Rolled Out On: 10/26/2005 11:36 PM

Get that hard drive replaced PRONTO. Do not screw around with loud *KLUNK* noises.

If you wait, you will regret it.

Rolled Out On: 10/27/2005 1:11 PM

Keith, I have a very, very strong gut feeling it's a combination of the mobo and drivers. I can cause it to do it if I try to load XP64, why it happens randomly with 32, I don't know yet.

The drive is practically brand new. However, I keep all my important data on other drives, but it's time to do some DVD backups just to be safe.

Rolled Out On: 10/29/2005 5:00 PM

My Dell laptop's hard drive recently crashed out of nowhere. It made a horrendous scratching sound and then went kaput. The funny thing is though, my brother's Dell laptop's hard drive crashed a few months later. So you may be taking a risk with Dell.

Rolled Out On: 10/29/2005 5:17 PM

You take a risk regardless of computer company. Dell doesn't make the harddrives. They purchase them and install them.

We (where I work) used to be IBM laptop people. We called them 'Stinkpads' because they were so bad. Then we tried X, Y, and Z and now are on Dells. My latitude D610 is a rock solid laptop right now, and the desktops we're using are pretty good as well.

But again, since Dell simply buys parts and puts them together, it's not like you're guaranteed anything in the future.

Rolled Out On: 10/31/2005 6:05 PM

You take a risk regardless of computer company. Dell doesn't make the harddrives. They purchase them and install them.

I should have said a needless risk. It doesn't matter whether they buy them or build them, they're still failing. They seem to be buying inferior ones. But, perhaps our experiences are isolated, and in any case they've probably switched to another type of hard drive since I bought my Dell.

Anyways, I'm not trying to be argumentative here or start a Dell jihad. Love the blog.

Rolled Out On: 11/1/2005 8:48 AM

Dell Jihad? So, if you use Thinkpads, you're an Infi-dell

You may groan loudly now ;)

And again, Dells work for me because that's what we use where I work, so repairs and spare parts will be easier to come by if there are issues.

Rolled Out On: 11/1/2005 5:40 PM

Haha. Groan? Nah, actually, I thought that was pretty clever.

Rolled Out On: 10/26/2005 9:42 AM

You might try a free hard drive diagnostic software package, you might be able to nail the problem down. I can't recommend any in particular, but I Googled and there are plenty. One that came up in my search:

http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/

Rolled Out On: 10/26/2005 10:03 AM

Dude, skip the dell.

Go with an IBM thinkpad!!!

BELIEVE ME... It'll save you tons of time and aggrevation!!!

Rolled Out On: 10/26/2005 6:16 PM

Nah, gonna stick with Dell. My work uses Dell so that means replacement parts are.... um... cheap.