Tigerllc74

Dennis reminded me to post my results about restoring image to new HD..so here it is... I restored Macrium images to new HD. OS and everything were restored 100% and booted fine.. no need for factory CD.. So image restored to New HD and booted fine as Macrium was designed to do... But same effort failed before too...so go figure !!! Anyway, Dennis thought forum might benefit from my experiment..hope it helped. Tiger

Dennis: That sounds logical...Thanks for all the help. Tiger

Alan: I think you are starting to beat a dead horse. There are many options in life and we are free to choose as we wish based on what we find as facts. Also, some of us are not as qualified as you and we simply want quick and easy options. Personally, I really don't wanna know how image/clone works in detail. It gives me a headache and I have other interest that occupies me. Thus I trust experts like you..I am grateful, don't get me wrong. Because I asked, now I know my options. I am grateful for forum members who can give me technical help when I ask since I don't keep up with fine details. Tiger

Again...when images and clones work..life is good. BUT when 1% of time (for whatever the reason) it doesn't work, then what ??? $20 for Factory disc is a good insurance. I think the uncertainly enters when HD is changed. When one makes image/clone files, nobody REALLY REALLY knows IF it will work 100% of time.. even sellers will not stand 100%. I trust image files, and used them several times. But having factory disc (only had to buy one factory disc out of 12 laptops in last 5+yrs) makes me sleep better. It has been fun learning session for me...Thanks to all Tiger

I tried both Macrium and Easeus boot CD. Both worked before without a failure. I thought maybe it's the computer, but boots fine with old HD. I am trying to restore image on a new HD when this happened. (no, i don't think new HD has anything todo with error..it booted fine with new HD before..many times)

Has anyone seem "NTLDR is missing" error when trying to boot from CD ?? I have never seen this error before. Boot CD always worked. Normally F12 or ESC gets me to boot order, choose CD/DVD then computer boots from CD. Any ideas ??

Thanks Dennis... I think people are missing the essence of my question...thus never answered yes or no. I respect and really appreciate all the inputs..Just like anything in life certain things I trust to experts and weekend interest groups, I simply benefit from and TRUST their experiences. Of course factory disc will not restore programs and data installed, but if image/clone does not restore OS then well....screwed !!!! So why take the chance. For $20, it seems like a good insurance to me. The ULTIMATE (100%) protection for HD crash or changing HD for whatever the reason seems to be Factory Recovery disc, and NOT image/clone. Sure image/clone will sometimes restore, but not 100% sure. I think most of us never experienced the ULTIMATE failed situation (HD dead, hardware conflicts, etc), so my kind of question draws many "opinion" replies. I was not really interested in details of how image/clone works, or what Macrium or other programs does. (sure nice to know) Consider my question like a buying a car, I just wanna drive a good solid car,,don't really care to know the detail..but I do need to know how to put gas and change oil, etc... So the final analysis for me, based on the discussion, is PAY extra $20 and be 100% sure just in case ????

Thanks all for the comments. My expertise on this subject is very elementary and I simply must trust what has been posted. When all is said and done, simple question still persists... Do I need Factory recovery disc ???? Yes or no. I just tried to restore Macrium and Easeus image onto NEW HD (same size and larger HD than original). Two failed and one succeeded. I have no idea why or why not. I don't know about Clone ??? So for my money, I will pay extra $20 or so for Factory recovery disc...just in case (???)

So isn't Clone file same size as the HD size.. 80GB HD Clone file size will be 80GB ?? 250GB HD is 250GB file ?? No matter how little of space is uaed by actual data?? Thus no need for Factory Recovery disc ?? When buying used computers, Factory Recovery disc isn't included and costs $20. Also, what Miray program for Clone ?? Freeware ?? Thanks

The question was raised about Macrium Reflect Image and dead HD..then CLone issue too... Say..HD is dead. Can you restore Marcrium Image to NEW HD (different brand and/or different size..smaller or larger) ??? I don't think this is possible. So Clone question comes up. (Macrium does NOT do Clone) IF I made a Clone file then I can restore Clone file onto NEW HD...Am I correct ?? Now Image files are smaller than Clone. My 80GB HD with 20GB data..image file is only 16GB. But Clone maybe entire 80GB in file size. Also, (correct me if I am wrong)...Image or Clone is the content of entire HD, so it is same as using Factory Recovery disc plus extra datas..including OS. Therefore no need for factory recovery disc at all... Is this correct ?? I think so. Thanks, Tiger

Dennis: You are the greatest.. I should've searched first. I got lazy. It looks like I answered my own question. I faintly remembered the solution, but ?? Thanks, Tiger

I am using Firefox 3.6. When I try to access forum topic (any forums), I get a block of black screen covering top 80% of screen. See attached file for a screen shot. this only happens on Firefox. When I use Chrome, everything is fine and no block of black screen is shown. I uninstalled firefox then re-installed. Same problem. Any ideas for solutions?? This happened a year ago, but I forgot the solution. Thanks, Tiger

It's a free world, so do whatever makes you happy.. BUT for my money, I would low level format from DOS..just one pass. We've uncovered plenty of "deleted" and formatted over files from HDs. I know it takes more time, but it's worth the effort FIRST time. Doing from DOS eliminates anything effect from OS (XP, Visat or Win &)..not that one expect any issues,,just in case. Like I said, we've "relived" dead HDs too which means low level also "fixes" any unknown issues as well. You guys can argue all you want (and probably 99% right), but why not be 100% correct and start fresh. Cheers!!! I am moving on.. Tiger

Use Active Kill Disk for low level format...one pass of 1s and 0s... I have done this many times to supposely DEAD HDs and saved my friends muchos $$$. It takes LONG times.. 100GB took 8 hrs ??? so 320 GB..24 hrs ?? Boot it in DOS and forget about it for a day...Then initialize and format. Good luck !!

NTFS, Like I said, I think it's a hardware issue !!! Read and write. Very Very Very minor !!! I am very surprised that I am the only one with verify failure problem with so many old computers still in service. Maybe I am the only one talking about it !!!