i thought i had it
well, it seems as though my computer might be on its deathbed. after a week of working just fine since i operated, it went kaput on friday. giving a white striped screen at startup, then a purple one, and finally a black one. it seemed as though nothing could be done, but i went ahead and called the dell guys anyway. they, of course, scolded me for replacing the fan myself, but aside from that, they brought it back to life. he claimed that i probably built up extra static electricity on my motherboard during the surgery. and then he taught me how to expunge the system of this excess electricity. so it worked for awhile. then stopped again, and now it's up again. we'll see how long it lasts. i'm determined not to get a new computer until i graduate. maybe this will be more motivation to get me out of here faster!