Anybody good at troubleshooting a computer problem?

[CysRage]

Now it keeps freezing as I'm uploading to Dropbox and I cannot boot to safe mode without it freezing while loading it. I think I'm just going to take my computer into a professional tomorrow. Anybody know a good place in Ames to take my computer to? I'd rather not deal with the ISU IT because I have heard nothing but bad experiences and that they aren't knowledgeful.

[whirlybirds]

If you take care of your computer, and unless you are gaming with it, a 5 year old computer will usually work just fine. I only just replaced my 9 year old computer, and that is only because I felt like upgrading to Windows 7. My other computer is 5 years old and works like a charm.

EDIT: Also, I agree with the consensus. It sounds like your HD is failing. Also, I would agree with the recommendation to get an SSD HD. I don't have one, but I am jealous of those that do. They use a different mechanism to store data, and the benefit is they are basically faster and fail less often.

Even 5 years ago the bottom end computer is way too powerful for the average user today. I used to have a 9 year old Gateway desktop that I used until a few month ago. I ended up building a gaming rig to suit my needs, if it wasn't for that, I'd still be using it.

[klamath632]

Hard drive clicking is definitely a soon-to-be-failed hard drive.

1. Buy a replacement as soon as possible,
2. clone the original to the new one, and
3. dispose of the original.


Wipe the original to government standards. Download the Ultimate Boot CD and triple wipe the original prior to disposal. (UBCD can also help you clone the drive in the first place.) http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Or if you're feeling really saucy, find an industrial-strength drill and physically render the disk inaccessible. http://www.semshred.com/contentmgr/s...ls.php/id/2480

[drgnslyr]

The problem is you're still using a Gateway computer.

FIFY