Major Problem

[mintyguitarman]

I have a mate using xp home edition, SP2. A couple of nights back he got a clicking noise coming from his computer and since then he's had major problems. Things gradually start running extremely slowly (and struggle to so much as open a picture), and the computer sounds to be stuggling before it spontaneously restarts (the computer only lasts between 15 and 30 mins, hence the reason im having to post this for him). During the restart, it not only takes ages to load, but also gives the message "Failure to boot: Insert system disk" (or something to that effect). It's also recently started resetting certain settings (such as his messenger font and display pic, internet settings and background picture) and is giving him the xp new users tips.
Hardware:
AMD Athlon 64bit 3500+ Processor
1GB RAM
XP Home SP2 (2002 Version)
Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB Harddrive
VIA/S3G DeltaChrome IGP Vid card
Optiarc DVD-RW
The computer is around 3-4 weeks old, has been playing up for maybe a week, and is fairly frequently left on over night. Hope you can help,
Thanks in advance,
Si

 

[brinks]

Maybe his hard drive is about to die.

 

[turtile]

Maybe his hard drive is about to die.

Exactly

 

[Jorsoft]

Sounds like hard drive to me as well. Download any hd diagnostic tool to check for errors.

 

[digiboy]

R u check..........

Hello,

R u check ur HD with windows scandisk utility to detect ur HD error or its bad.