On 21/09/2011 13:42, Ramsman wrote:

The hard drive appears to be suffering from drop-outs. The picture
freezes frequently with blocks of pixels showing differently. No
problems playing CDs or DVDs.

What's the HDD on this model and can it be swapped?

Open it up and have a look. You can obviously swap it like for like,
don't know if you can upgrade to a larger size though.

I haven't dismantled it yet because it's awkward to disconnect and
remove from the cabinet.

Once you do, check the voltages at the drive power connector and
anywhere else you can check the supply against a known reference. Its
not uncommon for much of this type of kit to suffer power supply voltage
drift (frequently due to cheap capacitors in the power supply) - and
that can cause a number of problems.

--
Cheers,

John.

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