Hard Drive short DST Check Failed failure id: QE6691-8N496X-MFPURG-60U803

[jr91403]

So my laptop is stuck in the edless recovery loop and it has failed the hard drive short DST test with  failure id: QE6691-8N496X-MFPURG-60U803.  This would indicate that my hard drive has failed but if I go into recovery and go to command prompt, I can look at C: drive and see my files.  Why is this?  If the drive has failed I shouln't be able to see my files?    I've tried to recover and reinstall windows 10 but it won't do it.  Just curious why I can still see the hard drive at the command prompt.  Thanks!

[BrianTan · Accepted solution]

Smartctl short test error usually means hard drive has developed read/write error (bad blocks), it may get worse with time. While you can still see your C: drive, you should back up important documents to external drives/usb stick/sdcard.  Hopefully the files are not within bad blocks.

Depending on how extensive the damage is, It may be possible to remap the bad blocks, and continue using the hard disk.

However it is best to replace the hard drive, if current one is a HDD, perhaps to a faster SSD.

[banhien]

@jr91403 

Sadly to say: Most of the time the 24 char failure id indicates the HDD is failing and it needs to be replaced. Is it still under warranty ? If Yes, please call HP for a replacement.

In the US:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1

or HP technical support: 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region please click the link below to get the support number for your region.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

Since your machine previously ran Windows 10, you can do a clean install W10 for free by using the media creation tool at the link below.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

The tool will allow you to make a bootable installation media (USB/DVD) and you can use installation media to install.

During the installation process if you are asked to enter a product key, check the 'Skip' box and W10 will install and then automatically activate once you are connected to the internet using the key embedded in BIOS of your machine.

Then you can install the drivers and available software you need from your PC's support page.

Regards.