Question for all you geniuses out there: my boss asked me for advice and I'm not sure which way to go here. he was working on his computer, shut down Word then turned off computer without shutting down. When he turned the computer back on later, the hard disk made a loud noise, then Windows opened but didn't get past the cloud startup screen. any thoughts?

It's a bad idea to shut your pc off without logging off unless you have a power supply/motherboard that can handle it properly and be smart enough to properly shutdown the pc. I wouldn't expect the hard drive to die so quickly - after powering off the pc just one time improperly. It usually happens after time... Try finding a diagnostic tool - like IBM's "Drive Fitness Test" or something to see if the drive has died, or atleast how badly it's damaged... Note: IBM doesn't recommend running the DFT on non-IBM drives. It works, but they don't recommend it.

turning off a PC without doing a proper shutdown doesn't (has never/will never) cause hardware failures. Before ATX "EVERY SINGLE" pc was shutdown without letting the system prepare. The last time I had a HD make loud noises it sounded like boiling water and sure enough, after running scandisk, more than 80% of the drive was shot (of course this happened exactly one day after the warranty expired). Sounds like the HD was ready to go and the power surge caused by turning the system on (there is always a surge of power when the system is first turned on) was enough to push the HD "over the edge". having the computer plugged in to a surge protector will protect the computer form surges that originate before the protector but not after. I've said it 100 times before - IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO LEAVE A PC RUNNING 24/7 THAN TO TURN IT OFF EVERYTIME YOU ARE DONE WITH IT. Also remember if you boot a PC 5 times in one day you would have saved power by leaving it running.

You're preaching to the choir boys...I already gave him the lecture about shutting down windows. thx for your advice...I think I know what to do now.