I’m trying to install Office now… The DVD drive sounds like a meat grinder. I popped it and verified that the disk was in properly, and that there’s no junk on it (e.g., a label only on one side of the disk). It’s also not getting scratched. All I can imagine, though, is that the disk was manufactured slightly warped/lopsided… Not enough to be visible, but enough to cause it to run off-balance and make me worry that it’s going to blow up.

So here I am, working with the pinnacles* of modern technology with one hand, and using the other to apply slight pressure on the DVD drive door to keep it in just the right position to keep it from vibrating too badly.

* This is giving my crusty old dual-core system a little too much credit. 😉