SMART failure on Hard Disk 0

Question

Greetings everyone!      So, about 4 day ago i got the dreaded black screen from my Dell 1537 telling me my hard drive was basically toast. Look like im going to be hard drive shopping. I will point out that my situation is a little unique, sadly i had a death in the family about 2 months ago and sort of inherited a laptop that was being used solely for a charity organization (which was routinely backed up until the individual was too sick to volunteer anymore). The reason i bring this sad story up is that im in a rare position where all i stand to lose on this hard drive is 3 seasons of The Wire and a few work files i was able to get transferred to my cell phone (literally all i had on this thing). Im trying to figure out what i should do from here, i know not to try to boot anything up so i dont do any further damage, but i will admit this will be my first time installing a hard drive (under the supervision of a few tech buddies who get a kick that this i a big deal for me). I have a few questions that are so stupid that i would not dare ask them for fear of being rediculed. So, please do not laugh, bare with me and if you want some major karma points please offer some genius advice for free. Question 1: Can i use an external drive instead of installing an internal replacement drive? This seems appealing concidering these Dells get so stinkin hot that having to constantly use a bulky laptop fan is a headeache and im not completely conviced it definitively solves the problem (i swear the thing gets so stinkin hot even with the fan on full blast). I understand this could be a pretty dumb question but so far ive heard mixed advice from the wise and 100% reliable internet so if someone could let me know id appreciate it. So far the big issues ive come across was data transfer limitations but with firewire and eSATA data cable speed seems to be going the way of the Segway. My assumption is that an external drive most ilkely will not fix my problem since that would be too good to be true, but i am curious as to the specific differences between the two.    Question 2: Recovery Disks.If i had a nickle for every time i had to use recovery disks to restore a laptop id be pretty stinkin rich, this i coming from a young man who, years ago, was proudly convinced anti-virus software was for suckers (im just realizing this is the first time ive admited that). However, As i stated earlier the last owner of THIS laptop was suffering from advanced cancer and is unavailable to question in locating the recovery disks. I was under the impression they were being stored with some other personal computer accessories, however they have still not turned up. Im really hoping that this isnt going to be a bigger problem than my hard drive. Is there a way to contact Dell with the laptop model number, etc? (i beleive i even have the sales receipt from when it was purchased since it was a tax deduction). My other fear is that trying to aquire these disks may be an excellent opportunity for the fine business executives at Dell to charge a rediculous amount of money for some cd-roms (which is kinda genius actually). So, if i cannot locate these disks, and yes im going to try real real hard, what do i do? There has to be a way to get them, right? Is it possible in this day of technology that a computer can be bested by a cd-rom? I sure hope not.     Question 3: Lets be honest, this isnt exactly the cutting edge of laptops im getting ready to restore. If i buy a new internal hard drive for an outdated laptop im probably not gonna go nuts with space and RPMs. Everyone keeps telling me 500 gigs is just standard along with over 7500 RPms, and im usually the guy who buys expensive stuff when i really dont need it. Honestly, the stock hard drive that i had in this thing was just fine as far as space was concerned, and while it was nowhere near as nice a my mac in terms of speed, it got the info i needed in plenty of time. I guess what im asking is what does everyone think? How cheap should i be about replacing my hard drive? what kind of space should i be realistically shopping for? I have a mac mini, a Macbook, and a Western Digital external 1T for my important data back-up, so im really not hurting on space (im also typing this email on my DELL inspiron mini which feels like a very large cell phone.) I think we can all agree the price difference between an upgraded hard drive and the stock hard drive that came with the 1537 can be quite substantial.   Question 4: last one!! Okey dokey, so during the time i decide on the hard drive, locate the recovery disks, and brilliantly install everything swiftly, cleanly, and without a hitch; What do i do with it? Ive read im suppossed to keep it cold for some reason though not sure why. Ive gathered that constatly attempting to reboot and restart the computer probably wont magically cure the problem, but should i keep it charged? I seem to remember that letting the battery drain can be bad for laptops (or was that electric cars?), but once again, that's why im the 'first time poster' and all of you are the geniuses that are here to help without being condesending. I'd greatly appreciate any advice anyone could give me with this issue, i gotta admit it was a pretty nice little lap top for a couple months and id sure be upset if it's somehow toast, it also has some sentimental value i guess, id hate to inherrit someones computer only to break it within a couple months.           Thanks to all who read through my long-winded (but very entertaining) post!! Please feel free to answer every question promptly and send me a brand new hard drive as well as the recovery disks.......and a Segway too while we're at it. Hey, they could make a come back!

tgsmith · Accepted Answer

Tdube253,

If your 1537 will still boot up after the SMART warning, I would do the following:

1. Purchase a new SATA laptop hard drive equal to or greater than the storage capacity of the failing drive.

2. Purchase a USB external laptop drive case.

3. Download drive cloning software from the manufacturer of the currently installed hard drive. Note that some vendors

will offer to bundle an external drive case and Acronis True Image software with your drive purchase.

4. Install the new drive in the USB external case.

5. Install either the existing drive manufacturer's cloning software or Acronis True Image on the 1537.

6. Clone the existing drive to the new drive. Be sure to indicate to the cloning software that the cloned drive will be your

primary (or boot) drive. You can also adjust partition sizes during cloning.

7. When cloning is complete, shut down the laptop. Disconnect AC power. Remove the battery. Remove the existing

drive and install the new drive.

8. The system should boot normally.

Now, in answer to your specific questions.

1. It is possible to boot from an external drive. We do it all the time with a special 32gb thumb drive running Windows

PE.. However, this is not recommended for normal operation. Too many hoops to jump through to get it to work.

Plus, a USB connected drive can come nowhere close to the data transfer speed of an internal drive. If you are

worried about heat, then you might consider installing a Solid State Drive as the replacement drive. Prices are

becoming reasonable for them. You should be able to purchase a 128gb SATA SSD for around $80 to $125.

2. Recovery disks for the 1537 can be obtained here: support.dell.com/.../backupcd_form

Note that if you are successful at cloning the drive as I mentionned earlier, the 1537 has a built in Factory

Restore partition that can be used to restore the unit to its original "as-shipped" condition.

3. As I also mentionned earlier, you need to purchase a replacement drive equal to or greater than the exisitng

drive. I've purchased 500gb SATA laptop drives for less than $100 and 80gb SATA laptop drives for less than

$35.

4. The suggestion to keep the system cool is based on the fact that batteries retain their charge better when they

are kept cold. Unless you live in the desert in a tent, I wouldn't worry about this particular piece of advice. If the unit

is not turned on, the battery isn't going to die from lack of use. I assume that you plan to get it fixed pretty soon, so

I wouldn't worry about this. If it was going to be stored for six months or more in an unheated warehouse, then the

battery would need to be kept in a relatively cool; i.e., room temperature, location.

I never ridden a Segway, but I use seques pretty frequently in my discussions, much to the chagrin of my listeners.

Hope this info helps.

Tony

Tdube253 · Answer

Well i gotta say that was a pretty stinkin fast answer to my questions, thank you so much for your quick response. It's quite a relief that the recovery files are that easy to get my hands on. I should have this taken care of in the time it takes me to click a mouse and ship a harddrive to my door, no more than a week.

I do have one more question. Ive heard stories of this issue completely stopping a computers ability to boot, in that case can i just install the new hard dive and basically start from scratch with the recovery data from dell? Once again, i really dont have anything of value on the laptop so data recovery isnt as crucial as these disasters tend to be.

Thanks agin for the advice, sounds like i'll be able to have the laptop up and running fairly soon, and this time around i'll take extra care to make sure it doesnt overheat or run for too long.

tgsmith · Answer

Tduabe253,

Yes, the SMART warning message is just that. It's warning you that hard drive failure could occur at any time.

Yes, you can just install the new hard drive and use the recovery disks to install Vista and your device drivers. There is a specific order that drivers should be installed. The correct order of driver installation is described here: support.dell.com/.../document

A clean install of the operating system and drivers is preferred by many techs. With a clean install there is no bloatware; i.e., software such as trial versions of AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo toolbars, etc..

One advantage of cloning the existing drive is that you can use the Factory Restore option which will install programs that shipped with the system such as Microsoft Office. Of course, you will still need the Product Key for MS Office, so if the original owner can't find his Microsoft Office disk or Product Key, then you will not be able to activate it unless you purchase another Product Key from Microsoft.

One thing that can cause laptops to overheat is to take the word "laptop" seriously. If you wish to use the laptop on your lap, please use a lap board. I've had many a laptop burn up memory chips and/or CPU from excessive heat because a teenager used it while lying on a comforter. A can of compressed air can do wonders by blowing fine lint particles out of the heat sink and off the cooling fan's blades. I had one HP laptop that the lint was so great it stopped the cooling fan from turning which caused the motor to freeze up and require replacement. Also note that the Achilles Heel of laptops is the DC power connector jack. Once again , using the unit on your lap can put stress on the the plug and actually break it's connection with the motherboard. I've replaced many laptop DC power jacks that were broken when the laptop was slid around on a desk and the power plug collided with a book or bookshelf support.

Please let us know how you fare with the rehab of your Studio 1537.

Tony

Storage, Drives & Media

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