Well, last Friday morning I went to boot up and heard a unusual sound, click, click, click, from inside the computer, a few moments later a black screen saying "Primary drive not found" I think the clicking was the arm in the HD not able to find the files.
Anyway tried booting six more times and same results, so I let it sit for a while and later decided to try one last time, amazingly it booted this time. So spent the next couple hours copying all the latest important files especially images to the SDcard.
Without delay while this failing machine was luckily running, I ordered a new Dell it's well past time, this computer is going on 12 years old. Hopefully I'll get as much use out of the new machine as I did with this old one. I may try replacing the HD in the old Dell and use it as a second computer or something, I don't know yet.
I learned my lesson from a old Gateway I had before the old Dell. It too made sounds in the HD for weeks but I lazily thought well probably nothing and kept using it. One morning the blue screen of death, the HD failed . I wasn't so luckily, it never started again.
It sure is a strange feeling with the computer not working, you ask yourself "what now?" no news, no email, no reading the lastest posts, nothing. And suddenly thoughts of doing crazy things like running to the library to rent their computer and using a paper phone book!