Laptop displays S.M.A.R.T. hard drive error and turns off
I’m having problems with my laptop. It froze on me one day so I was stupid and pulled the battery out of the back. When I restarted it I got a blue screen error saying unmountable boot volume. I did a chkdsk on my drive and a fixmbr and it fixed it for 3 weeks. Then I started getting a black screen when I booted saying, S.M.A.R.T. hard drive failure predicted back up your data as soon as possible, press F1 to continue. I pressed F1 and it was fine but a little slow for a month. Now when I press F1 it trying to boot and then shuts down and restarts. I did another chkdsk and it started again like normal and then next time I restarted it it went back to S.M.A.R.T. screen and turns off.
Do you think my hard drive is done? If so if I buy a new hard drive do I have to load Windows on it again or does Windows come on it?Is there anyway to get data off my hard drive I have now? All I really need is my music and some videos and my Internet Explorer favorites list.
It’s a Gateway mx6441 laptop it not even a year old. I have no warranty.
Sounds like you have a bad hard drive and you’ll have to replace it. If you buy and install a new hard drive, you’ll have to load Windows yourself using recovery CDs or DVDs (usually supplied with laptops). I’m not sure if you can get any data from this drive but I think it’s possible. I was able to get data from drives with SMART failures before.
Here’s what you can try. Purchase an external USB enclosure for notebook hard drives (you can find it in a computer store for $20-30). Remove the hard drive from your laptop and install it into the enclosure. Connect the enclosure to another working computer via an USB cable (usually comes with enclosure) and see if your hard drive is detected. Access the drive and transfer all needed data.
If the hard drive is not recognized, probably you cannot recover data at home and have to use a clean room recovery service. It’s very expensive.
You mentioned that the laptop is not even a year old. Isn’t is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty?
Topics: Hard drive, 5. Gateway Laptops |
March 27th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
hey yeah it had a warrenty but i bought it from a pawn shop.
now one more question… the ac adapter i plug into the laptop and it does not charge unless i pull it tight to the left or right and keep it there. its like it has a short in it or something. i know it has to do with someone about sodering up the mother board. but i went to my local computer guy and he was over 4 hours or labor in money and that seems like way too much. or is that useally how it goes. is it hard to do if i know someone that soders??
March 27th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
It’s either a bad power jack (have to resolder or replace the jack) or defective power cable (have to replace the adapter).
1. Power jack. I’m not familiar with this laptop but most likely the power jack is located on the motherboard. You’ll have to disassemble the laptop and take a closer look at the power jack. If it’s broken, replace the jack. If it’s just a loose connection between the jack and motherboard, resolder it. I think 4 hours is too much for this kind of repair and 2 or 2.5 hours would be fair enough.
2. Defective power cord. Overtime the wire inside the power cord can get damaged and you’ll have to find a correct position for the power plug/cord in order to get power to the laptop. You can test the power cord with a voltmeter. If the power cuts off when you move the power plug, probably the power cord is damaged. Replace the adapter in this case.
More likely you have a problem with the power jack, not the power cord.