Computer boots up but then freezes ...

[EricB]

Warez - please pardon my ignorance - what is limewire/torrents?

EricB - I think that is a fantastic idea.

Apart from that regular backups should also be done. The irony is I was doing my backup when the hard drive gave up.

Funny you should say that. I was letting somebody copy some of my backup files from my usb harddrive and it died of me. I come to find out the usb hard drives are fragile. I actually knew that already, but I figure that if I keep it off until I use it, that it would last for awhile.