Bad luck maybe, no shock to the system at all. Just wondering if there could be something else wrong with the computer that is cauing the hard drive to fail. Any suggestions????
It depends on how the HD is failing. But generally, the other components have no effect on it. The failures could be shock induced, heat induced or just plain bad luck as mentioned. I doubt anything else is causing it.
Another thing to consider on the 8000/8100/8200 notebooks is reseating the hard drive and also the fixed optical drive (they share the IDE Primary bus) and see if it is just a connection problem and not an actual failure. These models are susceptable to frame flexing that loosens the drives. Using them on your legs exacerbates the problem.
Hard drives tend to get very hot in the 8000-8200 series. In my 8100 my hitachi hard disk became as hot as 73°C. At these temps hard disk live is severely shortened. At these temps the hdd also is very susceptible for shocks. I too had several HDD crashes in my 8100 laptop.
Most of the times the HDD failed due to a shock while working. You cannot avoid bumping the laptop while dragging it back & forth between college (university in my case) and home. As a general tip : Never move the laptop or make it susceptible to shock when the hard disk is working. Putting a working laptop in a backpack because you need to move to another classroom for instance is dangerous. I had a crash is such situation, propably because I was a little careless.
I recommend buying a cool hard disk that can take some punishment. Two hard disks that worked very well and cool in the 8100 where the tohiba GAX series (5400 rpm toshiba drives) and the hitachi 7200 rpm. Especially the latter is recommended as it has a 50% improved endurance against shocks (both while working & inactive) compared to all other drives. It ain't a cheap drive though. As a last thing I can only suggest to make backups often as hard disk crashes are part of every mobile computers life .
Tech came to the house to install the new hard drive. He started installing WinXP and my daughter took over after he left. He said for her to hold on to the old hard drive just in case. If she was still having problems even with the new hard drive, then her mother board is bad.
Well sure enough the laptop froze and we had to call Dell. They are replacing her motherboard. The Tech should be here to install the new one by the end of the week. Now we can try the old hard drive again to see if it will work. She has been having problem with her CD DVD drive too, so they are sending a new one. I have been thinking of getting her a Kingston 256 memory data traveler so she can have a quick back-up for her files. Found it on line for $39. Do any of you know if this is a good memory key? Any body have any insight? Thinking of extending the warranty too, especially since she has had so many problems.
Don't know about the Kingston memory key, but they make good ram (quality company). I just added the 4th year to my daughter's notebook (4000) as she needs to depend on it, we don't want to spend the bucks to replace it, and she is away from me by 11 hours. I paid $180 for the 4th year, so expect it to be pricy.
OK Guys, now we have a new problem....... Dell tech put in the new motherboard and new hard drive. My daughter started to install all the programs she needs and the laptop is freezing and freezing quite often. Any suggestions???? Maybe I should buy her a Gateway !!!! LOL
Perhaps something went wrong during the install of the motherboard. This is certainbly possible as it is a very complex procedure. You should contact dell again to check verything out.
Corey, my daughter called and was crying and upset due to the fact that her computer still does not work after having a new motherboard and 3rd hard drive replaced. She is extremly upset and does not need this aggravation with college finals coming and papers due.
The tech she talked to wants her to send in her laptop to Dell Depot and informs her that it is not covered.
I beg to differ with that individual since I purchased a 3 yr full on site warranty with the system and the warranty is good until 12/20/04. At this point I have had it with Dell and this laptop.
My daughter said it froze 5 times during her on phone experience with the tech.
Can someone let me know if the Dell in home service tech is capable of running diagnostics on my daughter's system (Inspiron 8100)? He has already replaced the motherboard and hard drive. I am thinking that the freezing problem that she is now encountering is due to something not right with the motherboard when he replaced it. It never froze for her before.
Sending it back to Dell right now with her finals coming up and papers due is not an option.
Service Tag #5WYL311 Express Code # 12876919957
Does Dell provide a service like Gateway, where you can invite a Tech into your computer, they take over and check on everything and fix it remotrly????????
He should be able to. It sounds like he may not have reseated the
cpu heatpipe (the heatsink and cooling fins) on the cpu fully or correctly so it overheats and shuts down.
Dude getting a gateway is not a bad idea. I truly dont know what has happened to dell's famous service. But i am slowly regretting my dell purchase. Should have held out and got a Sony.
DELL-Corey
2.6K Posts
0
March 29th, 2004 19:00
Thank you for using Dell's Community Forum.
Yes, as you say, this is not normal.
I would guess the only thing besides concussive shock to the system that would cause that, is just bad-luck.
Perkwoman
8 Posts
0
March 29th, 2004 20:00
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
March 29th, 2004 22:00
It depends on how the HD is failing. But generally, the other components have no effect on it. The failures could be shock induced, heat induced or just plain bad luck as mentioned. I doubt anything else is causing it.
stu
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
March 30th, 2004 03:00
godim
507 Posts
0
March 30th, 2004 06:00
Hard drives tend to get very hot in the 8000-8200 series. In my 8100 my hitachi hard disk became as hot as 73°C. At these temps hard disk live is severely shortened. At these temps the hdd also is very susceptible for shocks. I too had several HDD crashes in my 8100 laptop.
Most of the times the HDD failed due to a shock while working. You cannot avoid bumping the laptop while dragging it back & forth between college (university in my case) and home. As a general tip : Never move the laptop or make it susceptible to shock when the hard disk is working. Putting a working laptop in a backpack because you need to move to another classroom for instance is dangerous. I had a crash is such situation, propably because I was a little careless.
I recommend buying a cool hard disk that can take some punishment. Two hard disks that worked very well and cool in the 8100 where the tohiba GAX series (5400 rpm toshiba drives) and the hitachi 7200 rpm. Especially the latter is recommended as it has a 50% improved endurance against shocks (both while working & inactive) compared to all other drives. It ain't a cheap drive though. As a last thing I can only suggest to make backups often as hard disk crashes are part of every mobile computers life
.
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
March 30th, 2004 22:00
Perkwoman
8 Posts
0
March 31st, 2004 00:00
Hi Folks,
Tech came to the house to install the new hard drive. He started installing WinXP and my daughter took over after he left. He said for her to hold on to the old hard drive just in case. If she was still having problems even with the new hard drive, then her mother board is bad.
Well sure enough the laptop froze and we had to call Dell. They are replacing her motherboard. The Tech should be here to install the new one by the end of the week. Now we can try the old hard drive again to see if it will work. She has been having problem with her CD DVD drive too, so they are sending a new one. I have been thinking of getting her a Kingston 256 memory data traveler so she can have a quick back-up for her files. Found it on line for $39. Do any of you know if this is a good memory key? Any body have any insight? Thinking of extending the warranty too, especially since she has had so many problems.
Thanks again to all. Perkwoman
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
March 31st, 2004 01:00
Perkwoman
8 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 11:00
OK Guys, now we have a new problem....... Dell tech put in the new motherboard and new hard drive. My daughter started to install all the programs she needs and the laptop is freezing and freezing quite often. Any suggestions???? Maybe I should buy her a Gateway !!!! LOL
godim
507 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 12:00
Message Edited by godim on 04-01-2004 08:15 AM
Perkwoman
8 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 18:00
Corey, my daughter called and was crying and upset due to the fact that her computer still does not work after having a new motherboard and 3rd hard drive replaced. She is extremly upset and does not need this aggravation with college finals coming and papers due.
The tech she talked to wants her to send in her laptop to Dell Depot and informs her that it is not covered.
I beg to differ with that individual since I purchased a 3 yr full on site warranty with the system and the warranty is good until 12/20/04.
At this point I have had it with Dell and this laptop.
My daughter said it froze 5 times during her on phone experience with the tech.
What are my options
Perkwoman
8 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 22:00
Can someone let me know if the Dell in home service tech is capable of running diagnostics on my daughter's system (Inspiron 8100)? He has already replaced the motherboard and hard drive. I am thinking that the freezing problem that she is now encountering is due to something not right with the motherboard when he replaced it. It never froze for her before.
Sending it back to Dell right now with her finals coming up and papers due is not an option.
Service Tag #5WYL311 Express Code # 12876919957
Does Dell provide a service like Gateway, where you can invite a Tech into your computer, they take over and check on everything and fix it remotrly????????
Can anyone help????
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
April 5th, 2004 01:00
pr00959
33 Posts
0
April 9th, 2004 21:00
rlee777
1 Message
0
April 13th, 2004 09:00