Dell: SATA disk failed! (Part 2)

So one Friday morning, the day after I was notified by Dell technician, a Dell (no, not the singer) engineer called and asked to come over that morning itself. Wow! That was efficient.

I explained to the engineer the problem and, as expected, he brought a replacement SATA disk. I then pointed to him that this disk has a cache portion that should be accelerated, hoping that he wouldn't repeat the same mistake as a previous engineer the last time this disk was replaced.

He also told me that he was asked to replace the laptop's DVD player. Huh? I never report any problem with that and so I was puzzled. I declined the replacement as I didn't want any unintended problems.

After he replaced the disk, he asked me to use a Windows installation disc. What? I had already told the technician, via e-mail, that I didn't have Windows 10 installation disc. Fortunately, I had Windows 8 version which I wouldn't had had if I didn't specifically ask Dell for it when I ordered this laptop. I now begin to suspect that instead of a DVD player replacement, he was supposed to bring a Windows installation disc. 

However, at the setup process, an error message popped up saying that drivers couldn't be found on the disc. I then tried a Windows 10 installation disc that was burnt from Microsoft website (since I qualified for the free upgrade) and then the Factory Recovery disc created using Dell's programme. Same error message. At this point, the engineer asked me to request for an installation disc from Dell. I was crestfallen since that would mean my laptop would be "off" for at least a day.

I tried the Windows 10 disc again and suddenly it worked! Don't know why.

Hours later after he left, I finally had the chance to install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) software. I suspected that the disk was not accelerated because my laptop performance was turtle-like compared to normal (read my previous encounter here). Guess what? I was right! Once again Dell engineer has disappointed me.

Because I was diligent in blogging about the problem and its solution previously, I managed to get the disk accelerated again and now my laptop is performing as fast as before. Incidentally, I also found a website that gave a more detailed write-up on this solution.

Haiz.

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