Member Avatar for Jonnylavery

Hey all, newbie here, have a question for ya.
Machine: HP PAvillion 5218nr (2006)
80Gb HD
200Meg Ram (UG)
And the ever lovely Celeron M

I've read similar posts on the topic already but wonder whether there's a genuine problem uninstalling/deleting the HP system recovery partition if i have the original Rescue DVD's. I haven't copied the thread from before, but no doubt someone will remember it was about the size of the recovery partition. Mine is 9Gb. I dont need the space, but SMART threw me a warning this morning for an iminent failure.

I know that SMARt can flag an overheated drive too, or rather that overheating can cause the problems, but i knew that a defrag and back up was essential, so i've done that.
It was after that when i decided to check the status of the partition too, which, it transpires, is 90% fragged, and only 12% free. The big problem with that is i cant defrag it properly.

So, to the questions:
Does anyone think that the partition itself could've caused the SMART flag? There's only one HD but the error reads "SMART Failure: Failure iminent on HD2 ST98823AS-(S1). Back up files and buy a new hard drive immediately." (more or less)
If it could have, i'd like it defragged and off my system as i dont see the need.

If so, how can i access the partition (as HP have it locked tight) and sort it out? I imagine i'll need partitionmagic or something to even get a look at it- but will that work?

Im broke at the mo and cant afford a new HD, even at the good prices. The standard warranty is 1yr, buthave i any legs to stand on for a replacement- i.e. is it a hardware fault?

Theres probably more questions but we'll start with that. sorry for the tedously long post, and thank you for your time in reading.
J

Edit:
To compound my misery, i cannot access the bios as the supervisor password locks out the bios access button- maybe im using the wrong button- it is F10, isn't it? HP Support says it is, but then, they could be wrong....
I had wanted to check the HD using the Checking facility in the bios. But cant. Ho Hum

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mechbas
Member Avatar for mechbas

>>>Back up files and buy a new hard drive immediately
That is VERY good advice and IS a sign of a failing drive, and, yes, SMART failure IS a warranty issue if yours is still in effect.
The BIOS issue can be eliminated if you follow the BIOS reset (to default) in your manual. Simply a matter of powering down and temporarily moving a jumper to it's alternate pin setting.

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