THIS IS WHY I HATE MACHINES!

Still waiting for my external hard drive to show up for my laptop, however, my dad's desktop is finally giving out or falling apart or some... thing...

For months it's been running kinda boggy, start up would take fifteen minutes to load everything, the internet browser would have to load for five minutes before working. Programs would work, it just took them minutes to get going in most cases. Then yesterday, I Restarted it and it popped up with a bluescreen, saying Windows stopped starting to prevent damage to the computer and gave me a technical error code. Consulting the internet, I ran Dell's recovery disc and told it to repair. Now Windows (XP, Service Pack 3) loads, but the taskbar/Start menu are missing, I can't move or copy/paste folders, pictures can only be viewed as thumbnails, and some programs won't work. Things like WoW and MS Paint load up, but Total War: Medieval and Printshop won't.

I'm assuming there's either a Windows breakdown, hard drive breakdown, or a virus causing some sort of breakdown, despite Norton not finding anything ever. The Dell warranty is up on it and I don't think I have the equipment or knowledge to fix it myself and my dad would rather not lose his photos and data on there if possible. So basically, what's a good place to take it to for repairs? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-megs.gif)

Hard drive! Craaaash!

Sooo... I got my Dell laptop in February. It had some twitches to it, but nothing serious until June, when all its hard drive tomfoolery ultimately culminated in it going all wonky and dying. I told Dell, Dell sent me a replacement, and all was well. Until a couple weeks ago when my laptop suddenly began having difficulty remembering my internet settings, forcing me to reset them every couple days. This made me suspicious, as it was one of the first symptoms of the previous hard drive's doom. So while I was watching a video today, the hard drive started making a clicking sound and had a seizure. Then a stroke. The Dell guy informed me they'll be sending me a replacement posthaste.

Is this normal? I'd read on Dell's support forums that a lot of people ended up getting defective hard drives on their Dell laptops, but this seems excessive! Is it possible I'm doing something that causes them to blow up? It just sits in the middle of the room on a sturdy chair and the only time it heats up is when I watch a bunch of videos in succession. Using the internet and storing music are practically all I do with it. Is there something I could be doing to prevent more hard drive failure in the future?

Has anyone had experience with Dell's return service? What are the odds I can cite the defective hard drives as a reason to return the whole system for store credit or something? I blew a thousand bucks on the thing (once it's paid off...) and I end up losing all my junk every few months. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-blitz.gif)

Interactive YouTube Stop Motion Street Fighter?

This concept is mind-blowing and I want to see more of it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-bee.gif)

Dell code 2000-0146!

So my lovely Dell laptop I've had for all of four months has been mostly annoying, but I attributed most of its [censored]ups to Vista 64's shoddiness. But the other day after my computer crashed trying to play an older game (Diablo 2), I got that error code which apparently means my hard drive is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced. At the moment, it can get halfway through the initial starting up process. It'll go to the desktop, load half the tray icons and in the meantime I can still open folders and get a couple small things running before it stops and locks up totally. The Dell guy told me through email that they'll replace the hard drive, but not if I have to send in my laptop (at my own expense of course (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-megs.gif) ) or if they'll send a hard drive and I put it in myself. I'm guessing the former.

So basically since the hard drive is still (somewhat) accessible for a couple of minutes per boot up, would it be possible for me to transfer or at least clear off my personal stuff from it? Can I stop it from trying to load all the Windows nonsense and just get to my stuff? I don't want some dude at Dell poking around in there if I can help it.

Anyone have experience with Xbox 360 warranties?

So a few months ago, my 360's disc drive stopped reading discs. My warranty was still good, so I sent it in and got it replaced with a refurbished one for free. Every once in a while, the console would totally lock up while I was playing a game, couldn't access the dashboard or anything until I turned it off and back on. It didn't do this very often, so I didn't think it was much of an issue. Though lately, I've been noticing it's doing it more and more, to the point that it happens once every time I'm playing a game. So I requested a box for repairs yesterday (6/6). However, my warranty expires this Wednesday (6/10). Does anyone know if I'll still get free repairs since the warranty was still good when I opened the repair ticket or will they look at the date it's ready to be sent back and try to charge me? I've emailed their support twice asking this question and they just respond with a checklist of fixes that have nothing to do with the problem before suggesting I send it in for repairs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-megs.gif)