HD Short DST check failure

[sassyscent]

Failure ID - PLWFSF-8AGC4L-XD7X6K-60SP03  PROD #X7T50UAHABA

Turned my laptop on today after no access for a few day and received the "preparing automatic repair" message.  I left the computer on for most of the day in hopes it was truly resetting itself, but the message never went away.  I don't know what caused the issue as it is on my desk as normal and never dropped or exposed to elements.  When I went thru the system test I received this failure message. I followed instructions on another thread with unplugging and holding down the power button for 30 seconds.  That didn't work as I'm still receiving the "preparing automatic repair" message and it never goes away.  Any idea as to why this hardrive failure could have been caused and how can I resolve it without losing all my data and programs?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You will need to install a new hard drive and reinstall the operating system.

Below is the link to the service manual where you can find the hard drive removal and replacement procedure:

HP Notebook PC (Intel) * Models: 15-ay000 – 15-ay099 * Models: 15-ay100 – 15-ay199HP 250 G5 Notebook...

If you want to replace the drive, I recommend you replace the 2.5" mechanical hard drive with a 2.5" solid state drive (SSD).

Something like this:

Amazon.com: Western Digital 1TB WD Blue SA510 SATA Internal Solid State Drive SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s,...

After you replace the drive, you can use the HP cloud recovery tool on another PC and create a bootable USB recovery drive. 

The HP image will have all of the necessary drivers included.

Here is an info link for how to use the utility.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store.

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Microsoft Store Apps

Since you will have to use the utility on another PC, you will need to enter the PC's product number in the tool's search window in order to proceed to make the recovery media.

Your PC's product number is X7T50UA#ABA

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to recover files from the hard drive, but you can try this:

Remove the hard drive from the notebook using the info from the service manual.

Buy a SATA to USB cable.  Something like this:

Amazon.com: BENFEI SATA to USB Cable, 2in1 USB-C/USB 3.0 to SATA III Hard Driver Adapter Compatible ...

Plug one end into the failed hard drive and the other end into a working PC's USB port and see if you can read/copy and files from the failed drive to the PC.

For the future, you may want to purchase a USB portable hard drive and periodically copy your user profile file folders to the portable hard drive.

That way you have a backup where you can restore your user profile folders in case something like this happens again.