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Laptop HD problems


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Hi there

 

My friend @ work has been having problems with her laptop for a while now and has been told that it is probably her hard drive that is faulty. She's asked me to ask on here to see where would be the best place in terms of taking it in for a diagnosis and having the problem fixed, without being ripped off!

 

Is there anywhere in the city centre or Woodseats area maybe? You can list anywhere at all you you would recommend, but these areas are best for her in terms of locality!

 

Thanks a million guys

 

Angel xxx

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I'd have to ask her to find out exactly but basically she's through people offering to help etc, she's wanting to get it checked over by someone in a shop who can tell her exactly what is wrong but who also won't rip her off when it comes to fixing the problem.

 

Thanks for replying and I don't mean for that to sound ungrateful at all, simply echoing what she has asked me to find out for her on here, which is the best place to take her laptop for repair?

 

Thanks again

 

Angel xx

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If the hard drive is faulty the only real fix is to replace it.

 

Most shops will just want to sell a replacement (plus anything else they think she might need) although I'm sure someone will be able to suggest a friendly local shop that will take a look.

 

Just avoid PC World whatever you do.

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When working for a blue-chip oil company (whose office philosophy was hot-desking - therefore everyone had IBM T-series and X-series laptops), they had quite a number of laptop hard disk drive problems (failures).

 

One of the most common symptoms was noise coming from the hard disk drive itself - usually a sort of 'clunking'. When providing support to users whose laptop was playing up, I'd ask if the laptop (hard disk drive) had become noisier recently.

 

Another symptom of impending hard disk drive failure could be blue-screens of death (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_screen_of_death) or general instability of the laptop (including stopping responding - i.e. 'hanging').

 

To confirm (or not) that the hard disk drive was failing on IBM laptop's, I would run a 'Drive Fitness Test' (a program created by IBM, taken over by Hitachi, that would test the integrity of the hard disk drive).

___

 

In your case, to test if a laptop's hard disk drive is failing, I would run a diagnostics program that was developed by the manufacturer of the laptop's hard disk drive (e.g. from Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Samsung, HP).

 

For example, if the laptops hard disk drive was made by Hitachi (check the laptop's Device Manager to find out), I would download Hitachi's 'Drive Fitness Test' program (free from http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/en/), either as a bootable floppy disk drive program, or a bootable CD program, then use that disk/CD to boot the laptop and run the test.

 

The test should show conclusively if the hard disk drive is failing. If it is, back up all the data from the laptop (in fact, do that if you even suspect a hard disk drive problem), then purchase a new disk that will fit into the laptop, and re-install the operating system and all your programs.

 

If the laptop is still in warranty, the manufacturer of the laptop should replace failing hard disk drives for free (but remember to back up your data before sending it back to them, as they will not transfer data from old drives to new).

 

If you can tell me the manufacturer of the hard disk drive used in the laptop, I could advise if there is a diagnostic program available to test the drive to see if it is working correctly, and advise how to use said program and test the laptop's hard disk drive.

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...asked me to find out for her on here, which is the best place to take her laptop for repair?

 

 

Try any computer shop that says they do diagnostics and repairs.

 

Ask them to run a hardware diagnostic program, normally downloaded for free from the manufacturer of the laptop's hard disk drive, and to show you the results (on screen). The diagnostic program will show conclusively if the hard disk drive is working fine or is failing. This way, you are not relying on the computer shop's expertise (or lack of), and they can't rip you off and lie to you.

 

If the laptop's hard disk drive is failing, then the computer shop can sell you a replacement hard disk drive. (check with http://www.dabs.com or http://www.ebuyer.com to make sure they are not overcharging you on the cost of a replacement drive.)

 

Also, the computer shop could probably re-install the operating system from the recovery disks that came with the laptop, though that could probably be done by yourself.

 

Most of the cost of the computer's shops' 'repair and diagnostics' is labour - the time they take to test the laptop. The only hardware cost will be the replacement hard disk drive - IF the current drive is failing

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It isn't a case thats she can't be bothered, I haven't seen her today @ work to ask her and I won't see her again until next week now. Thanks to everyone for the advice etc though I am sure she'll appreciate it!

 

Angel xx

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