Jessica Amber Murray
ok, i responded

mom
K...I'm off the phone with her now. How are you?

Jessica Amber Murray
i'm ok. was fighting with my hard drive, but it seems to have resolved itself for now at least. i don't know what happened, really. it's not doing the things that hard drives do when they die, leading me to believe it's not really dead, just had a hiccup.

mom
Mine is working good for awhile and then makes very loud noises as well....I took it into apple and they said it was an old dinosaur and they could not service it...told me to just back my stuff up and continue to use it...They tested my fan activity and said my fans were running right....Not sure what it is all about...I am just using it and hoping for the best.

Jessica Amber Murray
yeah, i still think it sounds like your drive. i think i may have actually accidentally zapped mine with a jolt of static electricity, because the plates aren't misbehaving. which means it could be fine or could be waiting to implode. but the guy is right - back your data up. it's a shame they won't just put a new drive in it. that's kind of jerky.

mom
Well, there is another place...The Mac Group, where I bought it from in the first place that I could bring it into and I think they would actually service it. I only have pics on it...I did put them onto a couple of usb sticks.

Jessica Amber Murray
well, if your drive is dying, you're either going to need a new drive or a new laptop. the electronics industry is so wasteful. people just buy new computers when a part breaks, it's craziness, really.

mom
It seems such a waste...I have so much space on mine...I have hardly used any at all...Do you think it just needs a good cleaning?

I did pull out some dust and crap with some extra long tweezers that I have and it did seem to work better after that.

The stuff that I could see.

Jessica Amber Murray
well, did the guys at the store say it was the drive? if it's the drive, you can't clean it. drives whir like that because they're off balance. your hard drive is sort of like a record player. it spins around and around. now, imagine a record player that wobbles. that's the clicking sound. ....if it's your drive. ultimately, it's a mechanical device, and it will break, eventually. like i said before: i've never actually seen a fan break like that. i can see how it's theoretically possible, but if that's what's going on it's the first time i've ever actually heard of it. more likely is that if your fan is misbehaving then it's getting jolted by a misbehaving power supply (power surges, basically).

mom
The guy just didn't know...He said the fans had the right whatever they are(I forget what they are?)...Could there be dust and dirt collected on them at all?

I pulled out a whole wad of crap...dusty piles of fibers or something from some of my fuzzy blankets or something...there was even some dried old tobacco that was attached as well.

Jessica Amber Murray
well, sure, they could collect crap, but i couldn't see it creating that kind of clicking. but, i mean, it seems possible in the abstract. 98% of the time, though, when a laptop clicks and whirs, it's the drive.

mom
Well... I guess eventually I will be looking at buying a new one then...Unless, I bring it into the mac group and see what they may do.