePad (it is always in 2 parts, file and folder) and pasted it in as a destination. The process seemed to be working.

Here's an image of the last screen where I felt I was getting somewhere.





The next screen looked 'wrong' so I canceled.




Perhaps I should have just put in the path that I'd supplied near the beginning and I would have finished? I thought I wanted it to go here:

G:\SystemDiskBackups\Win7_072516_Win10UpgradePrep

Tomorrow is another day....

thanks again

 

Hi.
This all looks correct to me. I would just uncheck the box that says Save backup and schedules as an XML file....We're not saving the instructions, as this will not be a recurring backup.

You should be able to navigate to your image target right from within the selection area in Macrium, to be sure you get it to the correct destination, by clicking on the three dots (circled in red):

 

I believe that the information below created by ZTreeWin tells me that I've made 2 successful images on G:

Disk Volume: BackupDrive 7-26-16 14:11:18 Page 1
Available space 1878837,665,792 bytes
3 logged files using 118,903,576,864 bytes
3 tagged files using 118,903,576,864 bytes

Path: G:\$RECYCLE.BIN\S-1-5-21-4184463267-209652737-2113205021-1001
1 tagged files using 129 bytes

7-25-16 6:45:33 129 .ash desktop .ini

Path: G:\SystemDiskBackups
1 tagged files using 59,451,909,607 bytes

7-26-16 13:39:43 59451909607 .a.. 100EC656633555DB-00-00.mrimg

Path: G:\SystemDiskBackups\Win7_0072516_Win10UpgradePrep
1 tagged files using 59,451,667,128 bytes

7-26-16 13:05:23 59451667128 .a.. 4B455E7727A8BA27-00-00.mrimg

In the process I sorted out the BlacX access question. If I start the eSATA box after I've booted I need to Control Panel, then Device Manager, then expand Disk Drives and find the Toshiba and Right Click it and select "scan for hardware changes" and the drive will be found in Windows Explorer. I was told to do it again if I elect to stop the drive while Win7 is still running.

I'm still not comfortable with the step where I enter the name of the backup. The first time I thought I put in a proper full path for the new file I wanted to create. I got 2 error messages but the backup ran anyway and named the saved file "4B455E7727A8BA27-00-00.mrimg" which must be a default name. I had not yet sorted out the XML file that is saved to allow return to the same 'definition.'





When I ran the second backup I got no error messages and the file called "100EC656633555DB-00-00.mrimg" was created.

It is time to explore booting to the rescue disk so that I still have time to download the upgrade.

thanks

 

Yes, it looks like you've got 2 images saved there.

Interesting. Can you "eject" the drive from Windows Explorer, or no? I would feel a little better myself if I could eject it before physically removing it while the OS is running....just to make sure it wasn't being written to at the moment I go to remove it.

You're not naming the backup, it's asking you to name the backup instructions - which we're not doing right now, because we're not making scheduled, recurring backups yet. So, that's why I said to uncheck the box where it says Save backup and schedules as an XML....

In the future, once you are upgraded to W10, we will setup regular, recurring, scheduled backups, of which that name will only be something like "weekly full HDD backup" or something else to recognize the instructions. That's all it is - the name of your instructions.

Good! Did it say "Image and verification completed in Xhrs X minutes"? That's what we wanted.

Yes, okay - you can download the ISO to your desktop any time, so to have it ready.
Tech Bench

.

 

I have the ISO downloading as I write. I trust I only need the 64 bit version?

Macrium's last message (in a box) was "Image Completed Successfully in 00.17.51"





Is this where would it report "Image and verification completed in Xhrs X minutes"? If so, I managed to miss the radio check box for verification. Ugh...

I will do one more image once I am done following your check list.

Thanks for confirming my understanding of the XML file.

I do not find the Toshiba in the menu that is accessed via the double chevron on the left end of my taskbar.





The 'ordinary HDD's' in this double bay are described as 'hot swappable' but I see your point about making sure there is no activity. There is an activity light on the device.

The Rescue Disk worked fine and found both images.

Your last instruction is:

"Remove any 3rd-party anti-virus software, hard drive monitoring software, and Speccy if you have it."

I've been using Avast Free for a long time. Does Remove mean 'formally uninstall?' I have CrystalDiskInfo (someone here recommended it.) I probably have the install exe file saved, so I could reinstall 6.1.14. I've seen some grousing about 'included gift software' where 'gift' can be taken in the German sense, toxic (or at least mildly so.) Is there a good list of popular 'hard drive monitoring software' you can point me to? I tried a quick search and decided I didn't want to go down that path. Is the risk that one of these might screw up the upgrade process?

I discovered Belarc years ago when we had problems with my wife's PC. I like it.

I've only used Ccleaner a few times, and some time ago. I will go get a current copy.

Thanks again for your patient guidance and attention. You rock!

 

I copied and pasted to Word your checklist. I even numbered the steps. I should have asked if the order is critical, e.g., these steps should be done in the order listed?

10 Run Belarc Advisor and print out the system inventory it provides.
11 Remove any 3rd-party anti-virus software, hard drive monitoring software, and Speccy if you have it.
12 Run Ccleaner Free on the registry.

thanks

 

Yes! *Wink

Yes, you must have missed the box to verify. It's okay - you can verify your existing images (or make a new one)

The check box for verifying is in the Advanced Options:







No problem. I know it's a bit confusing at first, but you get used to it real quick.

I see - then you cannot "eject". But still, you want to make sure there is no activity when you disconnect the disk, yes.

Excellent!

I've upgraded one W7 system with Crystal Disk Info on it and it had no problem, so you can leave that on. But Avast has to go for now. No 3rd-party AV - it's just asking for trouble.

No problem!

 

Let's just recap here to I am thinking straight:

• DONE (pending verification)-Install Macrium Reflect Free and make an IMAGE of your entire hard drive as it is now, on an external drive. Make sure you have the verify option selected, so you know you have a good image. Be sure to create the rescue media it needs to boot your system from, should you have to restore the image. Then, make sure you can boot the system from the rescue media. Restoring an image will put everything back exactly as it was, including all programs and data.
• Is this done? Go to your OEM's web support site and download all updates relevant to your system, especially BIOS and chipset updates.
• Use ShowkeyPlus to grab your current W7 keycode and write it down. Note: This does not work for an OEM:SLP W7 key. You must use the code on the COA sticker if it is an OEM Installed W7.
• Is this done? Remove O2000 and install LibreOffice.
• Is this done? Did you get "No integrity violations found? Open an Admin Command Prompt and run sfc /scannow
• Is this done? Install 7-zip
• Is this done? Install Driver Magician Lite (free) - to back up your current drivers (in red) to an external hard drive.
• Is this done? Scan your system with Malwarebytes Antimalware Free to verify it is clean.
• Is this done? Update all software to current revs and delete any software that is not active/updated regularly or compatible with W10.
• Is this done? Please save the file to your Toshiba drive. Run Belarc Advisor and print out the system inventory it provides.
• Crystal Disk Info will be OK to leave on; I can confirm it lives through the upgrade without issue. Remove any 3rd-party anti-virus software, hard drive monitoring software, and Speccy if you have it.
• Is this done? Run Ccleaner Free on the registry.
• DONE-Download the W10 ISO from MS TechBench
• Disconnect everything from the computer except, keyboard mouse and monitor. Do not have any drives besides the OS drive connected during the upgrade.

Yes, I pretty much have this in the order it should be done. *Smile

 

Oh, dear!

I ran one more Macrium backup, this time with the verify option on and got this:





I found the history file in ZTreeWin and opened it. I cannot see what went wrong. Perhaps you can?

Image ID - 7E971C1709CF97C8 Imaging Summary Auto Verify: Y Maximum File Size: Automatic Compression: Medium Password: N Intelligent Copy: Y Power Saving: N Email On Success: N Email On Failure: N Total Selected: 90.40 GB Destination: Backup Type: Full File Name: G:\SystemDiskBackups\7E971C1709CF97C8-00-00.mrimg Operation 1 of 2 Hard Disk: 2 Drive Letter: N/A File System: NTFS Label: System Reserved Size: 99.2 MB Free: 66.2 MB Used: 33.0 MB Operation 2 of 2 Hard Disk: 2 Drive Letter: C File System: NTFS Label: Size: 119.14 GB Free: 28.78 GB Used: 90.36 GB Starting Image - Tuesday, July 26, 2016 22:04:38 Initializing Destination Drive: BackupDrive (G*Smile - Free Space 1.71 TB Free space threshold: Delete oldest backup sets when free space is less than 5.00 GB Creating Volume Snapshot - Please Wait Volume Snapshots Created Analyzing file system on volume Analyzing file system on volume C: Saving Partition - System Reserved Reading File System Bitmap Saving Partition Saving Partition - (C*Smile Reading File System Bitmap Saving Partition Gathering Windows Events - Please Wait Ô I/O Performance: Read 1.3 Gb/s - Write 87.6 Mb/s
Macrium Reflect Free Edition for non-commercial use v6.1.1366 - 35-WN2D-3PZ6-GPZW-A2HC-KBSY-6X9R62H

I might as well ask about this, too. Here's the stats from ZTreeWin on the Win10 ISO download:

Disk Volume: New 1 Tb WD Black 7-26-16 18:00:34 Page 1
Available space 612,704,174,080 bytes
2,390 logged files using 36,841,467,654 bytes
1 tagged files using 4,458,960,896 bytes

Path: D:\My Documents\DownloadsTempMD
1 tagged files using 4,458,960,896 bytes

7-26-16 17:22:44 4458960,896 .a.. Win10_1511_2_English_x64.iso


7-26-16 ` 17:22:44 4458960,896 .a.. Win10_1511_2_English_x64.iso

Does the file size of 4,458,960,896 bytes sound right?

It is time for bed.

thanks again,