[ILUG] [Q] dead hard disc replacements (and last "backup")?

[Brian Foster]

  this is on an exclusively-Linux system....

  my old/original hard disc seems to have gone kaput in that
  when I boot-up there are loads of errors.  this is not any
  big deal, since  (1) my "live" system+data is on the 2nd
  disc;  and  (2) I have a full backup of the dead disc.

  (what I don't have is a suitably recent backup of my live
  2nd drive!  ;-\  )

  anyways, before I remove the dead drive (to be, I presume,
  replaced with another) is there anything I could try to
  backup it up one more time (strictly as a precaution)?

  alternatively, after I remove but before I smash it into
  tiny bits (for security), is there anything I could try?

  it's a 40GB ATA unit (c.7 years old).  the errors I'm
  getting are not too informative:

     kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev hda, sector 4
     kernel: Buffer I/O error on device hda, logical block 2

  for more-or-less any sector / logical block values.

  looking back over the logs, there seem to be hints from
  SMART that both(!) drives are failing.  this isn't too
  surprising, since both are old (the 2nd live unit is now
  c.4 years old).

  also, any recommend/reputable on-line suppliers of ATA
  hard discs (who will ship to France)?

cheers!
	-blf-

-- 
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