S.M.A.R.T. Status Bad, Backup and Replace.

[uubeerdude]

My ASUS M51AD desktop will not start except in safe mode. I had entered it to run windows defender because the computer was experiencing immense slowdowns, to the point that I had reason to believe it had acquired a virus. No malware was found with defender. On trying to restart from safe mode, the American Megatrends screen appears. At bottom the line, "S.M.A.R.T. Status Bad." appears, followed by the line ,"Press F1 to Run SETUP." F1 takes me to the ASUS UEFI BIOS Utility-EZ Mode screen. On exiting that page and restarting, windows will only boot in safe mode.

What next please?

 

[axe0]

Create a bootable USB using an ISO from Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums (Win10PE).

Boot from the USB and open HDTune once booted. Post a photo of the health tab.

 

[uubeerdude]

Thanks for your reply. I don't, however, understand. I am running windows 8.1, and this is a windows 8 forum, right? Do I even have access to the windows 10 option you describe?

 

[axe0]

I linked to a post which provides a download on a Windows PreEnvironment ISO.

 

[uubeerdude]

Forgive me if I am not tech literate enough to readily understand. Because I cannot get out of safe mode, I cannot connect to the download.

 

[axe0]

You don't have anyone you know you could use his/her computer for a few minutes to download?

 

[uubeerdude]

Yes I can. It has become apparent that the hard drive has failed. The "smart status bad" line indicates that. The only real option, unless I am missing something, is to replace it. Do you think running the rescue software is reasonable or necessary given that?

 

[axe0]

Not all smart attributes are indicative that a drive physically fails, it needs to be clear which one fails before an actual replacement since some may also be fixed with a clean install.

 

[uubeerdude]

If I am to run the ISO, I need to know more please. I'vedowloaded and burned the boot disk to cd using Roxio Creator Business 10.0. When I try to run memtest.exe I get the error message, "...application cannot run in Win 32 mode" and I simply don't know where to go from there. After, however, running a complete system recovery windows 8.1 boots seeming okay, but immediately displays the text "Windows detected a hard disk problem..." At this point it appears that I have to replace the hdd. It has been problematic since the computer was new. Am I mistaken?

 

[uubeerdude]

So when I replace the hdd, are there options for saving my os, transferring it to the new drive?

 

[axe0]

When booted from the ISO run HDTune, see post #2.
We need to know the status of the hard drive.

The Windows Pre-Environment has a program called Macrium Reflect. Macrium Reflect is capable of making an image (backup) of everything on your drive. After you make an image, you can restore (transfer) the image on a new drive.
However, if a SMART alert is there because of too many bad sectors on the drive it may be not possible to make an image. Macrium Reflect has no option to ignore bad sectors in a pre-environment.

 

[uubeerdude]

I'm afraid there is no HDTune file to run on the ISO.

 

[axe0]

You're sure you have an ISO from the link I posted? (Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums)

I have recently downloaded and tested it with success.

 

[uubeerdude]

Yes. I downloaded it from the link you gave me to an 8gb.thumb drive and burned it from it to CD.

 

[uubeerdude]

The file is WinPSE_x86

Right?

 

[uubeerdude]

All of the partitions in windows disc management are listed as healthy, and to include the recovery disk.

 

[uubeerdude]

Ya know what, I downloaded the 32 bit recovery file. Looks like I need the 64 bit version. Right?

 

[axe0]

All of the partitions in windows disc management are listed as healthy, and to include the recovery disk.

Unfortunately this means nothing.

I'm not too sure, but I don't think it matters if you use 32bits or 64bits.

 

[uubeerdude]

I have downloaded both the WinPESE_x64 and WiinPese-x86 files. There is no HdTune in either.

 

[uubeerdude]

Nor is there any Macrium Reflect file in either.