SMART is a drive monitoring technology that has become a standard in the
industry. The hard drive itself monitors several different parameters
concerning its own health, and reports the results to the IDE controller
if it is enabled to receive it in BIOS. One SMART alarm is not a great
cause for concern. The second and subsequent ones are, especially when
they begin occurring on a regular basis (every boot cycle). SMART does
not tell you that the hard disk has failed, only that it is getting
ready to do so. My advice to you at this point is to make a VERY prompt
backup to CD of all your data, and continue to monitor the drive. If you
get SMART alerts each boot-up, save money quickly for a new drive and
use the current one with regular backups until it drops. Be sure to have
your Windows restore disk and any drivers you need to recover the system
close at hand. Another idea is to shoot a disk image as a backup and lay
that onto the new drive if and when the old one gives it up. That method
of backup and restore will get you going a little quicker that the old
"restore disk and drivers" method.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [PCBUILD] S.M.A.R.T. error message
From: Phillip Williams <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, November 02, 2009 1:12 pm
To: [log in to unmask]

I recently sent this in using my AOLmail before I remembered being
told the list wasn't accepting AOLmail so I'm sorry if it gets double
posted.

Lately, when I start one of my pcs, I get this message;
Pri Master Hard Disk:S.M.A.R.T. Status Bad Backup and Replace
Press f1 to resume.
I press f1 and continue with no problems.

I have noticed in the past that there is an "enable/Disable" option in
the "bios" settings but not knowing anything about S.M.A.R.T., I
haven't messed with it. Is there a chance the warning could be wrong?
I hope so since my Primary HD is a WD 10,000rpm which I can't afford
to replace unless I do so with a cheaper drive. The 2nd drive is an
older WD 60 gig that, since problem started, doesn't even show up in
My Computer.

I haven't experienced any major problems with this pc but lately while
sitting idle, I've noticed an occasional sound similar to a thermal
cut-off switch turning off and back on. I assumed it was the fan
regulator changing speeds but this warning has me second-guessing that
asumption.

The only time this pc has been connected to the internet was when I
first activated windows (xp home) and any software or other media I
insert is checked first with AV software on another machine.

I have the HD in a cooler box that fits a drive slot. It's a dual fan
gizmo with LED read-out that alternates between CPU and HD
temperatures which usually run about 83 and 88 degrees. I'm not sure
which reading represents which component but these temps have been
pretty consistant since it was built.

The only major change I've made is to add a second HD for video and
music files. I did that a couple months ago and the warning just
started in the last few days.

One other problem I've had (which I posted here but never really
resolved) is an occasional freeze-up of movie DVDs which requires a
reboot but even this hasn't happened in a month or two.

The pc is using a Soyo mobo, P-4 3.2 hyper-thread and 2 gig ram.
primary HD is sata and 2nd HD is on the ribbon cable with my dvd
drive.

Is there any hope for this HD or shall I play a durge and commit it to
the briney deep?

-Phil-

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         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml