Help - WARNING SMART predict iminent HD failure :(

[pascal]

I have a less than one year old 40GB 7200 rpm Maxtor HD in my home PC.
The Award BIOS (Asus P4B533 BIOS rev 15) is giving the following message: WARNING SMART predict iminent HD failure, backup your data and change the HD

The HD is really making some strange noise in the first ~5 minutes and is very hot to touch
- I scanned with AVG (latest update) for virus and it is free.
- The BIOS is virus protection is enabled, smart is enabled too.
- The windows´ scan says everything is all right.
- The Maxtor´s PowerMax tools says the HD is error free :?

What should I do now? Thanks

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Find one of the various smart testers, and run an extended test on it. If it comes up as about to fail, replace it ASAP.

 

[Mendel]

Get a new hard drive and make backups as soon as possible (of course)
Hard drives generally don't make strange noises and at the same time stay functional for a very long time.

edit: unnecceccary quote

 

[Tim]

What should I do now? Thanks

1. Turn of your computer.
2. Buy new disc and install.
3. Back up data from old disc.


If a hard drive makes strange noises I could die on you any moment. Had a drive dieing on me a few weeks ago, it lasted 2 days from I first heard the strange sound until it died (luckily I had already backed up the data).

 

[pascal]

Thanks All.

I did all the backup before any test.
When I get back home tonight I will test with Active Smart: http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/
Any other/better free SMART tester available?
The noise is strange but not very loud, but I guess I will have to spend some money Is the 80GB Seagate Barracuda ATA V a good disk? They have it here for $88.

Thanks again

 

[epicstruggle]

What should I do now? Thanks

1. Turn of your computer.
2. Buy new disc and install.
3. Back up data from old disc.


If a hard drive makes strange noises I could die on you any moment. Had a drive dieing on me a few weeks ago, it lasted 2 days from I first heard the strange sound until it died (luckily I had already backed up the data).

I wish i had done this when my hd died years ago. Ive learned to make copies on 2 hd's and cd's on my most precious items (photos et al).

later,
epic

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Is the 80GB Seagate Barracuda ATA V a good disk? They have it here for $88.

Thanks again

I like the Barracuda 4/5's They are not the fastest, but they run very cool and extremely quietly, and are decently priced.

You might want to consider spending a little more and getting the 120 gb version. You get twice the disk space for about 30 percent more, and it's the smallest version with the 8 meg cache, which makes it a bit quicker again.

 

[epicstruggle]

Is the 80GB Seagate Barracuda ATA V a good disk? They have it here for $88.

Thanks again

I like the Barracuda 4/5's They are not the fastest, but they run very cool and extremely quietly, and are decently priced.

You might want to consider spending a little more and getting the 120 gb version. You get twice the disk space for about 30 percent more, and it's the smallest version with the 8 meg cache, which makes it a bit quicker again.

for the price its a bit much. But then again your in brazil and its not going to be cheap. I like the fact that 'cudas are quite and generally run cooler (as BZB's stated).

later,
epic

 

[Sxotty]

I like what I have, jb800 (from WD) they are about the same price, newegg had them on sale for 85 the other day, and they run quite fast.

But really seagate makes good drives, I have been pleased with them in the past, so get whatever you like. Oh the one thing wd jb800's have a 3 year warranty which to me is worth it to pay more for plus they are quite fast.

 

[Dio]

I have an old adage which I repeat as a mantra to all my friends and relatives with computers:

"If it's not backed up, it's not important."

It is easier and more sensible than telling them, "No, I probably can't get it back..."

As to the original subject: any hard drive makes any unusual noise, it's going down. Get the data off it in order of priority as it may be that accessing the drive is making it worse - just backing up the whole drive isn't advisable.

I wouldn't buy any drive that doesn't come with a 3 year warranty, myself.

 

[Zaphod]

- The Maxtor´s PowerMax tools says the HD is error free :?

Doesn't PowerMax tools check the drives SMART status also? I know WDs Data Lifeguard Tools does. Weird that the BIOS would complain when PowerMax does not.

What should I do now?

YESTERDAY

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be,
And there's a deadline
hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was I could not say.

Now all my data's gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
Thougt my data was all there to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

 

[pascal]

- The Maxtor´s PowerMax tools says the HD is error free :?

Doesn't PowerMax tools check the drives SMART status also? I know WDs Data Lifeguard Tools does. Weird that the BIOS would complain when PowerMax does not.

That is why I posted this thread. The PowerMax´s Basic 90 seconds test say that an Extended test is needed. The Extended test scan everything and the entire HD surface and says "Congratulations, your HD is error free" :?
Maybe Active Smart will help me understand what is happening.

What should I do now?

YESTERDAY

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be,
And there's a deadline
hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was I could not say.

Now all my data's gone
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
Thougt my data was all there to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE ...

 

[pascal]

Here is what the Active Smart 2.41 has as log

12 March 2004 18:58:22 :: INFO
SMART monitoring started - Maxtor 6E040L0 [E126T4CE]

12 March 2004 18:58:22 :: ALERT
WARNING! The drive Maxtor 6E040L0, 41.1 GB [S/N:E126T4CE] indicated a S.M.A.R.T. error condition.
Immediately back-up your data and replace this hard disk drive!
A failure may be imminent.

Also I loked at the SMART raw data and Reallocated sector count is above the threshold.

thanks all

 

[Zaphod]

Sounds like it is trying to remap a bad sector, but is running out of failsafe-space. What does 'cmd->chkdsk [drive:]' tell you? Any drive related errors in the system log? I think that disk is about to go the way of the Dodo.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Here is what the Active Smart 2.41 has as log

12 March 2004 18:58:22 :: INFO
SMART monitoring started - Maxtor 6E040L0 [E126T4CE]

12 March 2004 18:58:22 :: ALERT
WARNING! The drive Maxtor 6E040L0, 41.1 GB [S/N:E126T4CE] indicated a S.M.A.R.T. error condition.
Immediately back-up your data and replace this hard disk drive!
A failure may be imminent.

Also I loked at the SMART raw data and Reallocated sector count is above the threshold.

thanks all

Sounds like it's reallocating bad blocks until it's run out of backup blocks. This is bad because it means bad blocks now cannot be marked and the data switch elsewhere, but more importantly your drive must be dying badly for it to need to use up all it's bad blocks. Some failure in the drive is corrupting the blocks, so the drive is probably about to expire.

 

[pascal]

The chkdsk comand doesnt give any bad news.
The reallocated sector count raw data is stable.

The Maxtor´s PowerMax tools has a Burn in test option. Maybe I should do it and after that a Full low level physical format, new partition, new logical format and new OS instalation. Or could it be too dangerous?

Anyway I liked this S.M.A.R.T. technology. It prevented a nightmare

 

[Bolloxoid]

Anyway I liked this S.M.A.R.T. technology. It prevented a nightmare

Yes, I run a SMART monitoring program (another free one can be downloaded at www.panterasoft.com) once in a while just too see that there isn't anything catastrophic going on regarding my drives.

Edit: With the AIDA32 system information utility (www.aida32.hu/aida32.php) you can also see the absolute values of the attributes (such as the actual number of reallocated sectors) in addition to the relative values given by all SMART monitoring programs.

 

[pascal]

Thanks for the link Bolloxoid

SMART was right, my Windows can no longer boot reliablly since saturday.
No problem because I have already done all backup using CD-Rs
I am going to buy a new disk today.

Thanks All for your help.