3rd master hard disk s m a r t at startup

dhilip94

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Dec 26, 2011
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18,510
Hi, when I restart my computer I get this screen that says the following:

Press Del to run Setup
Press F8 for BBS popup
PC2-5300 Dual Channel Interleaved
Initializing USB Controllers...Done
2048MB OK
USB Device(s): 1 Keyboard, 1 Mouse, 1 Hub
Auto-Detecting Pri Master..ATAPI CD-Rom
Auto-Detecting 3rd Master..IDE Hard Disk
Auto-Detecting 4th Master..Not Detected
Pri Master: _NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A 1.05
Ultra DMA Mode-2
3rd Master: ST3320620AS 3.AAD
Ultra DMA Mode-5, S.M.A.R.T. Capable and Status BAD

Auto Detecting USB Mass storage Devices
00 USB mass storage devices found and configured

3rd Master Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T. status BAD, backup and replace

Press F1 to continue..

what is this?
pls help me.......
 


Really isn't much that you can do --- HDD's are made up of materials that eventually deteriorate due to usage and eventually they get to a point that the magnetic disks can no longer keep the data intact perfectly and start to have errors in various spots (though too much Heat inside the system, Dust build up on the HDD, inconsistent Power due to either the local electric company or your PSU, etc. etc. can cause failure to occur more rapidly) and while the newer drives have gotten better at redirecting the data to a good portion of the disk eventually it gets bad enough that the drive will fail to perform within the specifications set by the manufacturer and it will begin to fail the SMART checks and give you the error you are getting. How old is the HDD ? If it is still under warranty you can get it replaced by the manufacturer but will still need to get any info you need off of it before sending it in for replacement (If it is not then it has probably just reached it's useable life span and is time to replace it anyway.

At least it has given you some warning and time to get any vital info backed up instead of just failing (which happens at times as well)