Alienware Area-51 m5550 Technical Reference
Hard Disk Problems
The hard disk drive does not work or is not recognizable
If you had just performed a hard disk upgrade, make sure the hard drive
connector is not loose and the hard disk drive is also correctly
seated. Remove it and reinsert it firmly, and then restart your PC. (Refer to
Chapter 4 for details.)
The new HDD may need to be partitioned and reformatted. The O/S and
drivers will need to be re-installed as well.
Check the hard disk indicator LED. When you access a file, the LED lamp
should light up momentarily.
The new HDD may be defective or is not compatible.
If your computer has been subjected to static electricity or physical shock, you
may have damaged the disk drive.
The hard drive is making abnormal whining noises
You should back up your files as soon as possible.
Make sure the source of the noise is indeed from the hard drive and not the
fan or other devices.
The hard disk drive has reached its capacity
Run Disk Cleanup utility in Windows. [Start > All Programs > Accessories >
System Tools > Disk Cleanup] The system will prompt you for what to do.
Archive files or programs that you no longer use by moving them to an
alternative storage medium (floppy disk, optical record-able disk, etc.) or
uninstall programs that you no longer use.
Many browsers store files in the hard drive as a cache to speed up the
performance. Check the program’s online help for instructions on decreasing
the cache size or on removing temporary Internet files.
Empty the Recycle Bin to create more disk space. When you delete files,
Windows saves them to the Recycle Bin.
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m5550-04-2007-techref.indd 69
4/6/2007 12:29:53 PM
