I bought my machine 1 week ago. WheneverI try to run McAfee Stinger or Norton Anti-Virus from my PC the Hard drive starts whizzing round and then shuts the machine down without any warning. Any ideas? Is it a virus/worm or a hard disk problem?

Have you tried running Stinger in Safe Mode? Have you checked Event Viewer for any messages?

It very well could be a virus, but it could also be a hardware issue. Try checking out those two suggestions, and see if they can't yield anymore results.

I have looked in Event Viewer and there are no issues. I did run check disk which ended up switching the machine off. I have also just recently run the Maxtor diagnostic test for the Hard Drive. The test did not complete and guess what? the machine switched off!!!!! It looks like it is a HD problem. Does it sound like I can solve it or is it back to the shop?

To be safe, I would consider putting that hard drive in a different computer (as Slave drive) and copying over any data files that can be extracted off it.


Of all the manufacturers, i've seen more problems with Maxtor drives than any other make!

Just so you guys now, it looks like the problem was that the fan was not cooling the hard drive down, therefore to protect itself it shut down. I got a straight replacement machine as sson as they saw what was happening. Thanks to those who helped.