Dell studio 15 laptop problem?

O

OptiEng

New Member
Hello all,

I ran a system check using the dell support scanner. At it said I had the following problems:

SAMSUNG HM641JI ATA Device - Harddrive

1) SMART Short Self Test - Failed (Error code: WHD16-LJ0)
The device reported the following status: The previous self-test completed having the read element of the test failed.
The first failing LBA value is 665814938 and the failure occurred after the device had been operating for 2195 power-on hours.

2) Targeted Read Test
Error while reading sector 665814938.
Error while reading sectors 665814939 through 665815002.
The test found 2 sector errors.
Failed (Error code: WHD20-XT6)

Everything else passed without any problems. On top of this, my system only boots up 1 out of 10 times. i.e. when I switch my laptop on it does not get passed the windows 7 startup loading page and just shuts down. I now have to keep my laptop on hibernate mode all the time to start it up and shut down without any problems. I have backed up everything on my HD and made a dell system recovery disc.

For all this I would be 95% sure the problem is the Harddrive and not something else like the processor (i5). The reason I ask, is that I didn't want to spend time and money replacing the HD if the problem was coming from something else like the processor. Also I assume the HD is a relatively simple thing to for me to change at home on the dell laptop.

P.S. this all happened 2 weeks after my warranty expired :eek:

I would appreciate any input/advice.

Thanks
 
The hard drive is bad and needs to be replaced. If you don't have reinstallation cd's then you need to contact dell for them so.you can reinstall windows on the new drive.
 
Hi thanks johnb35, Dell will not send my installation CD's now I am out of warrenty without paying £35, but apparently by recovery CD's will be good enough to use once I replace the HD? I was really disappointed that dell wont send me out the CD's. If, there always an opportunity to use an alternative operating system maybe Ubuntu?

Anyway, at least now I am moer confident that the problem is the HD and nothing else. I will look for a HD, can any recommend any, preferably one which is faster than my current 5200 rpm, around 500GB and last longer than 1 year :-)
 
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Is it recommended to replace it with the same hardrive size and model? or does it not really matter? Thanks.
 
You don't need to buy the same brand or size of drive. Any laptop hard drive will work, providing the interface is correct, either sata or IDE.
 
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