1720 Hard Drive detects imminent failure

Back up your data and prepare for the worst, total hard disk failure. Best way is to get a new HD and set it up as the primary and move all data onto it with a fresh windows load (fdisk, scandisk,load windows, then move data).

Doing the above onthe existing disk may be a temporary fix for the problem, but it usually returns after a couple of months.

You are lucky in that the HD did not just go to a catistrophic crash, no boot at all.

Good Luck.

Newer hard drives are equipped with S.M.A.R.T. which is a self monitoring and reporting technology. This option is probably enabled on your Compaq. I would be inclined to believe it when you receive a message of this type on a newer hard drive andso would immediately backup everything you can and replace the hard drive.

I used to do support for Compaq and I can tell you that the hard drive probably needs to be replaced. Depending on the age and model of the PC, it may still be under warranty. You can call Compaq's tech support at 1-800-652-6672 and they can verify the warranty for you. I highly recommend you backup everything you want to keep while the PC still boots and then replace the drive.

Is it possible that your power supply is failing and not giving enough power to the HD at bootup (which the HD detects and gives you the warning message). It sounds like you get up into Windows. Does it run fine then?

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