syneze Posted October 19, 2003 Posted October 19, 2003 Ok so when my room mates computer boots up it gives this error "Warning SMART detects imminent hard drive failure on primary master...back up data immediately and replace hard drive" or something to that effect. It happens just after it checks all the drives and pauses the computer. You can hit F1 though and it boots XP fine, everything works... The comp is older pIII 550 and the BIOS is Award v4.51pg. Anyone experienced anything like this? Is the warning legitimate? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some_Guy_ Posted October 19, 2003 Posted October 19, 2003 YES, the warning is legitimate, from my experience. Do what it says. My old hdd lived just long enough to let me backup (most) of my data to my wife's comp (over network, burning cds was too slow) before it gave out. I had about 15 hours warning total, and by the end, the drive was running really slowly. If you need to get some more life out of the drive, you can put it in a plastic bag (with a hole for an IDE cable) and put the drive on ice. This will sometimes help you get the last bit of data off the drive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LobbDogg Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 I've seen it too, but never found out what happened with it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 Ok so when my room mates computer boots up it gives this error "Warning SMART detects imminent hard drive failure on primary master...back up data immediately and replace hard drive" or something to that effect. It happens just after it checks all the drives and pauses the computer. You can hit F1 though and it boots XP fine, everything works... The comp is older pIII 550 and the BIOS is Award v4.51pg. Anyone experienced anything like this? Is the warning legitimate? Yep, I fix Gateway computers at work as well as copiers. We get those every now and then. Back it up and REPLACE IT. (or RMA if you can) Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
syneze Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 ok ! thanks guys Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AYoKoNA Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 If you need to get some more life out of the drive, you can put it in a plastic bag (with a hole for an IDE cable) and put the drive on ice. This will sometimes help you get the last bit of data off the drive. Are you for real? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dignan Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 If the spindle motor is giving out on the HD then the motor is usually burning itself up (time until failiure variable), so if the drive is put on ice the motor will run cooler prolonging life under the strain of backing up the ENTIRE drive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some_Guy_ Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 (edited) Yup, well said. It's amazing what you'd be willing to try when dealing with a dying HDD that has the only copy of some of your work. Edited October 21, 2003 by Some_Guy_ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigred Posted October 21, 2003 Posted October 21, 2003 similar trick to that is to pull the drive out, put it in a plastic bag with a LITTE air as possible (suck the air out for best results), leave it in the freezer over night, then take it out 10-15 min before you plan on transfering files. 99% of the time this works very well for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevT Posted October 25, 2003 Posted October 25, 2003 I think i alreaduy passed that phase with my 4 non working HD's ( firstt one from 1996 but rarely used). Is that an explanation for my 4 hd failures aswel? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some_Guy_ Posted October 26, 2003 Posted October 26, 2003 Is that an explanation for my 4 hd failures aswel? That is a possibility. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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