Difference between Motherboard Failure and Hardware Failure; Is it time to throw in the towel

KingofXP

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Feb 15, 2015
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Currently, I have a 2011 Dell Inspiron 14R (N4010). running Windows 7 Ultimate. My Laptop is on its way out dying and, I am having severe problems in its final stretch of life. The Wifi no longer works (Or it only works 10% of the time). Also, Now I am getting messages that Various programs (like Dropbox, Kaspersky etc) cannot be found. I can also hear clicking sounds from my hard drive and, my fan is blowing hotter than usual (My Fan is not working properly).

I infer that my fan is not functioning and, it is messing up the components in my computer. Does this seem reasonable?

Finally, I have to make this computer last another month before I can buy a new one (I am a full time student and have to wait till my year is over to go out and buy one). What is the difference between a Hard-drive and a Hardware failure? For each one, is it worth it to buy a new unit or, fix them up and continue using them?
 
Motherboard, hard drive, you name it, they are all classed as "hardware" so there is no difference. Any one of them failing is called "hardware failure" (ie as opposed to it being a software problem).

If your hard drive is clicking it's definitely terminally ill and I'd be most surprised if it lasted another month. That would explain why software is apparently going AWOL (it's being corrupted by the faulty drive/bad sectors).

If you can't afford to replace anything for a month then you don't have much choice in the matter, but at the very least you should try to backup any important data to another storage device in the meantime, before the hard drive bites the dust.
 

KingofXP

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Feb 15, 2015
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Thanks for your problem. Today I took the spare laptop (2006 Dell Inspiron 700m) and my dying Inspiron N4010 to school. I also picked up a external fan (it is the correct type since my computer blows our dust) that was lying around collecting dust in our basement.

While the newer N4010 was connected to the fan, it worked better and, gave off less heat! (No error messages too) Thus, I have concluded that my PC has a faulty cooling fan that cannot keep the system cool? Tonight, I'm backing it up (have a external Hard Drive) and hoping for the best. When it dies, all my files will be backed up and,I'll use the N4010 for non-important tasks (and minimal strain). even though it is slow, the 700m will be my school CPU till I can get my new one!

Thanks guys for the help and, all of your answers helped me out a ton! Hope you all have a great day :)
 

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