smart hard disk status fail

[lealue21]

 i have just downloaded the everest home edition on to my computer and came acrossed a message saying smart hard disk status fail(when i clicked on computer then summary and it was under storage). i did look it up on this site but i don't really under stand what it means i have pasted it below can someone translate it for me
i have a dell dimension E510



REFERENCE NUMBER: CH000184
Receiving S.M.A.R.T. status bad backup and replace error:


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Issue:

Receiving S.M.A.R.T. status bad backup and replace error.

Additional Information:

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a diagnostic method originally developed by IBM that at that time referred to as "Predictive Failure Analysis". This technology was developed for IBM mainframe drives to give advanced warning of drive failures. Based on this diagnostic, Compaq announced IntelliSafeTM, which was submitted to the ATA/IDE standards committees and the resulting standard was named S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T. analyzes many of the mechanical attributes; over time, some failures can be predicted by detecting if the hard disk drive is moving out of tolerance. While the S.M.A.R.T. technology can detect upcoming issues, not all hard drive failures are predictable.

Some of the Major Hard Disk Drive manufacturers now including the S.M.A.R.T Technology in their hard disk drives are IBM, Western Digital, Maxtor, Quantum, Seagate and Fujitsu

Not all hard drive failures are predictable, but by analyzing many of the mechanical attributes over time, some failures are predictable and this is what S.M.A.R.T. does. S.M.A.R.T. measures many attributes of the user's drive over time and decides if they are moving out of tolerance.

Also see our S.M.A.R.T dictionary definition for additional information and related links to this term.

Cause:

Hard disk drive is bad or is going to fail soon.

Solution:

Backup your information and contact the manufacturer of the computer or hard disk drive for replacement or additional help. In some very rare cases the S.M.A.R.T. implementation on your computer may have issues of its own and may need to be patched before replacing the hard drive.  

Additional Q&A:

If I am receiving the S.M.A.R.T. error, is it ok if I continue to use my hard disk drive and do not replace it?

As stated above, S.M.A.R.T. is designed to detect upcoming failures in the hard disk drive. While it is possible that the hard disk drive may not fail for several months, it is still inevitable that the hard disk drive will fail. It is ok to continue to use the hard disk drive, however, we highly recommend that if you are still under warranty that you consider getting the drive replaced before your warranty runs out.

Note: Many users can also enable / disable the S.M.A.R.T detection through their CMOS setup. Additional information about entering CMOS setup can be found on document CH000192.

  

1720 - smart hard drive detects imminent failure

This error message is related to S.M.A.R.T and is an indication of failure. See above recommendations for additional details.

[GX1_Man]

You can continue to use it, but it could suddenly fail at any time. If you do use it, backup frequently and get ready for when it does go.  

[lealue21]

thanks umm when it fails can i just turn my computer back on again??or when it fails will it just never come back again?(sorry i really don't know anything about computers) and what does it mean by hard drive replacement is that a big thing???and my computer is only 8 months old should it be doing this already???

[GX1_Man]

If it is under warranty I would contact Dell at once. They will send you a new hard drive or have someone come install one and then you will have to reload Windows, etc.

Be sure and back up what you need to before they come to replace it or you are required to send it in, whichever warranty you have. Do you know how to do this? Do you have a LOT of files on there?

If you do not know your warranty status, post your service tag (on the side of the case, or in the BIOS/Setup screen - F2 when you see the Dell logo. It is a series of 6-8 letters and numbers. This is not your Windows license number.

[lealue21]

thank you very much and i don't have any files that i would mind losing but i would hate for my whole computer to go(not done paying on it yet)

[GX1_Man]

You're welcome and do post back on your progress. The standard Dell warranty is 12 months. though some low end systems have just a 90 day warranty. If this happens to be the case, you may still have a warranty through the hard drive maker.

Merry Christmas.  

[soybean]

thank you very much and i don't have any files that i would mind losing but i would hate for my whole computer to go(not done paying on it yet)

Your "whole computer" won't go just because the hard drive goes bad.  The hard drive is just one component among others, such as the motherboard, power supply, processor, memory (i.e. RAM), CD and/or DVD drives, etc.