1 Root Cause Hard Drive Failure?

[Guest]

Recently, my computer laptop, a Dell Inspiron N7110 would not start, but stuck at the log-in. I ran a disk check and start up diagnostic, to no avail. So I ran a boot time comprehensive diagnostic, and received an error code that looked like this: Fail: PSA V4213, Error: 2000:0142, Hard drive 0, s/n S2TBJA0C134239. I went to Dell diagnostic in Safety Mode with Networking, and ran a diagnostic there. I've had the computer for less than 3 years, so my warranty was expired. The best advice they could offer was replace my hard drive, which is what I expected, because it will definitely benefit them! I am still paying this laptop off, so I am hoping to avoid further debt and see if there are other solutions. Is a critical error always a reason to replace a hard drive? Are there other options available, before I yank the drive?

 

[yoji]

Are you a gambler? and do you have a backup?
I would take that as a serious warning and it may fail completely AT ANY TIME...
If you have regular backups - you may risk it and carry on and hope it was a blip
But you must understand you are talking a risk
If you don't have a backup - it even more of a risk (you will lose all if the HDD dies completely)
Whatever you do... any hard drive can fail without warning .. so you should always make sure you have a backup.

HTH
Cheers

 

[Guest]

Yes, I have all my important files backed up to an external drive. Still need to know if I should replace the drive, or repair the drive. I'm looking for options to replacing a hard drive in a laptop that is less than 3 years old.

 

[yoji]

Repair is not an realistic option..

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I only just posted, but if the consensus is "no way to repair", then I will just have to buy a new drive. Thing is, this error occurred before, about a month ago. I upgraded the OS then, from Win7 premium to ultimate, and it actually worked well for a while. The error returned when I attempted to update recommended drivers from Dell. The hard drive must not have appreciated that. So, if there is not a patch or a fix, I guess I will need to replace it, but with almost a terabyte of storage, I'm hesitant to purchase just any old hard drive advertised by Dell. I'm still paying the system off with them, so I want to get the correct HD exactly, or repair this one if at all possible.

 

[yoji]

Look - stop messing about..
- you can check if there is a firmware update from your Drive (unlikely)
- you can download a hard drive diagnostic tool and run some tests.. see if it confirms the other diagnostic.
but ultimately - Hard drives are fickle (its amazing they work as well as they do).. it may be you are getting bad sectors.. which will result ion erratic behaviour and eventually it may end up with corrupt files, but it may be more serious and it will just die completely.. without any further warning.
Only you can be the judge of how much risk you want to take with it.. we cant help you with that..
If you want a good brand for replacement .. general consensus is that Western digital (blue if it your system drive) are good. Black is better/faster.. but more expensive. But sounds like money is tight.. so you may be tempted to go cheaper.. your choice... but don't go green for your system drive. Oh.. its a laptop.. so above HD advise not applicable.. they desktop hard drives

Cheers

Im done with you now..

 

[Guest]

Thanks, and likewise.

 

[fzabkar]

I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo. Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.