Hard disk problem??

[Jibby]

This just seemed to happen out of the blue. I switched on the computer today, and at startup, it stops and reads:

Pri Master Hard Disk: S.M.A.R.T. Status BAD, Backup and Replace
Press F1 to Resume

This happens before I get into Windows (98SE). If I press F1, everything progresses as per usual, and everything *seems* to be fine. I ran Scandisk on both my harddisks (yeah, I have two), and on the "thorough" option, but no error was reported.

So, what does that message mean? I don't know what "S.M.A.R.T" is, and I hope it doesn't mean I'll have to replace that hard disk. It's not the end of the world if I have to, but is that really what it's saying? If there's something wrong with one of my harddisks, wouldn't Scandisk be able to report an error?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[DonaldC]

Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Tool (Logical mechanism for checking IDE/ATA/ATAPI devices. Usually found on BIOS.)

I have read conflicting stories about just how reliable this tool is. I have it turned off on my system.

 

[resinboy]

everything I have read, and everything I have heard say "back-up NOW!!!!!!".


Resinboy

 

[woodie1]

I would keep a close eye on everything for a few days.

 

[ChampionAtTufshop]

ive never gotten that in bios, but i get it in windows sometimes (smart monitor program, i think its called ezsmart) it says my hd is about to fail once in a while....

maybe just rma the drive if possible, or just leave it ....it could be smart just making an error
is the speed of the drive(s) the same? or worse?

 

[Jibby]

Thanks for the replies! So far, nothing has gone wrong for the past 3 hours, in which I continued downloading part of a demo, surfed the net, and played a couple of games. I don't think anything is slower. From the message I got, it would seem that the problem (whatever it may be) is to do with my primary harddisk, right? I often backup my stuff on my other harddisk, so if anything goes wrong, it'd be with the primary harddisk, and hence not affect my secondary one, I'm guessing.

I've had that first harddisk probably for at least 3-4 years now, so perhaps it's showing its age? I don't really know the lifespan of a harddisk, but I would suspect that it'd be longer than that. My other harddisk is about a year old, I think.

I could well be building a computer within the next month from parts that have been discarded over a few upgrades. I still need to get some extra stuff, so I could just as well get a new harddrive too. After all, that primary harddrive is a 'measly' 8 GB one at 5400 RPM (my secondary one is 20 GB, 7200 RPM), but I'm in no dire need of extra space (the CDR/CDRW comes in handy), so unless my primary HDD is likely to be in a pretty bad shape, there isn't too much point getting a new one.

Any advice on my next course of action? Leave it as it is and put up with pressing F1 whenever I switch on my computer, or get a new HDD?

 

[woodie1]

Most drive manufacturers have test utilities on their sites. Get the one for your drive and test it. I had a drive that I thought was toast but I managed to repair it with the manufacturers repair utility.

 

[Jibby]

Aack, the thing is that I can't remember what brand my primary HDD is (I know my secondary one is Seagate). Can't find the damn receipt either... I know it's lying somewhere around the house.