[latvija]

Dell Dimension 4400, P4, 640RAM, WD 120GB

I had a fire that generated tons of smoke. You couldn't even see the pc for 10 minutes. Anyway, my local computer tech said that I suffered "unrecoverable hard drive error." He was able to restore the pc so I can use it. He said I need to back up my data and buy a new hard drive. I have noticed that the drive takes longer to load programs and getting things done. For some applications, I sit and read the paper while I wait for the program to open. This was not the case before the fire.

I went to the WD site and downloaded the diagnostic program. When I ran the SMART test this message appeared: "Quick Test on drive 1 did not complete! Status code = 07 (Failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 65 (Error Log Test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!"

Then I ran the Extended Test, which took 10:40 hours. The drive failed this test.

My Dell is 4 years old. My insurance company rates the life of a pc at 6 years. Should I buy another 120GB drive or is it worth the extra money to buy a bigger drive? My current WD drive is 2 years old.

My other concern is that my modem might be shot. Now, I have dropped connections and lenghtly handshakes. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 attempts to make a dial-up connection. I did not have this problem before the fire. Should I replace the modem also?

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

[Nukem]

sounds like you might just want to invest in a newer/faster system then take the old hard drive and try to copy your files onto the new one. then ditch it... Your system is on the out, me'thinks...

[talldude123]

Originally posted by latvija
Dell Dimension 4400, P4, 640RAM, WD 120GB

My Dell is 4 years old. My insurance company rates the life of a pc at 6 years. Should I buy another 120GB drive or is it worth the extra money to buy a bigger drive? My current WD drive is 2 years old.

Most PC's will last about 4 years without an upgrade. Most people here on TF will agree with me.

Buying a bigger HD is always useful, and they're getting pretty cheap; always look for sales or rebates.

Also, don't buy HD's from Dell, go online. It's a better use of your money.


Seagate 320GB Hard Drive IDE - $115 - $45 REBATE = $70
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...297556&CatId=0

[Ethereal_Dragon]

As far as this fire that generated tons of smoke... was it something in the house that caught fire, or a component of the PC itself that caught fire... if a PC component caught fire, you should contact DELL, and try to get a brand new free system from them....

Also, smoke is NOT good for electronics.... I personally would just buy a new system if DELL doesn't replace it.

Woot... 900th post...