Laptop wear and tear

Torn Rose · 2004-02-23, 05:23 PM

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 which I got 2 years ago, and I do everything on it. I’ve had no issues/complaints with it until 3 months ago.

A week before we left for Internext, the cooling fans started making noises, which got worse and then they started grinding when they went off. I had gotten a 3 year at home warranty, so Dell sent a guy here to replace them free of charge. The tech they sent said it was a common thing with this model and the new models have been changed.

Then today I heard a slight noise, and thinking it was the fans once more I picked it up to look at them when it made a very loud grinding sound that sounded like a blender going off with a piece of metal in the blades. The fans where not on at the time and I could feel the vibrations.

I called Dell and my worse fear came true. My hard drive just died. We did a few tests to make sure it was the hard drive, and it is. The noise was so loud that that Dell tech said she heard it and never heard of a hard drive doing that.

Dell is sending me a new hard drive, but of course it will be blank, and I lost everything on my hard drive. Which I’m lucking out, since I have a backup of all my important items from a few months ago so really the only thing I will lose is e-mail from the last 2 months or so and time/effort.

This laptop has gone everywhere with us, I’m very careful with it and it has never taken a “hit” to where I would think this would happen, But this was the first laptop I have ever had and I was wondering if anyone else has had issues like this and is this just “normal” wear and tear of travel.

Dell told me to contact a local dealer and ask if they can recover the data off my hard drive. When I did and ask for the cost I was told $200 for service and $1500 for recovery. Which made me laugh. I don’t need those emails THAT bad.

Cleo · 2004-02-23, 05:49 PM

You didn't backup for months???

Bad, bad, bad computer user.

Hard drives come in two models, these that have failed and those that will fail.

This is what I own. At night it gets plugged into a FireWire drive and I have a crontab set to do an incremental backup each night.

ardentgent · 2004-02-23, 05:56 PM

Sorry about the hard drive crash. With that in mind, what do you experienced webmasters recommend to easily back up data from a PC?

Fonz · 2004-02-23, 06:05 PM

I just did a backup a few days ago after all your useful tips, can't think about losing everything.. yikes...

Torn Rose · 2004-02-23, 06:20 PM

Content wise I burn it to a dvd/cd as soon as I get it, so I lost nothing on that.

Toni just bought her laptop Wednesday, so the files I really need have been saved on her laptop, so I lost nothing on that.

Emails, I lost 2 or so months of those, which will hurt, but not as bad as it could have been.

Right now the only thing I’m pissed over (besides this even happening) is I "work" for other people who trust me with some real private and personal info, which I never backed up, so I have to get with them once more and get all of that. Which isn’t hard, just annoying.

Talking to a lot of my friends, I'm by far the "most anal" when it comes to backing things up. I know a few who do not save their “raw” images at all, which just drives me nuts!

Right now I’m still waiting for Dell to let me know when I will get the new HD, We was planning on a road trip next week and I’m working off a desktop that I had just cleaned up to have only video editing and house camz to run, but now I am forced to put email and icq and other “basic” programs back on so I can work. So I’m stressing over the timing and all the extra work I have to do.

I sure could use a smoke right now, mind puffing a few for me Cleo? I’ll be happy to do the same for you some day.

Shannon G · 2004-02-23, 07:03 PM

You had a laptop last TWO YEARS?!?! lucky!!

Actually, what you've described is not just an issue w/ Dell. I've fried my last four laptops and three of them started the same way as yours (only one was a Dell).... the other one had beer spilled on it.

One was in such bad shape that no tech would touch it... they all just said, take the parts you can and scrap it.

Now, as soon as I start to hear the loud fan, I make sure I increase my back-ups because it's only a matter of time. I guess there's only so much porn a laptop can handle before it can take it any more...haha

Best of luck!

Shannon G

Cleo · 2004-02-23, 07:20 PM

I've had beer spilled in my laptop while I was in Key West. I can say that Macs do no better then PCs with beer running out of the ports. |skull|

They also don't like being stepped on, sat on, closed in the rear hatch of a Corvette, or having a cat knock a glass of water into them while you are sleeping.

Actually I've owned about a dozen laptops, all Macs. Breaking the screen usually costs about a grand to get fixed depending on how big the screen was and spilling liquids in them kills them for good.

Actually out of all the laptops that I've owned only two of them didn't get killed. One of them I finally just threw out since it was too old to be of any use and the other one is now part of my stereo system and functions as a jukebox.

2004-02-23, 05:23 PM	#1
Torn Rose "Faith is believing what you know ain't so." ~ Mark Twain Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 4,806	Laptop wear and tear I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 which I got 2 years ago, and I do everything on it. I’ve had no issues/complaints with it until 3 months ago. A week before we left for Internext, the cooling fans started making noises, which got worse and then they started grinding when they went off. I had gotten a 3 year at home warranty, so Dell sent a guy here to replace them free of charge. The tech they sent said it was a common thing with this model and the new models have been changed. Then today I heard a slight noise, and thinking it was the fans once more I picked it up to look at them when it made a very loud grinding sound that sounded like a blender going off with a piece of metal in the blades. The fans where not on at the time and I could feel the vibrations. I called Dell and my worse fear came true. My hard drive just died. We did a few tests to make sure it was the hard drive, and it is. The noise was so loud that that Dell tech said she heard it and never heard of a hard drive doing that. Dell is sending me a new hard drive, but of course it will be blank, and I lost everything on my hard drive. Which I’m lucking out, since I have a backup of all my important items from a few months ago so really the only thing I will lose is e-mail from the last 2 months or so and time/effort. This laptop has gone everywhere with us, I’m very careful with it and it has never taken a “hit” to where I would think this would happen, But this was the first laptop I have ever had and I was wondering if anyone else has had issues like this and is this just “normal” wear and tear of travel. Dell told me to contact a local dealer and ask if they can recover the data off my hard drive. When I did and ask for the cost I was told $200 for service and $1500 for recovery. Which made me laugh. I don’t need those emails THAT bad.

2004-02-23, 05:49 PM	#2
Cleo Subversive filth of the hedonistic decadent West Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southeast Florida Posts: 27,936	You didn't backup for months??? Bad, bad, bad computer user. Hard drives come in two models, these that have failed and those that will fail. This is what I own. At night it gets plugged into a FireWire drive and I have a crontab set to do an incremental backup each night. __________________ Free Rides on Uber and Lyft Uber Car: uberTzTerri Lyft Car: TZ896289

2004-02-23, 05:56 PM	#3
ardentgent Trying is the first step towards failure Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Atlanta Ga Posts: 121	Backing Up Data Sorry about the hard drive crash. With that in mind, what do you experienced webmasters recommend to easily back up data from a PC?

2004-02-23, 06:05 PM	#4
Fonz Former pr0n slinger. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Antwerp, Belgium Posts: 7,932	I just did a backup a few days ago after all your useful tips, can't think about losing everything.. yikes... __________________ See how I abuse little trees on my Shumi no Bonsai Blog

2004-02-23, 07:03 PM	#6
Shannon G Are you sure you're an accredited and honored pornographer? Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 64	You had a laptop last TWO YEARS?!?! lucky!! Actually, what you've described is not just an issue w/ Dell. I've fried my last four laptops and three of them started the same way as yours (only one was a Dell).... the other one had beer spilled on it. One was in such bad shape that no tech would touch it... they all just said, take the parts you can and scrap it. Now, as soon as I start to hear the loud fan, I make sure I increase my back-ups because it's only a matter of time. I guess there's only so much porn a laptop can handle before it can take it any more...haha Best of luck! Shannon G __________________ GET DRUNK with RealBigCash at Internext!! Paysites, cams, dating, mainstream, & more!!

2004-02-23, 06:20 PM	#5
Torn Rose "Faith is believing what you know ain't so." ~ Mark Twain Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 4,806	Content wise I burn it to a dvd/cd as soon as I get it, so I lost nothing on that. Toni just bought her laptop Wednesday, so the files I really need have been saved on her laptop, so I lost nothing on that. Emails, I lost 2 or so months of those, which will hurt, but not as bad as it could have been. Right now the only thing I’m pissed over (besides this even happening) is I "work" for other people who trust me with some real private and personal info, which I never backed up, so I have to get with them once more and get all of that. Which isn’t hard, just annoying. Talking to a lot of my friends, I'm by far the "most anal" when it comes to backing things up. I know a few who do not save their “raw” images at all, which just drives me nuts! Right now I’m still waiting for Dell to let me know when I will get the new HD, We was planning on a road trip next week and I’m working off a desktop that I had just cleaned up to have only video editing and house camz to run, but now I am forced to put email and icq and other “basic” programs back on so I can work. So I’m stressing over the timing and all the extra work I have to do. I sure could use a smoke right now, mind puffing a few for me Cleo? I’ll be happy to do the same for you some day.

2004-02-23, 07:20 PM	#7
Cleo Subversive filth of the hedonistic decadent West Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southeast Florida Posts: 27,936	I've had beer spilled in my laptop while I was in Key West. I can say that Macs do no better then PCs with beer running out of the ports. \|skull\| They also don't like being stepped on, sat on, closed in the rear hatch of a Corvette, or having a cat knock a glass of water into them while you are sleeping. Actually I've owned about a dozen laptops, all Macs. Breaking the screen usually costs about a grand to get fixed depending on how big the screen was and spilling liquids in them kills them for good. Actually out of all the laptops that I've owned only two of them didn't get killed. One of them I finally just threw out since it was too old to be of any use and the other one is now part of my stereo system and functions as a jukebox. __________________ Free Rides on Uber and Lyft Uber Car: uberTzTerri Lyft Car: TZ896289