SMART Hard Drive Failure

[harding_sierra]

Hey all,

recently last night I believe my hard drive failed. I'm not looking to repair or replace the hard drive if it costs money since it would be ultimately easier to buy a new desktop (as this laptop is 4 years old and I have been looking for a replacement desktop), but I would like to know if all my files are ultimately lost and if I should attempt to hard reset the PC.

Last night while on my PC I attempted to open a folder, which led to my PC freezing up for around 10 minutes. Soon after some error message stating that Windows was not responding showed up (I don't remember exactly what it said), and around 10 minutes later the screen went entirely black. I force shut down my PC and turned it on again, and was greeted to a lovely "Boot Device Not Found -- Please Install an Operating System on your hard drive" message 😞

After looking for solutions I ran a system diagnostic to see the issue. I ran both quick and extensive tests and they both say the same thing. The battery and processor check both pass, but the SMART Hard Drive check always fails. Again, I'm not looking for repairing or replacing the hard drive as I will soon buy a replacement PC anyway, but I was wondering is there was ANY way for me to access and backup my files in this current state? 😞

One more thing of information that might be important was that, seeing as I extensively used this laptop, it has overheated multiple times; I'm quite sure that this damaged the hard drive in some form but I don't know if this was the main cause of its failure. When my PC crashed it seemed in no current danger of overheating and had not overheated in weeks.

Thanks for any help recieved!

[DavidSMP · Accepted solution]

Hi @harding_sierra,

Good Day. Thank you for taking an interest in the HP community. I understand that your computer’s hard drive has failed after extensive use. I will be really glad to assist you here. 🙂

Fabulous description and superb diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. 🙂

First off, to assist you better, I would require more information regarding this:

• Did this happen after a recent power outage or surge? DO you remember?
   
• It is wise not to replace the hard drive and buy a new computer as this computer is pretty old. You get a year’s manufacturer’s warranty and peace of mind. Visit HP shopping via http://store.hp.com Then follow the on-screen instructions to buy a new computer.
• Regarding the hard drive, as it has failed you need to get in touch with a local Best Buy or Staples technician and try and retrieve the data on it. You could check with any local technician.
• It could be fee-based also with no guarantees that it would be successful.
• On the HP support forums without a working computer data cannot be retrieved.

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue to get it resolved without hassles.

Take care and have a blessed week ahead. 🙂

Cheers!

[harding_sierra]

Thanks so much for your reply!

No, this did not happen after a recent power outage or surge. There was no power outage at the time it happened or any time recently before then.

Fortunately I was able to buy a new desktop: HP Omen Desktop; super lovely 

Since I was able to back up a good portion of my files beforehand I think I will be laying this issue to rest and start anew with my new PC.

I will however keep my old laptop for later when I have the time and money to bring it in to see if I could get some of my old files that I did not back up.

Thank you so much for your response!

[DavidSMP]

Hi @harding_sierra,

It has been a fabulous experience working with you. 🙂 I thank you greatly for accepting this as a solution. 🙂 You've been simply amazing with your technical expertise and thanks again for giving me the privilege to share this platform with you. 🙂

I hope the new unit works great and stays healthy for a long time. 🙂

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help.

Please take care, stay healthy, keep smiling big and do have a blessed year ahead. 🙂