If I wasn't strong emotionally, I'd have gone nuts about 3 hours ago.
As I told you, the server was off this morning because power tripped off, and I have the PC set to stay off--its good to do.

Well, I come home from the store tonight to hear that DAMN failing hard drive sound ********AGAIN***********. I just freaking replaced a HD (my G: drive) which was old, and failed 2 weeks ago, and NOW, my 2nd oldest is dying. It has 4kb of bad sectors. I nearly lost it. I have CRAP luck. I mean... makes you wanna just say 'screw computers'. lol.. The other HD I replaced was a 80gig and I bought a 300gig to replace it. But this current HD failing is my E: F: drive (Partitioned), and THANK GOD that nothing important is on it. I was freaking, thinking it was the C: Drive, and I would lose the patch 3. But I always back it up to the other PC via network every night, so even if it was the C:, I'd be ok.

So I used the disk manager, and it roped off the bad sectors, and I could actually boot, and go to the E: and F: drives, and I'm copying all the files to my 300giger.

And to top it off, my video card acted like it was dying 2 days ago. I'm like thinking "Is someone trying to tell me something?" lol.. geez man. But SO FAR, the video card is doing fine. I think it was loose or maybe the cable was not tight enough.

All this just made me crazy. All I care about is that I can now boot, and backed up everything and get my damn patch v3.00 RELEASED! What next? the house roof falls off? lol.. just crazy. But nothing was lost. I will have to ask for donations next Month though. (not for a new HD, just bills).

So first things are I am backing up stuff tonight--for a few hrs, then gonna work to get the patch finished if I can.

Lets plan for a Sat. release though. JUST in case, eh? GEEEEEEZZZZZZ.

I just wonder if we had a power surge this morning. Just seems odd that this happens the same day the power goes went out. And I do have a surge prot. too.

Seems odd though, I NEVER had this many failures back when HD's were under 40gig.... I think either they make them cheaper now, or the heat kills them faster since they are so big?? who knows.

Word to the wise: If you have stuff on yer HD you love and want. (Artwork, etc) BACK IT UP! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Is it the brand of HD you use? I swear I always see you report drives dying. You haven't OCed them have you?

Nope, no OC..

I have lost Seagate and WD drives.. I *do* run the PC 24/7 as well as there is constant HD accessing which kills HD's faster. (IW server), but these 2 were old in my home machine (NWN server). So I guess old age + maybe the storm killed this one.

Just pisses me off.. everything at once. In threes ? :D

what kinds of power surge protection equipment are you using at the moment?
and just as important, what is the ventilation like in the room where most of the computers are? I surmise you've cracked all of them open and dusted them out vigorously after all these crashes, though. I haven't had nearly the same kind of luck as you have but I know I had a few issues where I didn't realize dust WAS building up within my machine for a long while.

LOL (or should that be tears)I was just discussing with someone the other day that you had not asked for a donation all year IIRC so its me that has jinxed you [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

You may have noticed that i sent a small donation a few days ago anyhow, looks like my timing was right.

Heat is the biggest killer of PC's so be sure to check that, good luck :D

I've got a related question. Is the server down now? I can't seem to find it, and I know when my mate changed his system, and then had to reformat his harddrive, the IP changed, which removed it from my history and favorites, and I can't seem to find the server.

Yep, I removed the HD today. It was (thank the gods [img]smile.gif[/img] ) the oldest drive, the 60gig. So no loss. It was a dump drive. everything was backed up. wee!

OH yes. I dust my case out every 2 weeks, and have 7 fans in it (a majorly updated Alienware case) and has loads of room to vent out. I also run 2 front fans in front of the HD's, and keep a temp monitor watch/alert on stuff. (I'm a techy--been building my PC's for a long time)--Although I did order an Alienware in 2002, and since then, upgrades stuff over time. Still use the case, as its nice. [img]smile.gif[/img] lol, had a small loan for it.

I want a Lian-Li case next. It has removeable filters in the front, so it stops dust, and the case rocks.