"3rd master hard disk s.m.a.r.t. status bad, backup and replace"

[NightShadeKW]

I haven't had my new computer built for more than a week, and suddenly I'm getting this message on my new Hard Drive. The Hd is a WD4000KD, and my computer is a non overclocked dual core x2 4400+ with a a8n32 motherboard. 2gb of memory.

I haven't noticed any visible slowdown or anything outside of the fact that it takes noticeably longer to boot up than it did before. It first happened yesterday after my computer locked up during a game of FEAR, and I had to manually reboot, but it happened again today when I just normally booted up after normally shutting down last night.

Does anybody know if this is a serious problem? Is there anything I can do, or will I have to send it back for a replacement?

Thanks

 

[jpotter]

Hey there- it sounds to me that the HD is going bad- SMART is a series of internal specs on your HD that your BIOS or certain other utilities monitors, and if any of them start failing it usually means the drive is on its way out. If you go to WD"s website and check out "Data Lifeguard Diagnostics" you can run a more thorough test on the drive and if necessary RMA it. In the meantime, back up anything important while you still can- I lost a drive in a similar way earlier this year and it can be a real pain if you don't have time to back up your data! Best of luck!

 

[NightShadeKW]

Originally posted by: jpotter
Hey there- it sounds to me that the HD is going bad- SMART is a series of internal specs on your HD that your BIOS or certain other utilities monitors, and if any of them start failing it usually means the drive is on its way out. If you go to WD"s website and check out "Data Lifeguard Diagnostics" you can run a more thorough test on the drive and if necessary RMA it. In the meantime, back up anything important while you still can- I lost a drive in a similar way earlier this year and it can be a real pain if you don't have time to back up your data! Best of luck!

Unfortunately, I'm running the 64 bit version of windows and so it won't let me install it. are there any other tools I could download and use?

I really don't have anything to back up, aside from by progress in some games, since it is so new, so I'm in fairly good shape there.

 

[jpotter]

Hmm... I'm not sure if this will work but have you thought about downloading the version of this that boots from a floppy? That should let you run it regardless of your O/S. Hope this helps!

 

[Ike0069]

You definitely need to RMA that drive. I may last a few months, or it might die tomorrow. But something is defintiely wrong witht he drive for SMART to give the warning.

 

[Knavish]

If you have any valuable data on that HD you need to BACK IT UP NOW. I've had two friends lose data to crashed hard drives in the past 12 months -- it can happen to you too.

*This message was sponsored by the National Back Your @#$% Up Consortium*
:laugh:

 

[0roo0roo]

yea the utils on the site should include a dos one with boot disc

 

[BFG10K]

The drive is either faulty or is dying. RMA.

 

[gsellis]

RMA - Tell them the SMART messages and if they have any clue, they should agree immediately.

 

[Yreka]

Not sure if it will work on X64 or not, but Speedfan can also read SMART status.