If I have to replace the hard drive...

I think I may have a hard drive that's going bad. The main symptom I have is a fan that will not shut down unless the whole machine is shut off (ie runs during sleep mode etc.) It's also starting to get a little noisy but that may or may not be my imagination. An acquaintance thinks it's my hard drive overheating and I should be prepared to replace it.

Two questions really. Is he probably right? Secondly, What should I save from this drive while it's still usable. I've already saved the obvious - my documents and mp3s, my email address book and favorite place, a couple of programs for which I don't have the original disk. Are there settings I should save? (Even if I have to write them down by hand. ugh!)

I'm running Win98 and plan to reinstall it from original factory disk if I have to replace the HD.

 

Ggreeena,

Welcome to the board! The first thing that I would do would be to find the noise first. Take off your case and pinpoint the noise. If the fan is definitely the culprit, you may just need a new fan. Check the hard drive for excessive heat. If the drive is hot, maybe try running the computer with the case off for a few days and see if that helps. If that helps, you may just need to add extra cooling. As far as the fan running during sleep mode, I'm not sure. I never use anything besides on and off. However, I would think that the fan would stay on until the whole system is shut down.

As long as you save all your important info, you should be set. Writing down the settings doesn't hurt either. It will make the process go a little quicker in case the drive does fail. If you are still concerned about the drive, put a second drive in now. During the installation, you can transfer all the info from your original to the new with the software that they include. That way, when the old fails (if it fails) you can take it out and use the new.