Hey kids!  It's Uncle Polt.

If the Palace goes dark one of these days, don't sweat it. It probably just means my laptop went tits up.  

I turned it on today and it went into a self-diagnostic mode (it does this occasionally, has done it for years.  Dell Assist checks things out, tells me everything is fine, and then proceeds to work as normal), but today it barely started before this message popped up and it started making loud buzzing noises.  It said there was a problem that needed immediate attention and to go to Dell Assist and it listed the info I needed (Service Tag, Error Code, etc)

So I got on my phone and did so.  And it turns out, according to the Dell website, there's a problem with my harddrive.  I could order a replacement, or mail it to them to replace it and they'd get it back to me in 10-12 days.  The cost of the latter option was $149 dollars.

So I just thought, "Shit, no laptop.  Great."  I shut it down, and then restarted it while I looked on my phone for purchasing options of a new harddrive.  Incidentally, I also found picture instructions on how to replace a harddrive, so that's good to know should I need to.

But anyway, while doing that, the laptop sat with just the Dell insignia in the middle of the screen.  It does that every time I start it, but it did it for a long time and progressed onto nothing else, so I figured that was far as I was gonna get.

But then, boom, the insignia disappeared, and then next thing I knew I had the time and date in the lower left corner, and one of the normal pretty background photos.  I logged in as normal, and everything came up as normal, and here I am, typing this on my laptop....as normal.

Now, whether it'll boot up normal the next time I start it, who knows?  That's why I say the Palace may go dark.  

I think I'm just gonna keep using this, until I can't boot up any longer.  And honestly, instead of getting a new hard drive, I'll probably just order a new computer.  This one is like 4 years old.  It might be time for a new one....we'll see how long this one lasts.

Anyway, just want to explain to you what's going on, in case you don't see any posts here for a few days.

POLT