Don't know if it's luck or what, but I have been getting the same error message. checked for virus and none detected..I called Dell and was told to buy a hard drive right away...His english was so bad, I barely could understand anything he said..So I ran Ad-aware to get rid of any spyware...No error message since..could be just a fluke, but I'll put off buying a hard drive for now..This problem began about 4 wks ago with just the F1 or F2 message..I did not call Dell then...Now my warranty is out by 2 wks., the tech more or less said "too bad"...just thought I'd throw this out to anyone who might want to check for spyware...Ad-aware is a freebie on the internet...good luck to all...Rosie
If you got this warning, I would urge you to get that new hardrive and transfer your files, or back them up at least. I did not get the message before my hard drive crashed and I'm SOL as far as my data on that drive. I think you've got a coincedence with the Ad-Aware scan. So, unless you want to loose everything currently on your hard drive, feel lucky you got the warning and move your data.
Did you ever replace the hard drive? If not, then the warning is still telling you that your hard drive is going to fail. The message comes up before Windows even starts to load, so it has nothing to do with the version of Windows on your system.
you were helping me a bit ago with this same error message. I reformatted my hard drive and added limited programs and everything worked wonderfully. (using windows ME)
well, lo and behold, i installed the windows XP professional upgrade and don't ya know, two days later, this same message appeared. so, do you think it might have something to do with the XP? naomi
no i never replaced the hard drive. i bought one, just in case, but i reformatted my old hard drive and then just kept using windows ME and very limited programs. the point is that everything was working fine and i never got that error message and then i put on the XP and then i began to get the error message again. see what i mean?
Some say that if you perform a debug, repartion and reinstalled the OS, the error might disappear. But most of the time, the error message already indicates a bad hard drive.
The fact that a warning message has reappeared after you upgraded is probably a coincidence. As I and others have posted earlier, if you get a SMART message, your drive is operating out of specification. It will probably fail soon - perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next week, perhaps next month, possibly never. Your data is at risk - if you want to take a chance, that's up to you, but any responsible poster in this forum will advise you to back up your data NOW and replace the hard drive.
Don't mean to be snotty, but the situation is pretty clear.
I hear ya. my data is all backed up since i orginally got this message. No snottiness interpreted!! I just think it's a heck of a coincidence that i had been receiving no messages and then all of a sudden got them again after upgrading. I suppose I could take the XP off and see once and for all if one thing has anything to do with another, but I probably won't. naomi
I have replaced my hard drive 3 times now, and installed win98, win2000pro and winXP onto my 8100 and I still recieve this message. Am I to believe all three hard drives are failing? Any ideas?
I had the same problem with my dimension 4300..WinXP .this had gone on for about 6 weeks...Hit F1 or F2....Dell told me to buy a new hard drive...I decided not to, ran Virus scan & Ad-aware (cleans spyware) No virus found, but I never got the message after running Ad-aware.someone replied to my message on this forum and told me I will probably lose my hard drive...I think it is too ironic that so many people are having this problem with the Smart system...must be a gliche in the Smart program...My pc runs great and no more warnings...I routinely clean all spyware every week....if anyone is interested...Happy Holidays, Rosie
good that it works out for you Rosie.
Most of the time however, Dell will just choose to replace the drive because in one way or another, without warning, the hard drive will go bad and customers lose their files in the process. Though it is not Dells' fault, most customers blame and even sue them for the data loss which is weird because it's the customer's responsibility to back-up. The fix works fine but it's always best to back-up, you can never be too sure.
RosieRN
13 Posts
0
November 19th, 2003 11:00
dkelber
3 Posts
0
November 19th, 2003 19:00
If you got this warning, I would urge you to get that new hardrive and transfer your files, or back them up at least. I did not get the message before my hard drive crashed and I'm SOL as far as my data on that drive. I think you've got a coincedence with the Ad-Aware scan. So, unless you want to loose everything currently on your hard drive, feel lucky you got the warning and move your data.
Daniel
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
0
December 23rd, 2003 21:00
Did you ever replace the hard drive? If not, then the warning is still telling you that your hard drive is going to fail. The message comes up before Windows even starts to load, so it has nothing to do with the version of Windows on your system.
Steve
hikerbabe
20 Posts
0
December 23rd, 2003 21:00
STEVE-where are you?
you were helping me a bit ago with this same error message. I reformatted my hard drive and added limited programs and everything worked wonderfully. (using windows ME)
well, lo and behold, i installed the windows XP professional upgrade and don't ya know, two days later, this same message appeared. so, do you think it might have something to do with the XP? naomi
hikerbabe
20 Posts
0
December 23rd, 2003 23:00
Steve-
no i never replaced the hard drive. i bought one, just in case, but i reformatted my old hard drive and then just kept using windows ME and very limited programs. the point is that everything was working fine and i never got that error message and then i put on the XP and then i began to get the error message again. see what i mean?
RP-L2
2 Intern
•
617 Posts
0
December 23rd, 2003 23:00
Some say that if you perform a debug, repartion and reinstalled the OS, the error might disappear. But most of the time, the error message already indicates a bad hard drive.
hikerbabe
20 Posts
0
December 23rd, 2003 23:00
gudgeon
683 Posts
0
December 24th, 2003 07:00
The fact that a warning message has reappeared after you upgraded is probably a coincidence. As I and others have posted earlier, if you get a SMART message, your drive is operating out of specification. It will probably fail soon - perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next week, perhaps next month, possibly never. Your data is at risk - if you want to take a chance, that's up to you, but any responsible poster in this forum will advise you to back up your data NOW and replace the hard drive.
Don't mean to be snotty, but the situation is pretty clear.
And a merry Christmas to all!
hikerbabe
20 Posts
0
December 24th, 2003 11:00
LAIN-
I hear ya. my data is all backed up since i orginally got this message. No snottiness interpreted!! I just think it's a heck of a coincidence that i had been receiving no messages and then all of a sudden got them again after upgrading. I suppose I could take the XP off and see once and for all if one thing has anything to do with another, but I probably won't. naomi
the_loon
1 Message
0
December 25th, 2003 14:00
the_loon
RosieRN
13 Posts
0
December 26th, 2003 16:00
NAK
2 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 19:00
Hi ...here i thought i was the only one getting this scarey message. I have a 8200, put in
a maxtor80g, made the original dell hard drive the slave,installed xp and now this message
appears on start up... went to dell,maxtor,msft, no real answer except of course replace.
what gets me is if you go to a doctor and he tells you we have to replace your heart,the
old ones going to go, you would want to know why the old ones going? well were not
sure it just is.. hmmm anyway i am not computer savy, i did back up info and will
keep lookng for a while for a solution... one thing i did notice is the origal hard drive
is set at fat32 and the new is at ntfs... would that qualify as "out of normal specifacations"?
if the rpms are differnt then original would that be "outside" ?
RosieRN
13 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 21:00
NAK, just to keep you updated...I never get the error message and hard drive works fine...I still it is a gliche with Smart System.
Good Luck,
rosiern
Rache623
2 Intern
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385 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 23:00
NAK
2 Posts
0
January 31st, 2004 14:00
I swapped out the 80g maxtor with a new one, and error message is gone...
Bad drive... The chances one takes buying on ebay lol