what does it mean when your hp fails the short drive self test

[Scorpion21215]

What does this mean and how can I fix it

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

What that means is you have to replace the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.

Consult the maintenance and service guide for your specific model HP notebook for the hard drive removal and replacement procedure.

After you replace the hard drive, you can reinstall W10 for free as follows...

You can make a W10 USB flash drive installer with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, using an 8 GB flash drive using another Windows PC, if your PC is not working.

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

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Here are the steps to create the W10 USB flash drive installer...

Select Download tool now, and select Run.If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.

On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10. You want 64 bit.

Select which media you want to use:

USB flash drive. Plug in a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.

After W10 installs, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

[Scorpion21215]

Thanks.  Does this absolutely mean that my hard drive is bad, this is a fairly new laptop with minimal use?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If you're getting one of those 24 character Short DST failure codes, then the hard drive is no good.

They make notebooks so thin nowadays and cram all kinds of heat-producing hardware in them, that the hard drives often fail earlier than what one would expect. 

This is compounded when we play video games and whatnot, which produces more heat than just surfing the web or reading e-mails.

If you don't need a lot of storage space, you may want to consider replacing the drive with a better performing, normally more reliable solid state drive.

You can get a SSD like this one for less than $60 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-480GB-Solid-State-SDSSDA-480G-G26/dp/B01F9G46Q8/ref=sr_1_2?hvadid=779...

[Scorpion21215]

Thanks,  You are awesome,  How hard is it to change?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

What is the full model number or product number of your notebook?

The product number can be found on the same label as the serial number.

Please do not post the serial number.

Then I can post the link to the service manual you need to refer to, and you can judge for yourself.