All of my disks are listed as “basic.”

Cause: Windows XP Professional supports both basic and dynamic disks, however, XP Home Edition only supports basic disks. If you are using Windows XP Professional and you want to convert the disks to dynamic disks so that you can take advantage of volume management, you can easily convert them.

My hard disk makes strange noises

Cause: Hard disks make noise when they work. Normal noises include a churning sound, or maybe even a sound like a jet engine about to take off. These noises are a normal part of the disk spinning and should be ignored. However, if your disk is making clicking or popping noises, you may have a problem, especially if other read or write errors or failures seem to be occurring.

Solution: You should get in touch with technical support because you may have a hardware problem. Also, you might try using third-party disk tools, such as Norton Utilities, which may be able to resolve problems with the disk.