After a chat with a Dell technician, I was told that my hard drive is about to crash. She advised me to save all of my files to a flash drive or another computer and the she would help me restore and reinstall all of my software. I assume she means to restore to the factory settings. My question is, if my hard drive is about to crash, how will reinstalling everything prevent that from happening? When I asked the Dell tech, she said "it won't". So I'm confused. What exactly would the purpose of reinstalling everything be then?
2006-08-01 07:52:33 · 7 answers · asked by Sparky 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
Before the Tech has you reinstall your software, they will have you perform diagnostics on the system. These diagnostics can mark sectors on the hard drive that are "bad". When the software is reinstalled it will avoid these bad areas. If there is no further damage to your hard drive you can probably continue to use the computer for a long time.
The real question is "what caused the hard drive damage to begin with?". If it was software, then the re-install should eliminate the problem. If it is a hardware issue, then yoiu may continue to see the hard drive degrade until another re-install is required. Hard drives have become fairly inexpensive, so if it is apparent that the problem is hardware, you might want to check into getting the hard drive replaced before doing a re-install. However, I would only do this if the entire computer is relatively new. Don't spend a lot of money to keep an old computer going. It's not worth the cost or the aggravation.
2006-08-01 08:11:16 · answer #1 · answered by Paul O 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Assuming the tech knew what they were talking about (probably not) if the hard drive was going to crash they would normally send a new drive out to you. You replace the drive with the brand new untouched drive and then reinstall everything on it.
Otherwise maybe there was an issue with the OS and it needed to be re-installed, this sometimes occurs but it not related to a hard drive crash. (Blue screen of deaths are results of OS crashes not Hard Drive crashes)
If either of these were not the case then ask to speak to another tech. And how did she diagnose the hard drive was going to crash? Usually this is very hard to detect, sometimes you might get a grinding or whining noise (mechanical failure) shortly before the drive dies but usually when a drive crashes it just goes without warning.
2006-08-01 15:02:54 · answer #2 · answered by malkier8567 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The crash is supposedly software related and not hardware related. By backing up your critical data and wiping the hard disk, you are eliminating the problem from your computer. If you hear any clicking noises on your computer or it takes forever to boot, then a restore won't do squat on your current disk.
2006-08-01 15:02:00 · answer #3 · answered by TxVarmit 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Today's hard drives have self diagnosing firmware built into them, so they can give you warnings if they detect a problem.
You are QUITE COREECT in your thoughts about reinstalling on a failing drive. A waste if time!
You need to purchase a new hard rive if your computer is out of warranty and copy it to a new hard drive.
An excellent program I use that makes a EXACT copy of your hard drive is from Acronis.... THe link is below...
2006-08-01 15:06:01 · answer #4 · answered by mrresearchman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a valid question that should be addressed to Dell.
Have her explain why "it won't" crash. There may be a good reason but you should know it upfront.
Good Luck
note: some of your stuff can be emailed to yourself on Yahoo to save it or use Yahoo briefcase.
2006-08-01 14:59:57 · answer #5 · answered by pappy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
she is saying that u need to save the info on your drive then transfur it all on to a new drive,this can be done easly with xp.
2006-08-01 15:02:53 · answer #6 · answered by wisbasspro 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you getting a new hard drive and then installing all your stuff to there
2006-08-01 15:00:41 · answer #7 · answered by . 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋