[Russ3]

Hi. My computer is freezing on a regular basis. At first I can still move the cursor with the mouse but then that stops as well. Ctrl-alt-delete does not work and I have to manually turn off the computer via the power button. This freezing is often accompanied by a repeated clicking sound (from the physical computer itself, not through the soundboard/speakers). I have thought maybe it sounds like it is trying to read a drive, either one of the hard dives or the CD drive which I have had problems with.

When I bought this computer from a used computer retailer, I had them install the hard drive from my old computer into one of the extra drive slots. Figured I could use the extra hard drive space and that this would also make it easy to transfer my old files to the new computer. My first suspicion as to what is causing the problem is the second drive so I am thinking of removing it but don't know if there is anything I need to do other than open up the computer and take it out. So I guess my questions would be...

By the way, my computer runs on windows xp office edition. My old computer ran on windows xp home and that is what is installed on the second drive.

1. Does removing this second drive make sense as the first troubleshooting step? I have already moved all the files I need to the main hard drive and though I'll miss the extra space I don't really need it. If not, what would be a better first diagnostic test?

2. If yes to #1, do I just open up the computer and remove the drive? How can I recognize which is the main drive and which is the extra one. Are the drives located in order (c:, d:, e:)?

Thanks!

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Russ3

The noise that you describe may be what is often called the "click of death" and this is heard when a HDD is on the way out, it is good that you have backed up your data, I just hope you chose the good HDD to back up to.

Please provide us with some computer specifications including the power supply brand name and output, the type and brand of the HDDs and what if any add on video card that you have, this information will help us suggest how you should proceed.

[phillpower2]

Russ3

The noise that you describe may be what is often called the "click of death" and this is heard when a HDD is on the way out, it is good that you have backed up your data, I just hope you chose the good HDD to back up to.

Please provide us with some computer specifications including the power supply brand name and output, the type and brand of the HDDs and what if any add on video card that you have, this information will help us suggest how you should proceed.

[Russ3]

The computer is a Dell Tower Optiplex GX280 with a 3.2GHz processor. Originally just 1Gb of RAM but another 1Gb was added. Has an 80Gb SATA hard drive and then I added the one from my old computer which is 250Gb. Also has a CDRW-DVD drive. I have the tag number if that is helpful. If you need any other info you may need to give me instructions on how to locate it. I bought it from a used computer retailer who had gotten a bunch of these from a company that either went out of business or were upgrading their machines. So I think it is just the the basic components for this model without any fancy stuff added.

[phillpower2]

Specs for your computer http://support.dell..../ug/specs02.htm
Assuming that you are using the MBs integrated video chip and not an add on video card and allowing for your second HDD I have used a PSU calculator and it shows that the stock 250W PSU is at least 50W under powered which may explain your PC struggling to cope, the calculator I used so you can see for yourself http://images10.newe...tage-Calculator

I suggest that you leave the HDD with the OS on it and remove the other one and see how it goes, the drives should have a product label on them so that you know which drive is which.
Removing a HDD http://www.caeus.com...ostage/#desktop please ignore any other product or service at the link.

[Russ3]

Thanks phillpower. I'll try removing the second drive and see if that resolves things. Interesting about the power supply holding things up. In my limited computer experience, I have mostly heard of memory adn processing speed as the limiting factors in performance. Never heard of insufficient power supply slowing things down. Is this unusual?

[phillpower2]

You are welcome Russ3

No not unusual at all, not having enough power is as bad as having a power spike in the end as what happens is your hardware is deprived of the correct amount of power that it needs which puts a strain on the CPU and Ram and can bring about their end of life prematurely, the PSU well that has to work flat out 100% of the time to try and produce the power demands being placed on it and this will also cause the PSU to fail before its expected end of life date.
What you are referring to is a bottleneck which occurs when you have the performance of certain hardware being slowed down by another, an example could be a $300 CPU + $300 GPU + $20 Ram = the ram is the bottleneck because of the massive inferior performance rate.

[Kemasa]

BTW, all you need to do to "remove" the second disk is to disconnect power to it, you don't need to physically remove it from the system.

[Russ3]

Thanks Kemasa.