Smoking hard drive

[jcbassmaster]

I have recently tried to fix my parents old computer and discovered that the os was not working properly. Tried system recovery and somehow the os was gone. Tried to reinstall os (windows XP pro) and it installed the first time and then gave an error message on a black screen. Then I tried to reinstall the os again and it would never correctly format the drive.

My next step was buying a new hard drive. I installed a WD 40GB HD and then installed the os with success, or so I thought. When everything was installed, I tried to logon to one of the accounts and I heard a beeping noise and then it gave an error message on a blue screen. Something about detecting hardware failure, then I noticed smoke coming from the HD.

The WD HD has a 1 yr warranty, but I don't know what is going wrong.
Faulty HD?

Please help

[doctorgonzo]

Yes, smoking from the drive would seem to indicate faulty hardware. Does the drive still show up in the BIOS? If it does, go to the Western Digital website and download their drive diagnostic tools to see what it says about the drive's condition.

[jcbassmaster]

I am not sure if it shows up in the BIOS, I will have to check later and see.
thanks

[tempus]

Did you rule out problems with the power supply? Since you mention its an old computer it might be a good idea to check the power supply. The rails may have gone out of tolerance.

[hiznaze]

I actually have the same problem. my Harddrive was smoking and i didnt kno if it was the harddrive. I know my pwoer supply is fine. Does newegg have warranty policies???