Hardware or software problem?

[NatalieK]

I have been recording radio programs for months without any problems, exporting as mp3. A couple of days ago all my recordings started having a grating sound every few seconds. I have not changed any settings. The radio programs sound fine while I am recording. Whenever I contact Dell UK, they try to get me to reformat 3 times before they will acknowledge a hardware fault. Could the experts please tell me if this sudden intermittent fault is more likely to be a hardware or a software problem. I don't want to contact Dell unless I am pretty sure I have a hardware fault.
My computer is a Dell Inspiron 9300 running XP Pro.

Thanks

[kozikowski]

<<<I have been recording radio programs for months without any problems>>>

That's the alarm bell. You have plenty of room left on your hard drive and it's thoroughly error checked and defragmented? I do that, too, and if I didn't clean up after each production, I'd be out of room in a couple of weeks.

Koz

[NatalieK]

Thanks. I have plenty of space, but I will try defragging.