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SMART Short Self Test Timed Out
I got a warning when I ran the PC Checker from Dell Support Center on my 1720 running Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 that indicated the SMART Short Self Test Timed Out. I have no idea what SMART is or what this warning is about. Is this something I can correct? Is it important and why? Thanks, Chuck
osprey4
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June 25th, 2011 15:00
Not if it times out. If you want to check your hard drive, run the Dell diagnostics from your drivers and utilites disc.
osprey4
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April 1st, 2011 16:00
Hi Chuckssite,
SMART is a disk drive montoring utility. Lots of people have trouble running those stupid Dell Support software tests, so my recommendation would be to disable them.
Sherry_dlg
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June 25th, 2011 15:00
I have same problem on the same laptop, so your saying we don't need to worry about this Smart short test that times out????
howardpoole
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January 14th, 2012 05:00
thanks for the tip. I have a similiar problem with Windows XP on a Dell XPS desktop
stobk
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May 20th, 2013 09:00
Thanks so much for the info - sure takes a load off my mind. I have a Dell XPS-L502; had it for a little over two yrs., and was going crazy thinking I had to replace the hard drive (as suggested in other posts). Thanks again for the head's up!:emotion-21:
StLouisMan2
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June 4th, 2013 07:00
Hey osprey4. I've had the same problem, but MOST importantly I want to know are you aware that this test is being run by PC-Doctor, Inc, software out of Reno, NV? I don't think they are affiliated will Dell.com. I think there is a case for copyright infringement here. Do you know anything about this?
osprey4
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June 4th, 2013 12:00
Hi StLouisMan2,
Yes, I think Dell has a deal with them to provide this utility as part of the Dell support thing. However, from a pure diagnostic point of view, the results should be taken as tentative at best. The only way to really test a hard drive is by booting to something else, such as a CD or flash drive containing a diagnostic utility. The Dell diagnostics can be run from a CD or flash drive, but I prefer SeaTools or something else. I have personally seen instances when the Dell utility came up clean and SeaTools found a serious problem. I keep a bootable CD with SeaTools handy myself.
StLouisMan2
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June 4th, 2013 16:00
Osprey4:
Thank you very much for explaining that. I was actually a little concerned that the PC-Doctor stuff might be a harmful program. Would you please explain what a "bootable" CD/DVD is? I would like to follow your advice with Sea Tools, but I don't know how to put it on a bootable disc.
Thanks again,
StLouisMan2
osprey4
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June 4th, 2013 17:00
Go to the link I provided and download the ISO file for SeaTools for DOS. Burn the ISO to a CD and you can boot your PC using that disc and run the SeaTools diagnostics. It will work with Seagate, Maxtor and WD hard drives (that I've tried).
StLouisMan2
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June 4th, 2013 20:00
Osprey4:
Thank you once more. This was my lucky day.:emotion-2:
StLouisMan2
osprey4
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June 5th, 2013 05:00
Glad to help.