HP Envy Touchsmart m7 notebook Hard drive error message

[Vickels]

I did a Systems Check on my laptop as it was never opening anything up past the startup menu.  I have a 24 digit error message for the Hard Drive.  Can anyone help me know where to go from here with that error message?  It is

M304RS-6NE9H3-MFGJXG-60Q603

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The code you received, Hard Disk 1 Quick Test Failure, means that the hard drive will need to be replaced and the operating system reinstalled.

Consult the maintenance and service guide on your specific model m7 support page for the HDD R & R procedure.

[Vickels]

What situation am I in as far as files and pictures on the laptop I want to salvage?  I have updated to a new laptop due to not being able to open this one - but still need those files off of the HP ENVY.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Probably not a good one.  Usually files are not recoverable.

After you replace the hard drive, you can see if you can read the drive by purchasing an external SATA to USB adapter that you plug one end into the drive and the other end into a USB port on a working PC.

Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&q...

[Vickels]

Very sad new to hear.  Very thankful to you for taking your time to answer!  Is there an online system you would recommend for me to use on my new laptop - to daily backup any pictures and files so this doesn't happen to me again?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

I keep my files backed up two ways...

The easiest thing to do would be to get a portable hard drive and when you feel you need to back up your files, go to your user profile with all the different folders in it (documents, favorites, pictures, music videos, etc).

Create a folder on your portable hard drive and copy and paste all of those folders to the folder you create on your portable hard drive.

Then the second thing I do is to create a system image using this free disk imaging software.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree?x-ca=blog

This program will create a system image of the entire hard drive. 

You create the system image on a portable hard drive.  It can be the same drive you back up your user files to.

The software will ask you to create a bootable rescue USB flash drive or DVD that you boot from to access the system image stored on the portable hard drive.  Restoring the image is easy as pie.

You can make a new system image any time you want.