# XP Won't Boot **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312 "2005-07-06T17:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/1 "2005-07-06T17:09:42Z")
On my HP Pavillion laptop. The message I get is: SMART Failure Predicted on Hard Disk 0: TOSHIBA MK6021GAS-(PM) 1720 - S.M.A.R.T Hard Drive detects imminent failure(Failing Attr:05h) Please back up the contents of the hard drive and run HDD self test in F2 setup Press F1 to Continue What does all this mean, and how do I fix it? I am running the Hard Drive Test now. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/2 "2005-07-06T17:24:51Z")
The first thing I would do after running the HD test is run scan disk(error checking) and a defrag. Once it boots double click on ‘My Computer’, right click on your c: drive, choose properties. On the tools tab you will have error checking and defrag. Run this with the option to automatically fix errors checked. Then backup all of the data you want to keep. I believe the error is generated by a Norton product, not sure which one. You might want to check Nortons website for more info. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/3 "2005-07-06T17:40:58Z")
See: [http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000184.htm](http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000184.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/4 "2005-07-06T17:53:37Z")
This error message is generated by the BIOS - your HD has decided (by analyzing various statistics it keeps on seek time, retry frequency, etc. etc.) that it’s days are numbered. I would recommend backing up your data _before_ running any scan tools, as that could cause new bad sectors to appear. You say it won’t boot - what happens if you select F1? ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/5 "2005-07-06T19:56:42Z")
Your hard drive is almost surely on its deathbed if not a death spiral. The S.M.A.R.T. technology is suppose to detect conditions on the drive that points to device failure. Do as the warning suggests … hit F1. Sometimes this actually will result in a successful boot. In any case, if you can, start backing up essential data from the drive ASAP and go get a new drive. BTW, there is no way to turn off this error condition; it will keep popping up. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/6 "2005-07-06T20:02:40Z")
This happened to me just the other day; the hard drive started to fail and unfortunately, the bit that went was part of Windows; running chkdsk and fixing the master boot record did nothing - I just couldn’t get it even to boot into safe mode with command prompt - even booting into the recovery console (from the setup CD) didn’t allow me access to the contents of the drive. In desparation, I booted the machine from a Linux ‘live’ CD called Mandrake Move - it runs entirely from the CD - it was sufficiently tolerant of the faults on the NTFS volume that it allowed me to copy most of the drive contents across the network (which was a bit of a fiddle to set up) to a file server. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/7 "2005-07-06T22:52:49Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > BTW, there is no way to turn off this error condition; it will keep popping up. Actually there is a way to turn it off. There should be an option in the BIOS setup program to enable / disable SMART checking. But this won’t stop your hard drive failing - you just won’t get the early warning you are now getting. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/8 "2005-07-06T23:32:16Z")
As others have said, the HDD’s internal circuitry is telling your computer that the drive is failing. I see this once a month or so in a population of 1000+ computers. Replace the drive ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/9 "2005-07-07T03:05:49Z")
I ran the HDD check from BIOS after pressing F2 and it failed. When I press F1 it makes booting up noises for a little while and then shuts down. I cannot start in any form of safe mode, cannot get it to boot at all. When I get home I will try turning off SMART check and if the disc is not toast, perhaps it will let me get far enough in to back up the few important things on this particular computer. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/10 "2005-07-07T08:03:09Z")
Yeah, that sounds bad. Nothing you can do is going to make that drive any better. About your last two options before seeking [profe$$ional help](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=hard+drive+OR+disc+OR+disk+data+recovery+service&btnG=Search&meta=) or giving up are to mount the drive as a secondary in another machine, or do as **Mangetout** did and boot a live OS from your CD drive that _may_ help you extract data. The first requires a working PC, and (since this is a laptop drive), some sort of [2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapter](http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=906&sku=17705). If the drive works well enough to be detected, you should be able to copy some files off of it. The second is a bit easier - download some live CD distro like [Knoppix](http://www.knoppix.org/) or [Ubuntu](http://www.ubuntulinux.org/) or whatever, and shove that in your CD drive. Again, if the HD works enough to be detected, (and you know how to use said OS to copy files over a network) you should be able to save some files. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xp-wont-boot/311312/11 "2005-07-08T03:27:11Z")
Fortunately, this computer is mainly used for surfing. Very little of import on it. It is sort of an extra computer. I looked up how to install a new hard drive myself, and it seemed a little complicated so I guess I will have a new drive installed by some repair company. Thanks for all the info though.