The Seagate Crash of 2012

Don't worry. This is one crash that won't affect you. But it does affect me. While investigating why my HP computer bought in 2009 was gradually slowing down, I discovered that my Seagate hard-drive was on its last legs. I was even more surprised that the HP maintenance software, which is supposed to be computer model specific, didn't warn me that I needed to update the firmware in the hard drive. This isn't a new problem at all. I managed to copy off enough material before it finally died. I decided I could do with a faster machine.

So I ordered a new computer via Coolblue in Rotterdam. They seem like an efficient lot. It arrived on Wednesday, 24 hrs after I ordered it- and promptly failed this afternoon. The infamous hard-drive "click of death" raised its ugly head. It won't boot, and it's not going to do so again.

I notice HP has switched to Hitachi drives, but whereas my old computer had two hard drives of 750 GB, this one (same price bracket) had a single 1.5 TB drive. That's not really progress because if the single drive fails, it takes all your documents with it. I note too that the HP line has gone back to DVD drives and dumped Blu-Ray. From a multi-media perspective, apart from USB3 ports, the new machine is actually a step backwards.

I guess that when my second HP machine arrives it will probably be my last Windows Machine. Windows 7 is fine for my purposes. Do I want Windows 8 Metro functionality on the office machine? Not in a 1000 years! Wonder how long the new hard drive will last.