So lately my laptop is being a pain in the ass. It keeps shutting down over what is later explained after start-up by overheating. And then it displays a black screen with this message and the ability to click enter and continue startup: "A SMART Hard Disk check has detected an imminent failure. To ensure not [nice typo, windows] data loss, please backup the content immediately and run the hard disk test in system diagnoser." It's also running very slow... what the hell is going onnnn....
It may be auto shutdowning due to overheating, the hdd check could be because of the unexpected shutdown. Get a laptop cooling pad (a good one) and the compressed air thats safe to use to clean their fans out. I had the same problem with my toshiba satellite.
Apparently it's telling me my laptop is inevitably going to break down soon, and so I need to go get a new one and give HP more money. :/
how old is your laptop? and what brand? i have a HP laptop about 6 years old and never overheated once
This laptop is like 2 years old, maybe less. It's an HP. I've never had any computer overheat. This thing is doing it regularly all of a sudden.
Well before I say anything else, did you listen to the error and back up all of your data? Your hard disk is failing. It will need to be replaced. It's not planned obsolescence or HP trying to get more money from you. It's just a moving part, and moving parts eventually fail. While cooling is always a good idea, overheating is probably not what is going on here. The error message is very clear. The hard disk is failing. SMART is a system that is specifically designed to monitor hard disks and report on their status, so that it can warn you when errors occur and give you a chance to back up your data before the drive just stops working. If it's out of warranty, you can find a new hard drive for as cheap as $60.
No money for that right now, I'm in university eating mac and cheese every day, which I'm out of at the moment. It'll have to wait... hope it doesn't fail any time soon.
So hard disk is the same as a hard drive? Just wanna make sure, I was talking to a computer buddy about how easy it would be to replace a hard drive on a laptop. Do I have to reinstall windows and all that shizz?
If your using windows os then some critical system files could be mixed up. You could always get the windows cd and do a fresh install by booting from CD.
You need a can of air or an air compressor with a moisture filter. I clean out every electronic in my house that uses an internal fan once a month and the amount of dust that comes out is shocking. Especially if you live next to dust/fields. I repair and customize and hack/modify everything you can imagine and overheating due to dust is common. So is dust that gets wet and fries electronics.
[quote name='"MisterWhyte"']So then I've got to buy windows again? @_@[/quote] Unless your Familiar with downloading torrents and burning an .iso image cd...
You could try to get hp to send you a new disk if you lost yours, or you could burn your legal back up to a disc and use that.
OK...lets cut the bullshit Call HP Give the tech the model and serial number. HP can send you a replacement hard drive with the same image it had from the factory... You get the hard drive, the full operating system in it's default state, ready to be booted for the first time. and it cost the same as buying a HD alone in many cases if not less.
Forgot to mention OP, my laptop did the same thing. Came on, overheated and then shut off with a blue screen of death (bsod). Sometimes it would take 10-30 minutes, sometimes instantly. It was not a failing hdd. It was instead an over accumulation of dust in/on/around the fan. I used compressed air to clean it out and not only didnt it shut down anymore, but it stayed cool to the touch. A few months later same problem, can of air, no more problem. Since youre not too computer savvy, Id say start with the simplest solution or k.i.s.s. (keep it simple stupid). You can call hp as others have said, jump through their hoops, dealing with annoying customer service from india who will ask you a series of very simple questions that may overwhelm the average pc user. The people in this thread may be right, it could be a failing hdd, which is pretty typical nowadays unfortunately, or it could be as simple as dust. Save yourself time and stress and clean it out first. Might save yourself the terrible experience of customer service.