Frys electronics....UGH.....flashbacks of returning faulty electonics.....the damaged rewrapped merchandise put back on the shelf.....the waiting in long lines.....the store credit on returns only....the untrained vultures roaming the aisles looking for prey....pc techs that know less than a five year old.......UGH!!!

But theres always plenty of fine looking asian women.

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Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

Well guys, I FIXED IT!

I couldn't have done it without this post:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthre ... 401&page=2

Basically, the whole root of this problem is Dell using a very hidden partition in the "HPA Host Protected Area" that f**ks up any attempts to clone the drive (with ANY clone software).

So if you have a Dell with Media Direct, be aware of this issue. Special precautions must be taken in order to upgrade the drive. It's not cut and dry like it should be.

Goddamn Dell!

?????

Good luck in your quest!

magneto, they are same indeed, why are you surprised?

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Dmitry

Wasn't surprised that they are same connectors. Was surprised that the poster didn't know that but wants to know how to unlock a drive with all of the advanced software that we were discussing.

so tell us rchadwick, do you like fry's or not?

coming form Latin America where ONCE upon a time we had ONE radio shack, Fry's looks like heaven!

Well, I have been using and building computers for 10 years or so, but I don't deal with many laptops at all. I just ASSUMED that a laptop drive couldn't possibly have the exact same connectors as a 3.5" drive. That would be too easy. Well, I was pleasantly surprised.

I don't claim to know everything. If I did, I wouldn't be asking for help on an internet forum.

I didn't bash you or anything. I just wished you luck. I also don't claim to know everything or I wouldn't be here either. Anyone who claims they know it all is ignorant. I've been working with computers for over 10 years and hard drives are quite vital in them, as I'm sure you know. I can tell with most hard drives whether they are PATA or SATA just by the model number, not that that is a great feat or anything. I was just commenting on how large of a task you made it seem with that post. I'm glad that you got it resolved and would never discourage you from using the forums. I have cloned hundreds of hidden partition Dell drives and never seen the error that you had. Obviously others had the same issue and I'm a better tech now because of your woes, should I ever run into the same problem.

I offered my advise on the post and then set back for the resolution. The only thing I would point out, which I'm sure others would, is that ASSUMING always leads to problems.

Good luck

It's all good man. I appreciate any help I can get. If it wasn't for the internet, I sure as hell wouldn't have solved this issue already!

I went to my first Fry's a few weeks ago. For someone who lives next to one, I'm sure there will be complaints. For me, I was in heaven, for about an hour or so It looked even better considering CompUSA closed, and that left me with NOTHING in driving distance.

I agree. Fry's is pretty sketchy. I had a computer mobo fail on me after about a year of service. Only then did I take a look at the original box and it had a tiny little sticker that said that it had been returned and had been "tested to be ok". Riiiight. They do this crap all the time. Half the shit in that store is a return.

I love when they do those Processor + A cheap-ass motherboard deals. You usually see a HUGE line of people returning those crap boards a day or two later.

I buy returned HDDs at Fry's.

I run them through MHDD and check Power cycle counter in SMART. Usually it's less than 4.

I also never wait in line to return stuff. You just need to know when the lines are shortest. I have decent luck returning stuff at 8:45pm.

And I buy those specials occasionally. What annoys me is when they put Qty limit 1 on some things.

Personally, I love Fry's. I can spend a day in the store doing "market research".