Anybody good at troubleshooting a computer problem?

**CysRage** · 01-15-2013, 05:23 PM

*Serious answers only please*

I have a 5 year old Gateway computer that originally had Windows Vista but now has Windows 7. It has always treated me well but lately has been giving me the fits. Whenever I open a browser, I can hear the hard drive clicking and it eventually freezes up my entire computer. One of the times it went into the blue screen saying I need to restart and open the bios and clear the cache and shadow or something like that. My primary browser is Chrome. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling but no success. I am currently in safe mode with networking and I am able to open browsers just fine. If you don't know how to fix but know a good computer message board I could ask this at, that would also be great. Thanks!

**alarson** · 01-15-2013, 05:28 PM

First thought, if the hard drive is clicking thats never a great sign.

**CysRage** · 01-15-2013, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by alarson

First thought, if the hard drive is clicking thats never a great sign.

My thoughts too but I was hoping that there is maybe hope since it works fine in safe mode

**ISUKyro** · 01-15-2013, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by CysRage

*Serious answers only please*

REALLY! Where is the fun at?
Any way, as said by alason hard drive clicking is never a good sign. Mine was doing that just before (maybe a day) it failed completely. Back up what you can when you can and jump ship!

**alarson** · 01-15-2013, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by ISUKyro

REALLY! Where is the fun at?
Any way, as said by alason hard drive clicking is never a good sign. Mine was doing that just before (maybe a day) it failed completely. Back up what you can when you can and jump ship!

Yeah, the HD in my desktop did the same. Now may be a great time to do a backup, and even if its not the HD at issue, its never bad to have a backup of your stuff. From there you could as a worst case scenario (minus a new hard drive) do a fresh windows install

**cloneluke80** · 01-15-2013, 05:37 PM

agree with consensus about hard drive. Its most likely going bad and time to get a backup and replace. Hard drives are most common failures simply because they are the most commonly used and have mechanical parts.... I recommend replacing with SSD, trust me, you will thank me later...

**cloneluke80** · 01-15-2013, 05:38 PM

btw - Hard drive expected lives for mechanical drives are about 5 years. Also these are most susceptible to temperature extremes...

**kingcy** · 01-15-2013, 05:41 PM

Time for a new computer.

**CycloneErik** · 01-15-2013, 06:01 PM

I would back up immediately if not sooner. That's a wise idea.

**CysRage** · 01-15-2013, 06:17 PM

I'm in the process of backing up on Dropbox right now just to be sure. Thanks for everybody's help!

**whirlybirds** · 01-15-2013, 06:24 PM

I'd bet the farm (only because I don't have a farm to lose) that it's your HD. Easy fix but sucks to lose everything.

**cowgirl836** · 01-15-2013, 06:31 PM

My laptop's HD started clicking............in 2008. Got pretty bad before Christmas though (lots of clicking, freezing up, slow) and we backed it up. New laptop is finally in the mail!

But yeah, probably new computer time!

**letsCYber** · 01-15-2013, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by CysRage

I have a 5 year old Gateway computer

The problem is you're still using a 5 year old Gateway computer.

**GMan** · 01-15-2013, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by letsCYber

The problem is you're still using a 5 year old Gateway computer.

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.

**letsCYber** · 01-15-2013, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by GMan

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.

Yes GAMING. Thats what I call it too.