Computer annoyances

[plonq]

The new(ish) hard disk in atara's computer has been making alarming sounds lately, and she's been experiencing frequent crashes that appear to be linked to video-related.  I suspected the problem was one of heat dissipation, so we lifted the cover off her computer to make sure all of the fans were spinning in a proper, fan-like manner.  Within seconds of lifting off the cover, the fan on her video card spun down from "desperate scream" to "placid whir".  She had one more video crash after that, but otherwise things settled down a bit.  The drive, however, is still very noisy.

Working under the assumption that the heat has already damaged her HD, I've ordered a new 250g SATA2 drive to replace her current one (and she gets the fun of doing a clean install of XP, and all of her applications).  With luck the new drive will be here tomorrow or the next day, and we can get it up and running before her current drive dies.  Experience tells me that once a drive starts making those alarming scraping sounds, the clock is running...

Comments

[leopanthera.livejournal.com]

Can't ghost from one HD to the other?

[plonq.livejournal.com]

We could (once the drive gets here), but it's been over 4 years since she did a clean install, and she's probably due. It's a good excuse to declutter things a bit.