We went round and round for about 20 minutes, and I was about to tell him he had a defective drive when we started up for the last time when I heard a whining sound.
I told him “wait – what was that sound?” He said it originated from inside the computer, so we start again from the beginning and went through the parts list for the drive. Ah! He lost the screws for mounting the hard drive.
So I said – “what did you use to mount the drive?”
He said he had some wood screws and a drill. To which I respond: “…how long are the screws?”
“Oh – about inch and a half.”
…right through the side of the drive and into the platter…
So then after I told him that he should not have done that, we concluded that yes, the drive was shot. He then asks “well, what should I do?” Of course, I responded the with the only appropriate answer: buy another drive.
“You mean they won’t take this one back?”
via: [Spiceworks Community]
[Picture Source: lrargerich]