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Dell guy came today to replace the screen. I told him about the other problems, but he said he couldn't do anything without parts and an order.
He did, however, say that I should call back up and keep it simple. Just tell them that stuff's broken, and let them replace it.
So I spent the afternoon chatting with support online. We tried some more steps to fix the HDD. We'll see if it holds this time.
Meantime, the floppy drive broke a couple of days ago. Jammed up when I was trying to use a boot disk. The tech said I'd have to mail the comp in for the drive to be replaced at the depot. I was disappointed, but said I could live with it. He went to set it up, then came back to tell me they'd be sending a tech out, after all. So I'll get that replaced.
I've got case numbers for both issues, and the tech seemed to feel that if the HDD fix doesn't hold, there'd be something more they could do. Not sure what that would be, exactly, but I've got another 6 months on the warentee.
Meantime, I'm making good progress setting up the new comp. I've partitioned the HDD. I'll keep the OS and preinstalled software on the primary partition, but everything else will go on the new one. (Protection against Windows going wonky.) Windows and McAfee have been fully updated, and I've already got the essentials loaded: Spybot, Spyware Blaster, Adaware, and Firefox.
Over the next few days (if the HDD holds up), I'll see if I can transfer my other files and programs over. Then, if the old laptop (DV-5, named after an insane robot from an Isaac Asimov story) is still holding together, I'll probably find someone who needs a slightly outdated but otherwise pretty servicable comp. (Suggestions welcome.)
Then it'll just be me and Jimmy. (I thought of naming it "Hairpin," after HatMan's little-known sidekick, but decided "Jimmy" was more fun. The network description, however, is "The HatComputer.")
Basically, everything hinges on the HDD working normally, but even if it doesn't, we'll still probably be able to get it fixed. Eventually.