I have recently upgraded my system to Windows XP and
installed Microsoft Office XP Pro. When I try to open a
file, the tower has this loud grinding noise. Sometimes
it will not even open the file. I must restart the
computer.
This isn't an Office issue - it's a hardware issue. "From the tower" is a
very general description but, as you're opening a file, it's most likely to
be the hard drive. How long has this been a problem - how old is the
drive/system? A "grinding noise" usually indicates that the head is hitting
the platter and could be a sign of impending faliure. Have you been having
any other issues of late - blue screens informing you that the disk is
unreadable, for example? Failure to boot to Windows at the first attempt? If
the drive and/or system is still under warranty, I would call the
manufacturer and ask for a replacement under warranty. There are a number of
things you can do to test the integrity of the drive. First, you can visit
the manufacturer's website (if you don't know the manufacturer of the drive
then visit
www.aida32.hu - don't worry it's in English! - and download the
Enterprise version - it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know
about your system). Armed with this information, you can then visit the
drive manufacturer's website and download their diagnostic tools.
WARNING: - THIS MAY CAUSE DATA LOSS. ALWAYS ASCERTAIN YOU HAVE A CURRENT
BACK-UP/ IMAGE BEFORE PERFORMING ANY TASK THAT MAY CAUSE LOSSES OR
IRREPARABLE DRIVE FAILURE.
OK, lecure over. After you have backed up, follow the drive manufacturer's
instructions to run a full integrity check - I would do this overnight as,
depending on the size of the drive, it could take several hours. If this
shows any signs of weakness then contact the manufacturer (either of the
system - if the drive was the one that came with the system when you
purchased it; or the drive manufacturer if it's an aftermarket device).
If the system is no longer under warranty (I am now assuming you have an
'off the peg' machine) and the drive is failing, then it would - almost
certainly - be more prudent to shop around and purchase, and fit, a new one
yourself, rather than have the system manufacturer fit it. Fitting a new
drive isn't difficult and most manufacturers provide fitting instructions.
If you are not sure, then have a technically-savvy friend do it for you -
you'll probably have to bribe them, however! ;o)
If you need to know anything else, please don't hesitate to post back.
As a side note, it's not a good idea to post your real address to Usenet -
what with Swen and other nasties about, as well as spambots. Please note
that this is a peer-to-peer support group, not MS, and people don't provide
support via email for several very good reasons; not least that these groups
are archived by Google Groups (
http://groups.google.com) and others use it
as a research source, if we did email it wouldn't be there for others to
refer to.
