So my HDD just died on me. The main 320 GB Samsung SATA-2 HDD started acting weird after I plugged in two new IDE HDDs. The system would lag during file operations and without warning the drive would disappear giving me Event ID 11. A cold-boot would solve the problem, till it would reoccur with alarming regularity. I first thought the problem was related to Power Supply, whereupon I changed the IDE cables (as a failsafe) and unplugged all the extraneous drives. The problem would not go away. After ruling out S-ATA driver problems, etc. The point of failure was narrowed down to my 320 GB HDD. I was rather woebegone. It is an unfortunate fate to befall yours truly, owing to the fact that I don’t subscribe to the club of RMA’s. This basically means that the drive is a brick now, even though it still has 2,5 years of warranty left.

So, against my better judgement, I have decided to send it in for repair, taking care to wipe all my data, using “industrial strength” sector rewrites. The drive shall be sent back from whence it came. For the time being the OS is back on an IDE drive, with a Vista Performance index of 5.5. Not bad, but nowhere as good as the 5.9 I had with SATA-2.

Two days to go till Rissa is in Europe again! We are just so psyched and looking forward to our little romantic getaway in Duesseldorf. Just to get to see her after so many days, the prospect fills me with just so much happiness. The time might be restricted, but it shall be just so cherished. Do check the photos gallery next week for some mooie fotos van Duitsland !