Hey.
My question is, can laptops have startup problems if they're cold? If the answer is No, or They Shouldn't, then I will call the depot and interrogate them as to Why my computer fails to start in the mornings.

My problem is, sometimes when I turn on my computer, it tries to load the bootloader (grub) and just stops. The Hard Drive can be heard making a weird noise, ticking and scraping is how I would describe it. Each time this has happened, the laptop was just being start up from a long sleep, and was rather chilly. Maybe 5-15 degrees celcius.

Once I let it sit for a while, without booting but turned on, I guess it has a chance to "warm up" or something and boots just fine. Then if it's been running a while and I boot up, it works fine.

So, is my problem due to the temperature of the hard drive? That seems to be the only problem -- the rest of the hardware workes fine in low temperatures. If I shouldn't be having a problem with temperature, then I will call Dell. If it's normal, then I'll deal.

Thanks guys and girls.

I would backup any important informaton ASAP. That hard drive shouldn't be making scraping noises or any metal-to-metal sounds. I would keep a close eye out on that hard-drive.

my thinkpad gives me a red BIOS screen saying ACPI error if i boot it up at less than about 17 Degrees C so yeah id say its to protect it